How to care for cordless tools

[Ign]

Milwaukee's page does not talk about charge cycles, so maybe it is no longer a condition of warranty
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/service/milwaukee-warranty/cordless-battery-pack

It does, however, mention normal wear and tear. Conceivably they could argue that excessive charge cycles is normal wear and tear. I'm not saying this is something they WOULD do, I really don't know.

That said, I'm personally not worried about it. Just 'cause a truck falls out of warranty at ** miles doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of useful life left. I'm sure some of my older batteries have thousands of charges and they're still going.

 

[DerekV]

I asked Milwaukee this exact question a few months ago, and this was the response I received:

"M18[emoji769] REDLITHIUM Battery Packs are warranted by ‘time’ only - they are warranted ‘from the date of purchase ‘; should ‘proof of purchase’ not be available at the time of a warranty request we would then use the manufacturing date of the product from the products’ ‘date code’ to determine the warranty period.

However, you are correct, we can obtain the number of cycles – charges /discharges / recharges that a M18[emoji769] REDLITHIUM Battery Pack has seen in its life and this could be used to evaluate a battery when a customer is requesting warranty after the 2 or 3 year warranty period had passed and it is felt minimal use / service was obtained - we take a customer’s feedback and viewpoint quite seriously. We will work with you should you have a problem or concern on any Milwaukee product."

So...just use them and don't think much of it. Good lithium batteries are very robust and resilient. IIRC the # of charges (warranty wise) are only considered for the older V18 batteries.

FWIW, I keep all of my M18 batteries stored at the 3rd bar of battery charge. Simply put them on the charger and pop them off right when the 4th light illuminates...the voltage will end up settling on the 3rd bar. That leaves me with plenty of charge (~75% or something) to do most tasks (for me) at any time, while also allowing very little downtime in order to get to a full state of charge when needed. I also try to avoid deep discharges aka running them at or near empty. Lastly, I keep them off the tools when not in use and try to rotate them around if possible. Doing all this keeps the batteries "less stressed", so they should end up maintaining "new battery" characteristics longer. However while I try to be somewhat conscientious of these little details, I don't sweat them too too much since the batteries are premium grade.

I ONLY do this because I don't use them everyday professionally. I just want to get the most life out of these things as possible so as to get MY money's worth. I don't know, time will tell. On the other hand, I know plenty of people who leave them charged/on the charger/run them down to nothing/cold weather/hot weather...stuff that's technically rough on the cells...everyday...professionally...for YEARS...and it's all good, no issues.

Do what works best for you. Don't overcomplicate things - use the tools!

 

[losvre]

I use cordless tools a few times a week. It's probably not enough for most people to justify buying the 20v Dewalt stuff I have, but I'm glad I did and basically just had to accept the fact that the batteries won't last forever. The good thing is the 3.0 ah batteries are now much cheaper because of the 4.0 & 5.0 ah batteries and can be had new for around $35-40 on eBay. I store all but two of my Ridgid batteries uncharged in hopes of them lasting longer. I should really sell some of them, but....

Other than cordless tools, I buy disposable battery items vs chargeable. Items like flashlights for instance because if power goes out and your flashlight is dead, well you're really screwed now. On the other hand, if the AA batteries are dead, its quick and easy to change them out.

You can actually use rechargeable AA instead of the normal ones. I know that the normal have 1.5 V vs 1.2 of rechargeable but does not make a difference as far as I have used them I. Flash lights and bike lights.

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[losvre]

Yeah one of the reasons why I'm glad I didn't go with an expensive tool brand. I use cordless tools so infrequently I don't think it would be worth in monetarily, regarding battery life.

As long as they are good quality Li-ion and they are stored half full then they should last quite long.

I have the Metabo SB 18LTX , 18V and use it a few times a year. Now towards the 5th year and all three batteries seems to be fine.

li-ion is better NOT to be charged full and kept as cool as possible during the charging that is why Metabo has air cooled chargers.

Inevitably they will die out because they have a certain number of cycles, charge/ discharge, that they can function.



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[M6erfan]

lithium batteries don't like to be too hot or too cold.

they also don't like being stored with no charge, optimally you store or leave batteries for any length of time more then overnight at 70%+ charge.

+1. This basically sums up what I was gonna post...

I store extra batteries in our mud room (climate Controlled), fully charged but not left on the charger. Basically, as one battery dies it gets swapped out for fresh one out of the mud room. Just charge the dead one and store till it's needed...

 

[FMC1959]

Thank you all. I'm a mechanic and love my new impacts, just kinda nervous they won't hold up like my air tools. I bought them bc were sort of remodeling the store and stuff is laying everywhere. Air hoses kept getting stuck. Gotta say my air tools rarely act up, I understand these usually don't last as long. But hey I figured what the heck, if I take them home and use them to make some real money it'll pay off.

Disregarding the batteries will die and need to be replaced at some point, air tools have much less that can go wrong with them compared to an electric corded or battery tool. Just the same, with minimal care your impacts should last a good amount of time. Like sberry stated, you are paying for the no cord/hose convenience.

 

[FMC1959]

For easy math you'd have to charge the same battery about once a day every day for three years, right? 333*3= ~1000.

365 days in a year.

Now I guess if you pulled it off, used for an hour, back to the charger, then pulled it off, used for 1/2 hour then put it back on, etc.....you could burn up 3 or more charge cycles in a day. Thus that 3 years could become a year if you did this EVERY DAY. This is the only thing I can think of wafrederick was referring to.

The thing about cycles, I believed the same thing for years. If you put a battery to charge and then take it off before fully charged and then put it back on the charger, I thought this would be 2 cycles.

After reading many diiferent sites on what constitutes a battery cycle, this is not the case...and we are talking Lithium here. They have an "awareness" of what 100% is. Be it tools, phones, laptops...etc, if you charge to 100%, use it down to 75%, then recharge it and repeat this 3 more times, that constitutes 1 cycle to the battery.

Keep in mind that a mfg telling you that you will get 300, 500, or 1000 cycles can vary quite a bit depending on the care. Heat is one of the worst offenders to shortening the life. I have 8 Makita LXT batteries that I have had between 7-9 years. I had a 9th that died on me 2 years ago.

I know that if I bring my Makita batteries to a Makita center, they put them on a charger that is hooked up to a PC and they can tell me how many cycles each has gone through, and can tell if one of the cells is dying, among other things.

Pretty sure any lithium on the market these days have advanced circuitry, as do the tools (or other devices) that use the batteries.

 

[JUNK-MAN]

Mine get brought in when temps drop below 40, Besides that they just get wiped of with WD-40.

 

[wafrederick]

I call BS. Do you have written proof of this from Milwaukee?

Your statement of batteries for "the Milwaukee Fuel line" furthers my skepticism as Fuel has absolutely nothing to do with batteries. At all. In any way.

You MIGHT be thinking of charge cycles. Batteries are warrantied for three years or 1000 charge cycles. If you put it on the charger at 3 of 4 bars it will re-charge and tick off a charge cycle. Even so it's difficult for most users to do 1000 charges in 3 years.

Real tool reviews found this out and was mentioned in one of his videos on tool warranties.Skip to the 8:36 mark and is mentioned explained very well,

 

[Ign]

Real tool reviews found this out and was mentioned in one of his videos on tool warranties.Skip to the 8:36 mark and is mentioned explained very well,

I actually appreciate your insights in Free Parking on vehicle repair even though some are disparaging to you there.

But here you seem to suffer comprehension issues....he says EXACTLY what I surmised. It says NOTHING of your original post about "leaving them on the charger" and still has nothing to do w Fuel.

He is speaking SOLELY of charge cycles and other replies in this thread seem to indicate that is no longer an issue.

But you could take a Milwaukee battery, put it on the charger and leave it there for 2.99 years and still have warranty. Milwaukee says nothing of leaving batteries on the charger.

And I'm not sure what the initial rambling of a handyman club was about.

I'm sorry to call you out -- I honestly suspect you're very smart and a helluva mechanic who just struggles w the written word (that's ok - I **** at math & science). But much of the criticism you receive here is because of perceived half-truths or your lack of data to back your statements.

That said, thank you for the video link, it shows - I think - where you were initially coming from.

 

[kctyphoon]

You know it's actually a good question. I have about 10 Milwaukee M18/M12 tools and I haven't really done anything to maintain them per say. It will be interesting to see what others have to say though. I live in a warm dry climate so I just wipe 'em down when I get them dirty but maybe someone in a colder, wetter climate will have some recs for you. I think Kctyphoon lives on the east coast and he puts his Milwaukee lineup through their paces out in the field......

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In all honesty, my home collection doesn't see a lot of use these days.. Most of my stuff at work gets used occasionally, and they are really there to make my life easier when I can use them. The one thing that gets used a lot is my M18 Fuel 7/16 hex drive high torque impact. I haven't used a corded impact wrench in a long time. It's get used to drill through telephone poles, attach and remove hardware for cables. The difference between the 7/16 hex impact, and say your standard 1/2 square mechanic type is the utility version see a lot longer sustained use. A stubborn pole can can have that impact running for a minute or so just to drill an 11/16" hole with a ship auger bit that's 18" long. I assume that's why the torque specs are dumbed down a bit compared to the 1/2" square drive version. I seriously do nothing to maintain the cordless stuff other than try to keep them clean. My m18 sawzall will routinely get covered in mud - and I just wipe it down when I'm done. The tools and batteries are kept on the two trucks I'm assigned to, and I don't do anything special to try and keep them warm in the winter. So far, I haven't had any issue with them not wanting to work in the cold weather. The only cordless stuff that gets used long enough to really fully drain batteries is the impact and lights. I just throw them back on the charger and they get tossed back into the bag.

One thing I do, is make sure everything is stored in a way to protect the tools. I use old Dewalt cases for the sawzall, hammer drill and impact driver. It keeps them from getting crushed, and prevents anything like gasoline or chainsaw oil from getting to them while stored in the cabinets. I had a 45lb hydraulic jackhammer fall off its hooks in the cabinets, and the Dewalt cases kept the tools from getting damaged. The Dewalt cases are smaller than Milwaukee's, and I find them in the dumpsters at work from time to time. I just cut out the plastic walls inside the case to make the Milwaukee stuff fit.

The big impact, some batteries, m18 lantern, search light - all get stored in a soft contractor bag that's in a cabinet where they can't get damaged. The m18 tripod light, and dual powerd flood light get stored in a cabinet I added to the truck, so they are safe and isolated. Other than common sense stuff - I really do nothing to keep these things going. They just do it on their own.

I honestly wish I could use them more often, but I do so many different things at work I can be on one job that last 2 months and never have a need for any. Likewise, I can have two months where that impact gets used everyday. Also - I operate two completely different kinds of trucks. I'm the only person in my group that even has two trucks dedicated to one person. So I'm basically doing a bit of everything, compared to some guys that only work out of a bucket, or only operate a digger derrick. I won't claim to be the best at either - but I'm very at home in either one. That allows me to grow 3 cordless tool collections - one for each truck, and my personal stuff at home. Needless to say I have ALOT of tools.. More than one person should own. If anyone has a tool question, or needs to borrow something - they all know to come to me. At one time my company started a project dedicated to removing old poles that were hit / replaced, and were never removed. I had a supervisor let me order almost every tool through Grainger (for budget reasons) using a corporate account to supply about 6 or 7 different trucks. I must have easily spent 35 / 40 grand or more of their money.