Rebuilding Cordless Drill Battery Pack

[ComputerWizKid]

I have a craftsman (Sears Crapsman ) cordless drill and the battery's (It came with two) are of pretty much no use anymore because of the Nickel Cadium Memory Effect (Stupid Drill bought it in 2005 so I would think it would be new enough to use another battery type)

First of all how do I open the thing? It uses what looks like a Torx screw with a piece in the middle

here are pictures I took of the screws and battery pack

http://images.dr3vil.com//files3/235/IMG_0836.jpg

http://images.dr3vil.com//files3/235/IMG_0845.jpg

http://images.dr3vil.com//files3/235/IMG_0847.jpg

Its a 12Volt drill and I can solder ok (Not the best at it)
and once I get it open what do I do?

1. Figure out what type of battery to get
2. Figure out how they are wired (Series Or Parallel)
3. Figure out how to charge the new rebuilt pack
4. Is it worth it?
I really like the drill i have been using it as a wired drill for now (Hooked it up to the 12 Volt line on a PC Power Supply)

 

[kranky]

See if these folks can do it.

 

[wedi42]

5. Can your charger handle Ni-Mh?

edit: those look like dewalt batteries. see if you can borrow a 12v NiMh battery from a friend. i bet you can get replacement dewalt batteries a lot cheaper than crapsman

 

[DayLaPaul]

You're looking for a Torx "security" bit. You can buy them online or from Sears. I don't think Home Depot or Lowes carry them.