Does winter temps affect cordless batteries?

[stevep1954]

i live in Minnesota and was wondering if i should be keeping my cordless batteries in the house during the freezing temps of winter? does below zero temps cause premature battery decline? i mainly have dewalt 20 volt tools. thanks

 

[LB-1911]

Yes -

Power Tools - Best Practices for Long Battery Pack Life


If the batteries are too hot (105°F or higher) or too cold (below 40°F), the batteries will not take a full charge.

Attempting to charge batteries outside the 40°F-105°F range can result in a permanent loss of run-time.

When batteries are being charged and discharged, a chemical reaction is taking place, and if it is too hot or cold the chemical reaction is disturbed causing a loss of run-time.


Source of above @
http://www.dewalt.com/featured-articles/best-practices-for-long-battery-pack-life.aspx

 

[woody 73]

YES, YES, YES...I keep them inside the cold just kills those batteries. If you need power in your man cave during the cold use corded power tools; or bring in a battery from your warm house use the tool, then when you are done take the battery not the tool back inside the house.

 

[crewchief888]

i keep all my "home" cordless stuff in the house all year round.

i have a few cordless batteries, (milwaukee 12v & 18v) in my service truck.

i bring them in the house at night once the weather turns cold, and i put them in the cab, instead of leaving them in the service body during the day.

 

[redmed]

i live in Minnesota and was wondering if i should be keeping my cordless batteries in the house during the freezing temps of winter? does below zero temps cause premature battery decline? i mainly have dewalt 20 volt tools. thanks

After reading this I negotiated a place with my wife in our mud room for my Lithium-Ion batteries. Seems hot is also bad for these little guys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery

Charging temperature limits for Li-ion are stricter than the operating limits. Lithium-ion chemistry performs well at elevated temperatures but prolonged exposure to heat reduces battery life.

Li‑ion batteries offer good charging performance at cooler temperatures and may even allow 'fast-charging' within a temperature range of 5 to 45 °C (41 to 113 °F).[56][better source needed] Charging should be performed within this temperature range. At temperatures from 0 to 5 °C charging is possible, but the charge current should be reduced. During a low-temperature charge the slight temperature rise above ambient due to the internal cell resistance is beneficial. High temperatures during charging may lead to battery degradation and charging at temperatures above 45 °C will degrade battery performance, whereas at lower temperatures the internal resistance of the battery may increase, resulting in slower charging and thus longer charging times.[56][better source needed]

Consumer-grade lithium-ion batteries should not be charged at temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F). Although a battery pack may appear to be charging normally, electroplating of metallic lithium can occur at the negative electrode during a subfreezing charge, and may not be removable even by repeated cycling. Most devices equipped with Li-ion batteries do not allow charging outside of 0-45 °C for safety reasons, except for mobile phones that may allow some degree of charging when they detect an emergency call in progress.[57]

 

[bcradio]

I keep mine inside also... way too expensive not to

 

[CNGsaves]

Yes for cordless . . . . especially Lithium Ion - - - - bring those in house.

Now for other batteries (ie NiCad such as size D, C, 9v, AA, AAA etc) then cold weather (but not severe freezing) is actually good to prolong life. I keep all my spare batteries like that in the frig.

 

[wild cowboy]

After reading this I negotiated a place with my wife in our mud room for my Lithium-Ion batteries.

good grief! - I will never understand these modern relationships where the woman is not submissive (feminine) and must be negotiated with, that just seems crazy-train!

Just TELL your woman that the lithium batteries will be stored inside. period.

she will respect you even more for your man-up, if she is a good one!

 

[jjjrmx5]

Yes and yes.

good grief! - I will never understand these modern relationships where the woman is not submissive (feminine) and must be negotiated with, that just seems crazy-train!

Just TELL your woman that the lithium batteries will be stored inside. period.

she will respect you even more for your man-up, if she is a good one!

Or, as a Hooters waitress one told me, "What do you say to a girl with two black eyes?
Nothing. You done told her twice already."

Oh the irony. But I did LOL.

But to the OP, yes teh batteries will better serve you if kept , charged and stored in a warm temp.

 

[Tool_Girl]

Wild Cowboy has a great point!!!

 

[GortonsFisherman]

good grief! - I will never understand these modern relationships where the woman is not submissive (feminine) and must be negotiated with, that just seems crazy-train!

Just TELL your woman that the lithium batteries will be stored inside. period.

she will respect you even more for your man-up, if she is a good one!

Post of the week, there!

 

[sickjuice]

i live in Minnesota and was wondering if i should be keeping my cordless batteries in the house during the freezing temps of winter? does below zero temps cause premature battery decline? i mainly have dewalt 20 volt tools. thanks

I'm going to go against the grain, NO the cold dose not do permanent damage.

I live north of you in Canada and have been using milwaukee lithium tools since they first came out 6+ years ago and have never had a problem. I use my power tools at work every day and I have better things to do than to climb in the back of my truck when I get home every day and pull a dozen batteries off my tools. Temps are in the -20C range up here right now and I use my tools in those temps every day. I still have two of my very first milwaukee lithium batteries, the ones before they even called them M18. I think their 1.5AH and they still work fine

 

[Ign]

There's no way I could fit all my batteries in the house & no way I'd want to. My li-ions have lived in the shop for, well forever, and all seems well. Maybe I'm losing a bit of battery life and not realizing it (shrug). But I can't heat 40x50x14 (19' peak) all the time and I can't haul my batteries out each morning and in each night. Sometimes the chargers are flashing red/green after the cold nights, which would suggest to me it's figured out the battery is too cold and just disconnects from it. Once the shop heats up I just pull the battery off and put it back on, error flashing stops.

 

[Ign]

I'm going to go against the grain, NO the cold dose not do permanent damage.

I live north of you in Canada and have been using milwaukee lithium tools since they first came out 6+ years ago and have never had a problem. I use my power tools at work every day and I have better things to do than to climb in the back of my truck when I get home every day and pull a dozen batteries off my tools. Temps are in the -20C range up here right now and I use my tools in those temps every day. I still have two of my very first milwaukee lithium batteries, the ones before they even called them M18. I think their 1.5AH and they still work fine

I was typing as this got posted. Glad to see another with this mindset!

People act like batteries are super expensive but there's always promos for free batts or incentives to buy full kits vs stand-alone tools, so I seem to always have more batteries than I need. If a battery or two does die it just gives me an incentive to shop full kits; with so many offerings from Milwaukee there's always some mildly exotic-but-useful tool I want.

Incidentally, the only batteries that have ever died on me were the old V28s, after 5-ish years they just got weak.

 

[redmed]

good grief! - I will never understand these modern relationships where the woman is not submissive (feminine) and must be negotiated with, that just seems crazy-train!

Just TELL your woman that the lithium batteries will be stored inside. period.

she will respect you even more for your man-up, if she is a good one!

She has her domain and I have mine. She went out in the garage once and organized. Combined my two son's tool's and stuff with mine. When I came home she proudly showed how she had organized everything. After that she never moves anything in the garage, polebarn, office or workshop. I leave her stuff alone especially the seasonal decorations she is always changing.