Morgans wrote:
You could go the route of replacing all of the cells with nickel metal
hydride cells and using your own case, if you don't mind the work, and save
yourself some money. That is the route I would go, personally.

The nearly double capacity is nice to have. You can shop around the web for
more battery sellers, for the best prices. There are tons of them out
there, with some pretty good competition. While you're at it, order enough
cells to do both packs, and you will get some more discount in price, from
some of the places.

Sometimes, you can find a place (not necessarily web places) that is selling
battery packs for video recorders, or power tools that is getting rid of
some stock for really cheap- cheaper than the price of individual cells.

While you are ordering batteries, I'll bet you have a dust buster or two
sitting around with dead batteries in it. Gather them all up, and see how
many you need, all together. Get your brother in law to see how many he
needs to buy, an order them all at the same time, while you are at it. Make
sure he understands he replaces his own, though! You might have enough to
really get a good discount, by now. And a lot more work, too!

Interesting stuff. A few years back I bought a cheap harbor freight 12v
cordless drill with an extra battery pack. Surprisingly the drill was
pretty good quality for the money but the battery packs were shot in a
week. Now the drill is still sitting around here somewhere and pretty
much useless. I was thinking about adding a long cord and a cigarette
lighter adapter so the thing could be used out and about rather than
tossing it. I'm considering fixing it now.

Tony