Jump Start Your "Dead" NiMH Batteries With BBQ Tongs

If you've got kids, you've got batteries. I was disappointed to see my nickel metal hydride batteries stop taking a charge and had started recycling some of them. That is, until I discovered this method. Nice to breathe some life into them until I can invest in higher quality rechargeables.
The Duracell in this video was actually a 2000 mAh, not 2500 mAh as stated, but still worked out fine. My advice would be to not mix alkaline and NiMH type batteries, since the internal resistance in alkaline batteries is higher. The batteries are in contact for such a short amount of time, it would probably not heat up the alkaline battery enough to damage it, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. Keep them the same type, size, voltage for best results.
Shot on a GoPro Hero3+ Black
Audio recorded on a Zoom H2N
Edited in Adobe Premiere with titles from iMovie

[@Zorzi98]

I have a NiMH battery that was showing 0 volts in the multimeter and thus was not recognized by my charger. I did your trick and it showed 1.3 volts after the 30 seconds charge with a good battery, and now it is charging normally in my charger. Thank you very much for this video!!

[@skysurfer]

Nice!

[@andremartin4396]

I\'m not sure but ,if anyone else needs to find out about recondition a battery try Jons Mender Guide ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my m8 got cool results with it.

[@mikeoleksa]

Nice! I just had a 5 year old Eneloop do this. I put the 2 negative ends together and just used a straightened out paper clip, bent again near the ends, to connect the 2 positive ends. I'm putting it through a refresh cycle now, but it's probably time to get some new ones after 5 years. To Eneloop's credit, this is the first battery of 8 AA and 8 AAA batteries from them that I own. All bought at the same time, 5 years ago. I've been wanting to get some with the black casing anyway.

[@markisface]

Thank you, this revived around 10 of my amazon basic rechargables! I used foil and only touched them together for 2-3 seconds! Its a miracle, I was very close to re buying these! thank you

[@skysurfer]

Mark Matthews That's great! Glad you were able to get some more life out of them.

[@hugopnabais]

I forgot a good 2500 NiMH battery for over a year in a flashlight. It dropped to 0.1V and no charger would pick it up. Tried your method and got my battery back in no time and now the battery works fine again. thanks

[@eddiesanchez9095]

WOW!!!! AMAZING !!!! THank you Soooo Much!!!! It has been six weeks i had 7 D Rechargable batteries sitting on my desk and just looking at me..... I tried many times to recharge with my charger and with NO success.... then for Kicks, i looked at KZbin and saw your Video.... and Your Method is a Miracle!! Thank you Soooo Much!! I greatly appreciate it.

[@kanuh]

Wish I knew that info 10 years ago, amazing video

[@Tmcgivern74]

open jump starting my NiMH batteries for a couple years using 2 paper clips. I like your tongues idea, I'll give it a try next time. thanks for the tip. jump start batteries and flip steaks on the grill, you could do a Super Bowl commercial.

[@11knots]

Thanks to you, I just rescued 12 batteries that I thought I had to throw out, thank you, thank you!!!!

[@nfowl]

Thanks! This worked great - just jump-started 2 of my "null" NiMh batteries.

[@bratan007]

Holy crap it worked! Only instead of BBQ Tongs and second battery I used bench power supply and zapped "dead" Enloop with 1.5V for about 30 seconds

[@esqueue]

Exact same thing I do.

[@lupillos7404]

Had some Harbor Freight rechargeable batteries had them for couple years wanted to put in my charger said same as yours null did not wanted to charge, did what you did holly smokes it actually worked thanks again for this awesome video 👍🏻

[@An.Individual]

good tip, thanks. I was going to do similar using a bench power supply but now I feel more confident.

[@engineercliff]

This method seems much safer than the other recommendations. Worked perfectly for me!

[@thammer2545]

You are AWESOME dude. Love the simple solution

[@arfurfoxhaike]

Excellent tutorial, Thank you for sharing.

[@migbham1]

Hopefully, you're having so graciously shared this info will help plenty of folks stop tossing depleted, but still good, nicads into the trash. FYI, in case you aren't aware; 3 seconds in the BBQ tongs works just as reliably as the 30 seconds you're using, and is much safer for nicads.

[@Unknown--error]

This worked like a charm, thanks a ton.

[@coyote5735]

I had three new Eneloop AA that dropped below the threshold, thanks for the tip it brought all three back. I had them in a torch that was left on for a month totally discharging them. I used a loop of wire to kick start them. Cheers for the tip!

[@skysurfer]

Awesome! Thanks for posting your results!

[@MJ0U812]

Great Video, but just I question? Was the good battery a regular battery or both rechargeable? I have a ton of these that could use a jump start. Thank you for the share.

[@micheledowning7416]

Unbelievable! It worked beautifully for four energizer AA batteries. My husband and I felt like idiots standing in the kitchen doing this, but it worked. Thanks!

[@skysurfer]

Excellent! Another success story!

[@vivianoni9565]

Thanks for the neat tip. Around the house I occasionally find rechargeables that have sat unused for god knows how long. Does this trick revive mothballed cells as well?

[@leonid4613]

Thank you so much. I used my volt meter, on the 10A scale, just in case. There was an initial high current, then it settled at 187 mA. I then put it in the charger, and it read 1.16V. I was going to use a power supply, but it's brilliant to use another battery, and much safer.

[@utuberojan]

I was getting ready to throw away my Energizer NiMH until I stumbled upon this video. Thanks for saving me few bucks

[@amsgomes97]

Simply EPIC !! worked with two dead batteries I had here. I used an alkaline duracell as the source.

[@josephk6907]

Nice video and I'm going to try it out. The Energizer NiMh are decent batteries, but they degenerate quickly. With that specific charger, I've left the battery in the charger and it eventually registered voltage and charged... but still with a low threshold. The reconditioning cycle doesn't help much. The Eneloop is the way to go - I switched over because of camera, which ate Energizers alive - the Eneloops have no problem holding a high and consistent charge. Make sure you buy 2000mah or higher.

[@kerryfoster1]

Must admit i was a bit dubious about this. However I recently bought some new ones and after they ran down I checked the charge and 1 was completely flat - The charger didn't want to know! I stood it with one of the others on some tin foil, joined the tops with a paper clip for 30 seconds, It showed a charge. The charger was fine with it and then charged it as normal. Thanks for a great tip!

[@nikeetakidun8828]

Thank you so much for making and posting this video you saved my expensive rechargeable batteries.

[@skysurfer]

Glad it worked out!

[@brendao.7732]

Thanks for your video. I didn't have tongs or a large paper clip, so I made a foil strip as Leif Rudduck suggested, and it really works! Great! Now I won't need to buy batteries again for a while, which is also great.

[@skysurfer]

Nice! I love the alternatives that people have been coming up with, total MacGyver mindset.

[@genericjosh96]

one of my usb walkie talkies i use on road trips batteries died out and this trick fixed them! thanks so much

[@niikasa]

This really works. I tried reviving a 0V NiMH with a good hobby grade charger (force charge in different batt modes) without success. Finally this simple reverse charge with another NiMH worked. Thanks a lot for sharing this trick!

[@rchandraonline]

+niikasa , reverse charging won't do any good at all (presuming this means connecting + to - and - to + because that would reverse the polarity, probably doing more damage). Note that similar surfaces (flat, bump) were connected electrically in this video to similar surfaces. It's just "dumb" charging, cramming some minimal amount of charge into the cell with brute force and ignorance (BFI).

[@niikasa]

+rchandraonline 'reverse charge' i meant i connected + to +. It jump started the 0 volt nimh so charger recognized it as nimh.

[@SpardaKnightz]

This worked perfectly, lol i think i have the same tongs. also the problem was with a rechargeable engergizer battery. they are all charging now. your a life saver

[@skysurfer]

Great! Glad it worked for you.

[@chrisamerson]

Thank you for this video! It worked like a charm. I was worried that my batteries had went bad with only being like two months old and not they are back working.

[@gb4823]

I've just revived my Eneloop (1900mah) thanks a lot mate

[@titusadeodatus674]

This worked to get rid of the blinking red charging light error. But I had to put them in the right orientation, plus to minus, + to -, not minus to minus. (The spoon heats up a little. And then it charges again, and work again.)

[@Hyumanity]

Wow, that was incredible. Thank you!

[@Anthony1uk]

Thanks for this. All the other methods were saying to use restoration packs that would cost the same price as replacing the battery. Used a paperclip bent straight for 30 seconds and battery restored.

[@BRYDN_NATHAN]

Excellent. I use batteries in my guitar amp for busking. I used to get a gallon baggy of cells a every couple of months. Move to primary/secondary system using chargeable /alkaline. Must be the Heat extremes cos I find the chargeable ones starting to go. I love tong idea, a shunted wire is good enough for 30 seconds. Battery concept is one of the ten mysteries of today's technology.

[@sgruntl3d]

Thanks to you, I was able to revive 3 dead duracell batteries. 10 seconds each one with 2 inox kitchen forks did the trick! xD Thank you again, i'm so happy that this worked out so easily :) Stay awesome!

[@skysurfer]

Excellent!

[@carlaccor1394]

Once I saw you using a BC700 I knew you were serious. I had two Walkman batteries from a Walkman CD player. So... very old. I put them both in the BC700. One charged, one was Null. I used the one that worked with your trick (using a pair of kitchen tongs, i.e. the only electrical communication is a tiny rivet) and the Null battery is now on a refresh cycle. So your video should be somewhere near the top of the RUVs - those few Really Useful Videos that do what they set out to do simply and well. Congratulations !

[@skysurfer]

Great reply! Thank you for letting me know it worked!

[@dumbpotato500]

I actually jump-started some Eneloops using your technique! So they're not as perfect as they make out :-D They'd been in a draw for a couple of months and have gone dead as door nails - and I'd only used them a couple of times! But the metal tongs technique got them right back to life.

[@kevtan72]

Thanks. I almost threw out a couple of dead batteries. Good thing I saw this video and retrieved them from the trash.

[@skysurfer]

I hear ya. I was recycling the ones that wouldn't recharge on a regular basis until I figured out how to revive them. I'm slowly replacing my rechargeable inventory with the eneloops.

[@bobmandel4773]

This worked great! Thanks, sky surfer.

[@themanwithnoname5986]

Just tried this and it really does work, brilliant. Thanks very much.

[@skysurfer]

Thanks for posting your success!

[@Rich9351]

Nice charger. Could you recommend or state what brand or type that is. Thanks

[@ChrisHirner]

I never did it in series like this, i usually do it in parellel with a couple of screwdrivers so there is no dead short.

[@PathinAZ]

I have a Tecsun Pl-600 short wave that I let store for too long. 3 of the 4 NiMH batts were nonchargeable in or out of the unit. I tried your trick and it worked wonderfully, and can now have the batteries charging in the unit like they're supposed to. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@skysurfer]

Awesome, I love hearing stories like this. Glad it worked!

[@umulig]

Thanks, champ. Just jump started 5 dead (but pretty new) batteries.

[@danielzhe]

This is AMAZING! Just worked! Thank you very much! :D

[@skysurfer]

Glad it worked!

[@KneelB4Bacon]

I can sometimes force a charge into a dead NiMH battery by putting it in an older charger. After it's been in the old charger for a few minutes, I can switch it to the new one to finish.

[@madhumitasarkar5432]

Can this technique be used for rechargeable battery having USB pin on the positive side and for charging positive side has cap which needs to be opened?

[@lonjeloco]

I jump start my dead cell while its in the charger by connecting a good cell from above with foil or wires. I'm just connecting them in parallel much more briefly meaning the power of the good cell will just trigger the charger to charge and the dead cell will not get a bunch current from the charged one. If your cell was totally dead for a really long time then you will notice it charges much faster than normal due to its severely diminished capacity you can do a refresh cycle to try to recover it. This is for Bc700 AA 500ma (use 250 ma discharge/refresh) AAA use default low currents

[@maxsilk]

Thank you!! Worked a charm!

[@ebh5237]

why did this remind me of Bill Murry in the army with an ice cream scoop? Anyway this did work for me so thanks. With a smile

[@Starthief]

Thanks, this worked for me!

[@GiorgosNSR]

nice video what if the batteries are soldered to a pack? can you still do this trick via the main plug while they are joined or you need to brake the pack down and do it individually to each cell?

[@skysurfer]

I haven't done that myself, but the concept would be the same, assuming the battery pack isn't damaged or shorted. You'd need a "donor" battery which is the same or lesser voltage value than the accumulated total of the individual batteries in the pack.

[@DarioDAversa]

Awesome trick! I had about 10 batteries die on me this way, going to restore them all tonight!

[@BitcoinEntertainment]

Holy smokes. Works for NiMH to Ni-Cad too! I was just about to throw 6 of my Ni-Cads cause they been dead forever. All registered 0.00 on the voltmeter. Put em in the charger over night, still 0.00. Tried this and each then showed around .09, so they're in the charger. Will share the results.

[@tectorama]

I've done a similar thing a number of times, but using a variable voltage power supply. I agree about the Eneloop batteries, they are very good, those chargers are good too, I have a couple of them.

[@shesgotskilz4708]

Thank you I was wondering why my battery charger was blinking, learned that the batteries were to low to charge. Of all the video with the high tech solutions yours was for those of use who don’t have anything but tongues. It was able to give the batteries enough umf to get the charger charging .

[@Bleh693]

Interesting. I had rigged up some loose wire and was daisy chaining batteries that failed to charge.... I realize now the current is the same flow (pos to pos, neg to neg) except I have to hold the stupid wires exactly in place for 30-60 seconds..... tongs are much easier. Thanks!

[@mikes4357]

Just outstanding thank you very much!

[@restorebatterylife7208]

Thank you for sharing

[@TranTek]

Very creative using kitchen tool

[@Soothsayer620]

Thanks, great idea.

[@peregrinates]

Great thanks. Made my day!

[@neugierigeringenieur9593]

Thanks mate!

[@JokerdanFF]

Excellent

[@OregonDARRYL]

I've used a 9V wall-wart and connected positive to positive and negative to negative... for a few seconds to jump start it... it works..

[@stevep4384]

This worked with Eneloop XX batteries. Thanks!

[@skysurfer]

That's great - the Eneloops seem to be the least prone of all the batteries I have that drop below a detectable charging level.

[@donnieroberts339]

Can you do a makita 7000 7.2v any way to charge one that the charger wont charge

[@markedone150]

will this work if i have 2300mah (4)and 2700mah(4)both NiMh rechargables GP all dead using the normal energizer or duracell 1.5V batteries like u showed here?

[@skysurfer]

Yes, that should work. As long as you are using similar voltage and current that the target battery is rated at, and you are connecting them for a very short time, you should be ok. Your objective is to get just enough juice into the battery so that your charger can detect it and take over from there.

[@how_to_hallagon1]

Thank You

[@simplybeanjelly]

Cool trick, unfortunately my charger still refuses to charge the cell that had this issue even though now it's showing 1.35v on my multimeter. It must have gone high resistance, bummer.

[@JumboG2]

Thanks, worked great

[@mabehr]

Probably a fire hazard, but it worked perfectly! The tongs are a great idea (esp because if the battery DOES explode, it's not in my hand).

[@blessedgirly7402]

I wish I knew this trick before. TY any trick to revive them if they are in a 9xAA pack used as 1 battery? I have a device that the battery is not taking a charge and the company is giving me the run around.

[@skysurfer]

I think it's going to take more than BBQ tongs :) Technically, the same approach could be taken if you could run a lead from the positive end of a AA battery to the positive terminal on the battery pack, and run a lead from the negative end of the AA battery to the negative terminal on the battery pack, leaving it connected for a bit longer. You can probably forecast already how out of balance this would be (one AA vs 9 AA's) but you might get lucky. The chargers for these battery packs don't need a lot of current present to "sense" the pack is ready to charge. As always, be safe, and don't mix battery types. If the 9 cell battery pack is NiMH then only try this with a NiMH AA.

[@dennisanderson8663]

My Energizer charger just blinks red telling me my Energizer Plus AA batteries are bad. Would this trick work for those? I've had several pairs fail on me so far and most of them only after 20-30 recharges. I'm beginning to wonder if Energizer is a sketchy brand for NiMH.

[@skysurfer]

I feel the Energizers are some of the worst, all of mine have failed. The technique in the video will likely get them to charge again and let you use them for a while longer. However, I found that even after a full charge, they discharge more rapidly as time goes on. I have replaced all my Energizer batteries with the eneloops.

[@descore7578]

Yes this trick works. Another way if you don't have any good batteries, is to cut a USB cable, connect it to your mobile phone charger, and hold the red and black ends to positive and negative on the NiMH cell, respectively, for about 30 seconds. This will boost the battery enough that it'll charge. (EDIT: If it's a thin USB cable it may get very hot by doing this, and you might damage your charger, so don't use your best Samsung QuickCharge charger or whatever for this, but a cheap one you can afford to lose)

[@Peter1999Videos]

it works ! thanks

[@dmitrysysoletin9967]

Nice trick! But you can also use dumb constant voltage charger to "bump" fully discharged batteries.

[@numbersix9477]

I keep a dumb charger around for exactly that purpose.

[@subbuilder3563]

Enelope is great. I agree.

[@JustinCockerham]

Worked perfect!

[@skysurfer]

Glad you had success!

[@Cr7pt0r]

I did the exact same thing but jumpstart my rechargeable NiMH battery that my La Crosse charger was refusing to charge (it doesn't detect the battery if the voltage is below 0.9). My setup was actually using the charger itself. I've inserted a good rechargeable battery in bay1 and the bad rechargeable battery in bay2 then I took two paper clips and connected both batteries using + with + and - with -. The bad battery charged a bit and jump started.

[@skysurfer]

Brilliant approach! I will try that with my La Crosse charger next time.

[@skysurfer]

I just tried your method and it works great! I had batteries charging in bay 1,2, and 4, bay 3 was null. I just jumpered the positive terminal on bay 2 and three, and the null battery started charging. I'll play around and see if it makes any difference which bays have batteries in them or which order when bridging them with a paper clip. That's really a great alternative!

[@globalzero]

thanks man saved 4 AA almost new batteries

[@davidbolha]

Hi, What is that bkack LCD charger you used ? Looks like Opus BT-C700. 🤔 Manufacturer & model. Thanks &... 😏 Best Regards,

[@skysurfer]

It's a Lacrosse Technology BC-700. I believe the Opus and the Lacrosse are rebranded models.

[@SimpIyJon]

thankyou

[@niklar55]

I had to 'boost' for one minute before the charger would detect the battery, and start charging. Great! However, I'm sobbing for the batteries I've recently dumped, because I didnt know about this method the 'revive them.

[@neiltaylor4019]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 many thanks

[@gotsm9959]

Okay so pro tip is to get the nimh cold before recharge .

[@cybcarr]

Pretty sure it's gonna work on our Wii big Ben 5 years old batteries too . Just toke em apart, 1 out of 4 was showing null as above, now I'm charging all of them, will see in a couple if days after the refresh is done. I hope this method helps. Put together with a 1.5v new AA battery, it wasn't working. So need to charge the other 3 to jump start the 4th. wish me luck ;) Ps.: Looking for eneloop? But want cheaper ? Go for IKEA ladda. It's all the same. ;)

[@centralscrutinizer8369]

Actually, once or twice I just let a "null" battery sit in the charger for a while (overnight or so) - I have a similar charger to the one in the video - and it eventually started to charge.

[@fiazshah3838]

I have some NiMH batterys that show a voltage of over 1.2v however they don't work even after charging for long periods. Any ideas.

[@skysurfer]

If they show good voltage but don't operate the device you put them into, they may not be supplying enough current. You can have good voltage but still have insufficient current output. Assuming there is nothing wrong with the device you are powering, my only advice is to try an alternate charger if you have one available, or try another battery brand, replacing the ones you are having problems with. I have recycled nearly all of the Energizers like the one I show in this video and replaced them with Eneloops.

[@fiazshah3838]

skysurfer I have tried other chargers to no avail. Funnily enough though, all 4 of the batteries in question are of the Enegizer brand. Thanks for your reply.

[@Stefan-]

I have the same problem and havent come up with a solution yet at least. These batteries are quite old though, but i dont think they have been charged that many times that they should be worn out, they just suddenly gave up one after one after working fine.

[@Pro1er]

I agree, the Energizer batteries are junk. I've also had problems with the Duracell rechargeables. Now I only buy the Eneloops.

[@kg00dson]

Resurrected 4 old null batteries successfully. I tried with the barbeque tongs, but eventually found that a loop of tin foil and 50 seconds worked well for me.

[@rinavlette]

+Kelvin Goodson Nice. Whatever gets the job done!

[@LeifRudduck]

Thanks. This worked for me. I used a small strip of tinfoil instead of tongs, but the principle is the same.

[@skysurfer]

I salute your MacGyver instincts! Another viewer wrote to me and said they bent a paper clip to the necessary size when putting two AA batteries together and have that on standby in the battery drawer when needed.

[@brendao.7732]

I couldn't find a large paperclip, so I tried your foil method, and it WORKED! It took one of my batteries longer than 30 seconds, but my "null" batteries are now in the "smart charger" for a few charge and refresh cycles. Thanks for the idea...I didn't have any tongs, either :P

[@yolmak1793]

cool

[@madhumitasarkar5432]

Is it possible in case of 9V rechargeable battery?

[@skysurfer]

This concept will work with any voltage of NiMH battery that has fallen below the threshold of your smart charger as long as the battery has not been damaged. Your objective is to get just enough energy stored in the battery so that the charger can take over.

[@ChicoTooCold]

does this work for duracell batteries too?

[@skysurfer]

Duracell rechargeables only.

[@raygel93]

Would it work for 18650 li-ion battery?

[@skysurfer]

It should, as long as you are using another 18650 li-ion battery to supply the voltage. The 18650's are 3.7 volts, so using the AA's in the video as a source battery, which are a different voltage and current rating, would not be a good idea. Keep the two batteries the same and keep the time they are connected short. You just want enough of an energy transfer so that your charger can detect the battery properly and take over.

[@tarstarkusz]

This will only really work with really low drain operations. I just picked up some Duracell Japanese made 2400mahDX1500 cells, I can't find the eneloops anywhere local and don't feel like paying the shipping. These are the new ioncore Duracell and not the old DX1500 2000mah cells. I know some Duracell cells care rebranded Eneloops, but I don't think these are. Do you know these cells, if so, what's your experience with them.

[@skysurfer]

I'm not familiar with those new Duracell ion cores specifically, but you've got me curious now. Even the older type Duracells have been my second choice when compared to the Eneloops. I haven't had any problems with them. I'll have to check those out. Also, I see there are Eneloop "XX" batteries out now, but man they are pricey.

[@tarstarkusz]

skysurfer Some of the older 2000mAH Duracell cells (which were also labeled DX1500) were re-branded Eneloops and some weren't (I think you could tell by the color around the button). I had the ones that weren't and they were total junk, lasted less than a year before they would no longer power a 500mA draw (though there is a spike in the device when you are first turning it on, which is when they would fail). I saw a lot of good reviews for the ioncore that are on the market now and I made sure I was getting Japanese cells and not Chinese cells. Hopefully they won't let me down. I'm pretty sure Sanyo sold the brand and they might not be as good as the old ones.Why anyone would sell the best product on the market is beyond me. The only reasons I can think of is that retailers won't carry them (probably because of theft) and they were loosing market to pirates.

[@tarstarkusz]

+Frank Winkhorst How cold did it get? How did the battery perform in bitter cold?