How to buy, or improvise, Nicad Battery Charger

[baddidea]

I scored a couple of 12 volt 8ah Nicad Battery Packs (originally for emergency lighting). They are used in a 24 volt system. They did not come with a charger. Can you suggest the various ways I could charge this system. Or maybe I should use a BMS? Thanks for all the help.

[amberwolf]

There's a fair bit of info on NiCd charging and whatnot here on ES, if you do a search for it.

But I think for your purposes you will want to go find a dedicated NiCd charger for the pack voltage you are after. Unless you are willing to do the research and learn about how to do it, I definitely don't recommend improvising anything.

[dogman]

You could find a nicad charger at batteryspace for your voltage. Either a 12v one or a 24v one if you series connected the packs.

Also, RC lipo chargers do everything, Lead, nicad, nimh, and lipo. For nicad, idealy you'd have a temp sensor hooked up to the charger.