tig welding BATTERIES!!!!!! WTF?

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my battery packs for a Milwaukee cordless drill wont charge anymore.  I think its a combination of not using them enough and leaving them out in the garage (it got down to the 40's at night).  now they wont charge anymore.  i put them in the charger and nothing lights up.  anyway, i searched the WWW and found out that you can zap them and sometime that might get them to start to hold charge again.  hey, what do you know, i have a tig welder in the garage, might as well try this instead of spending $$ on batteries.  they're dead anyway.  has anyone ever tried this?  if so, how much amperage did you use?  i figured out which is positive and which is negative.  does this really work?Milwaukee!  my Ching-wa-chang-chong  Coleman drill from costco doesnt have this problem.
Reply:If they discharge to zero volts I have had to parallel with a good battery for a few seconds to get a bit of voltage into them before the charger would recognize them.  this worked for me, but your battery could explode etc,  -- ymmv!!!the welder trick is if you have a cell shorted with a whiskerfred-- fredLincoln 180C MIG
Reply:the way I used to recover nicad batteries is to zap each individual cell with a car battery. Positive to Positive and Negative to Netative for no more than 1 second. This method would usually bring back 80% of the batteries I tried, but won't work on nickle metal or lithium batteries, once those go dead they stay dead.Synchowave 180SD  Bernard 3500SS water coolerMillermatic 200Parker Plasma Tec 40dvOperating Engineers Local 12
Reply:Ditto what Bruce TS said. Not all batteries are the same. You really should find out of what kind of battery you are kicking. Some yelp, some bite.
Reply:" won't work on nickle metal or lithium batteries, once those go dead they stay dead"Then what does it work with?  Carbon? Alkaline?  Just curious ... I have about 80 rechargables (photographer) of all types.
Reply:Here's the deal with this "bumping" "batteries" with a "welder" issue that keeps rearing it's head on the internet. There are single cell batteries, multi-cell batteries, lead/alloy acid batteries, NiCad batteries, Lithium Ion batteries, big batteries, teeny tiny batteries, battery strings/packs containing one or more of those combo's. Too many types of batteries and packs to list.There are DC welders, AC welders, wire feed welders, tig welders. Welders set for DC+, welders set on DC-, welders that put out 70 volts, 40 volts, variable from 15 to 35 volts. Welders that might be set for 1 amp, some that might be set on 400 amps. Too many welder configurations to list.Do I hit my D-8 battery with 15 volts DC at 5 amps from my Tig at the proper polarity or my hearing aid battery with 70 volts from my AC stick at 225 amps??The answer is a) yes, if you know what you are doingb) no, neverand c) Oh My GAWD !!!!!!!!In many respects there is little difference between some welders at certain settings and a battery charger designed for a specific battery and battery group.  In many many respects there are life altering differences. The internet is not the place to give or look for advice about reviving A battery with A welder.