M18 battery storage long-term

[teknikfrog]

I ended up with 1 more M18 12.0ah battery than I need (long story).

These are a LOT of money so I'd probably like to store it for 2-3 years until I need it.

I understand the conventional wisdom is to charge it to 50% and leave it, but I'm not sure how much that applies specifically to the M18 batteries. They ship them on 25% so I would think that is where they store best, in Milwaukee's opinion. So should I:

- Leave it in the blister pack on a shelf
- Open it, charge to halfway, leave it on a shelf
- Forget all that and just put it into rotation

Thoughts?

 

[Rabid Badger]

Sell it. The 12Ah batteries are notorious for going bad, especially with minimal or no use.

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

Use it. Rotate it in with your other batteries.

 

[teknikfrog]

Sell it. The 12Ah batteries are notorious for going bad, especially with minimal or no use.

No. I need and use them.

 

[Rabid Badger]

No. I need and use them.

Then I'd recommend putting it in the rotation.

 

[darkzero]

M18 9.0s commonly failed also. I heard depends of what type of label design the packs had. Don't know the truth in that but my 9.0 is the newer label style. Got it in 2018, still working fine. My 12.0 is from 2019, also still working fine (*knock on wood).

I try to rotate them along with my 8.0 but I don't really have much that is power hungry, just a blower & an angle grinder. The grinder I rarely use. I only got the 12.0 cause it was a great deal (HD hack). 8.0 HO I got in case my 9.0 ever died but it hasn't yet.

I have 6 M18 5.0, 4 of them from 2015, still working fine. I do rotate them, 2 ever 2 months along with my M12 3.0s. My other M18s & M12s don't get rotated as much as I would like.

I finally got me a battery discharger/load tester, been wanting one for a while. For li-ion storage I discharge them 3.7-3.8v per cell so my M18 packs I'll discharge set to 18.5v cause they'll come back up a few tenths of a volt depending on their condition.

 

[autobon7]

M18 9.0s commonly failed also. I heard depends of what type of label design the packs had. Don't know the truth in that but my 9.0 is the newer label style. Got it in 2018, still working fine. My 12.0 is from 2019, also still working fine (*knock on wood).

I try to rotate them along with my 8.0 but I don't really have much that is power hungry, just a blower & an angle grinder. The grinder I rarely use. I only got the 12.0 cause it was a great deal (HD hack). 8.0 HO I got in case my 9.0 ever died but it hasn't yet.

I have 6 M18 5.0, 4 of them from 2015, still working fine. I do rotate them, 2 ever 2 months along with my M12 3.0s. My other M18s & M12s don't get rotated as much as I would like.

I finally got me a battery discharger/load tester, been wanting one for a while. For li-ion storage I discharge them 3.7-3.8v per cell so my M18 packs I'll discharge set to 18.5v cause they'll come back up a few tenths of a volt depending on their condition.

Where did you get the discharger?

 

[darkzero]

I

Where did you get the discharger?

Through Aliexpress directly from ATorch. Can get it on Amazon & ebay but double the cost.

 

[autobon7]

I

Through Aliexpress directly from ATorch. Can get it on Amazon & ebay but double the cost.

I see several can you send a link?

 

[Odd-job]

How long are you guys leaving the batteries idle? I think I cycle mine every 1-2 months and have 5.0s still going strong going on 10 years living in Norcal. We have power outages every now and then so its nice to have the fleet of batteries fully charged and ready to go. Also can go through a lot of batteries when dual wielding blowers, but sometimes a few weeks pass before the motivation to clean up the yard builds up.

That discharger looks pretty nifty. Have a 4 battery M18 power supply that does a good job draining batteries when hooked up to a space heater.

 

[darkzero]

I see several can you send a link?

This is the one I purchased, ATorch DL24 150W Option w/ Box for $29.45 (product list 3) shipped.

There are various models that have more or less features. Mine is not the newest model, I choose it for various reasons. The newer one is rated for 180W & has a RGB LED fan. There are also modular ones where you can add modules to increase load capacity.