...The chargers. Every one went bad short order. No red light anymore and they seem to do zero charging...
Many of the "smart" chargers (smarter than the old Ni-Cad
fixed-current chargers where you had to guess when the
battery was charged, at any rate) will only switch into
"charge" mode when they detect a battery of the proper
voltage on the other end. If the connector or the battery
is bad, they won't attempt to charge. Batteries can go bad
if they are left uncharged for a long time.
Probably the most common failure for the chargers is the
plug that goes into the radio. If the wires aren't well
connected, they break off and it goes open circuit. Replacing
the plug, and providing better strain relief, might be a
simple fix, although the thin wire in the cord can be difficult
to work with at times.
One thing that threw me for a loop with a couple newer
radios (after 1990?) where the charger plugs into the
radio, rather than into the battery pack, is that I had to
turn the radio on to charge the battery. I still forget to
do that on occasion, and the battery doesn't charge.