Left battery impact in the rain

[Farmer888]

So, got distracted..ended up leaving my m18 fuel out over night through an inch of rain. It still works on a diferent battery but the battery that got wet discharged.. do i let it dry out for a week then try and charge it? Or is it toast?
Stupid mistake, i just hope the impact keeps working and doesnt have issues later.

Not going to use the impact for a bit either ti let it dry thoroughly. Might pick up another battery just to let that one dry long as possible

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I would blow it out with air right away, then use hair dryer and put it in sunlight.
Letting it dry slowly you'll likely get corrosion.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

[rlitman]

I would blow it out with air right away, then use hair dryer and put it in sunlight.
Letting it dry slowly you'll likely get corrosion.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

+1

As for the tool, brushless motors tend to deal well from this sort of exposure. I wouldn't get too worried.

 

[jgromada]

i think if it were me i would try to open it to get it fully dried out or otherwise it will always have moisture inside it. If you don't want to do something like that then i would consider it a write off.

I had a small digital camera once that got dunked in a pool. I immediately acted, took it apart and dried out and got it to operate again but the primary lense got cloudy from the moisture.

 

[bbbarracuda]

I've never tried to dry out a battery. I have had good luck with electronics in general by putting them in rice for a few days. It does work.

 

[RTM]

I imagine the bag of rice trick could help here after the quick compressed air blow.

 

[4xdog]

I've used dessicator packs (either the small ones that come with a lot of electronics or larger ones I've gotten from the industrial labs I've worked in) to recover a lot of things that have gone swimming.

The last thing was a set of Apple EarPods that went through the wash forgotten in a shirt pocket. A couple of weeks in the dessicator and they're back to normal.

I have a well-sealed aluminum Zarges box in which I keep a bunch of desiccant packs, along with stored photographic gear. I regenerate the desiccants by drying them slowly in an oven at low temperature.

Rice sorta works, but it doesn't have the desiccating ability of products like silica gel (one of the most common chemical in those little packets).

Obviously, exposing the packs to moist air quickly leads them to be exhausted. Keep them in a glass or metal container (not plastic) to prolong their activity between drying them out again.

 

[visionguru]

So, got distracted..ended up leaving my m18 fuel out over night through an inch of rain. It still works on a diferent battery but the battery that got wet discharged.. do i let it dry out for a week then try and charge it? Or is it toast?
Stupid mistake, i just hope the impact keeps working and doesnt have issues later.

Not going to use the impact for a bit either ti let it dry thoroughly. Might pick up another battery just to let that one dry long as possible

I'd be very cautious with compromised Li-Ion batteries:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448997

 

[Farmer888]

I'll try and grab some rice to dry it out. I'm just afraid of it ruining my charger, it's expensive enough if this battery is no good, don't need to kill the charger too

 

[ddawg16]

Open up the battery case to get the water out quick

But, if they are Li cells and any of the drop below 2 Vdc, it's toast. Li's are gone if they go below 2v...

 

[ChevyEFI]

I have had some success with saving cell phones by:
Opening and drying as much as possible with air.
Then switching between a bag of rice in the sun, and the freezer, on the hour. This will be fine for your M18 batt and impact.

 

[MikeF2316]

I would open up everything I could to dump the water and let them dry before reassembling.

 

[speed bump]

At work we regularly have Milwaukee tools that get dunked or wet. Blow em out, let em sit overnight and put them back in service.

 

[mille755]

Damp rid, the stuff for closets works better than rice and is the easiest way to get a large amount of desicant.

 

[sk farmer]

most of you guys are way over reacting. it got left out in the rain. the guy didn't leave it in the lake overnight,

thoroughly dry it out and put it back to work.

 

[joes169]

As a contractor, we drop at least one impact or drill in water every 6 months or so. Always throw them in a bag of rice overnight. Have only lost 1 impact to water so far, never lost a battery to water......

 

[Lotek]

IR2135 snickers in pneumatic...

But seriously, put it in a bag of rice.

 

[hangfirew8]

Open up the battery case to get the water out quick

But, if they are Li cells and any of the drop below 2 Vdc, it's toast. Li's are gone if they go below 2v...

Maybe.

Indeed, many batteries and chargers will not even try to charge a LiIon that is totally discharged.

You can get around this by using a "dumb" charger or power supply. On some pack, you can force feed it through the outside terminal. On others you may have to open it up. You don't need, or want, full voltage to get it going. Half is a good place to start.

Once woken up, it can be fully charged on the normal charger.

-HF

 

[Ton ton]

Great thread, OP.

 

[Rodango]

I like the Damp Rid idea, already suggested. It's a one-way product, don't believe you can re-use the part that absorbs water. Keep it out of direct contact with anything you care about, and watch for it's dust, too.

Silica gel is two way: you can heat it in a low oven for some time to dry it for re-use. They sell it in various kinds of packs, like perforated tin for example. Good stuff to have in your safe, or sealed (Pelican) box of, say, cameras and lenses or studio strobes.

Two photos show a silica gel pack made from saved packets and a pick of a commercially available re-usable gel pack.