cordless tool storage question

[farmer bill]

A question for the crew here.

What are the drawbacks/ negatives of storing cordless tools, (drill drivers, sawz-all, impact driver, etc) in a plastic totes up off the concrete in a steel shed that is not heated or cooled?

The batteries would be kept in the house.

thanks

 

[Trapps]

Is it a dry environment? If so, you might get away with it. A damp environment is a no go, IMO. Moisture is the enemy.

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

I highly doubt you would have any issues. My garage is only heated when im out there in the winter and all my cordless stuff is out there with batteries. As long as the stuff is dry when you put it away and the shed is dry. If you leave a tub of stuff in a camper or garage it’s always stayed dry for me

 

[sparky 1971]

I keep everything including batteries in either my garage or service truck. Temps range from -20 overnight in January to 100 plus in July-August. I don't see any issues with keeping everything in plastic totes. The cases the tools come in are plastic. Mine are either sitting on a shelf or stuffed in a drawer. No cases except for the hammer drills, which have to come inside overnight in the winter if I know I need it or them the next day.


EDIT: I have to add that my batteries will not charge when cold. I don't know what the temp is where they won't but I do all my charging in the house over the winter once the temps start getting into the 30's.

 

[joseywales]

Temperature change is often overlooked. If the temp changes enough, condensation occurs and that means moisture.

if you can create passive ventilation, or better, active ventilation (say with a temp controlled exhaust fan), and it would help.

 

[Al Borland]

Ziplock bags stop condensation on the tools.

 

[farmer bill]

the shed is not insulated, just a pole shed with a concrete floor.

probably not ideal for moisture, but not terrible, probably similar to outside moisture most of the time.

Perhaps ziplock bags and rubbermaid roughneck totes would keep the moisture at bay?

 

[joseywales]

Someone has to explain to me how ziplock bags help with moisture.

sure, they keep tools from getting wet. However, if you don’t eliminate temperature swings, the tools will go from cold to hot, causing condensation within the bag and tools will rust.

old timers would wrap Lionel trains in newspapers, which took the paint off the older trains, or bled ink on to them. The best solution was wax paper, but with the ends open, so they could BREATHE.

 

[Lucid Moments]

If you are concerned about moisture get some reusable desiccant bags to put in the tote with the tools and you should be golden.

 

[seber]

The plastic boxes will be more than enough to deal with moisture and condensation. They have in fact just the right amount of ventilation for the purpose. It's how I keep my seldom used electric tools in my unheated garage and no doubt millions of others do the same. Those boxes are used by the manufacturers for a reason, and it's not just cost.

 

[jonshonda]

Ziplock bags stop condensation on the tools.

They can if the tools were put on the bags in the ambient air. But issues arise even then.

Back in my photog days I found that if I was shooting outdoors in cold temps, I needed to leave the zip lock bags outdoors, and put the gear in the bags outdoors. Then bring everything indoors in the bags to warm up to ensure as little moisture as possible.

Granted this was likely totally unnecessary l, but when you are toting $10k worth of gear around it can't hurt....right?

 

[JradM]

I keep my cordless tools in my unheated garage or my wood-stove heated shop. It's probably not ideal, but I've yet to have any issues. The tools in my shop are in a rack, but otherwise exposed to the air in the shop. The garage tools are in drawers.

It's not that I think I'm doing the best job protecting them - it's that I can't be bothered to do more when there are no signs of deterioration over several years.

 

[duneslider]

I have been keeping my tools in the back of my truck, or in the cab of the truck for 20+ years and haven't seen any evidence of my battery tools suffering from that. We will see below 0 temps at times but extremely common to be below freezing most nights in the winter. I am still using a makita drill and impact that I got maybe 15 years ago and it was in the back of the truck for maybe 7 years and is now in my garage full time. As a note, one of the batteries I got with that drill set is just starting to show signs of failing.

 

[carmantl]

All of my work tools reside in the compartments of my 9 foot utility bed. Some of these tools are approaching 20 years of use. I toss the boxes or bags and store all of them loose so I can fit about 3 to 4 times as many tools into my available space. 4 hammerdrills, 2 impact wrenches, 4 impact drivers, 2 screwguns, 2 grinders, 2 bandsaws, 2 rotary hammers, one circ saw, one sawzall, all cordless with 3 chargers and 16 batteries. Also one of each of the above in a corded variety. Pretty much everything is Milwaukee. They have all exceeded their 5 year warranties. The truck is not garaged so it sees 0 to 120 degrees.

 

[Badgerstate]

A question for the crew here.

What are the drawbacks/ negatives of storing cordless tools, (drill drivers, sawz-all, impact driver, etc) in a plastic totes up off the concrete in a steel shed that is not heated or cooled?

The batteries would be kept in the house.

thanks

As long as they stay dry, youre fine. Id even say the batteries would be fine out in the garage. You dont need to keep them in the house.