Newest drill/driver does a desmond

My newest cordless drill/driver has got to the point where you have to put the battery on charge whenever you put it down - which means you have to have the charger with you at all times - rather spoils the idea really.

This is with the 'good' battery - the less good one was pretty near useless from new (I suppose the manufacturers found a good way to get rid of the batteries that failed QA), and of course a replacement battery costs more than a completely new unit.

Which is why I have a couple of past casualties lying around. What to do with them?

Ok, my solution is not cordless, and not as portable - but boy, feel the torque from those DC motors feeding off a real battery.