Protect batteries from freezing??

[suzook]

Whats everyone here do with there li-ion batteries in the winter? I have left my 18v makita batteries in my garage over winter for the last 12 years, and they are still going strong. I thought the freezing temps would ruin them?

 

[Nodakwalleyer]

I bring mine in for the winter, store them in basement with all the other batteries I pull out (cars, boat).

 

[LXCam]

Well unless your place gets down to -40F you're not going to have much of an issue. Regardless batteries aren't efficient when cold so keeping them in the house will get you much better performance.

 

[rlitman]

Freezing temps won't ruin them, but it will lower how much energy you will be able to pull from a full charge.
Also, you should allow the battery to return to room temperature before charging.

 

[Ign]

Ah, our weekly thread on this! Cool!

I do nothing. The cold does not hurt quality modern li-ion batteries. 12 years of them living in my shop thru Colo winters would seem to suggest I'm right. I only heat the shop if I'm working in there.

 

[JohnDeere1]

Somewhere I heard you can freeze bateriees to make them last longer but I keep mine in the house along with all my power tools just to be safe.

 

[kctyphoon]

Some have different chemistry. The m18 batteries are suppose to be designed to not be effected by freezing temps, while cheaper generic brands will have issues. This has been tested by one of the YouTube idiots.

 

[crewchief888]

drill and driver from the garage migrate to the basement once the temps get down around freezing. i'm not in the garage much once it gets cold outside.

in my service truck i keep my batteries in a small tool bag in the cab of the truck, and bring them in the house every night.

 

[sberry]

I leave them in the trucks, have worked them full out in the winter on buildings, never noticed the difference. Ran screws continuously till they were discharged, charged them at lunch and did it again.

 

[gdocktor3]

Cold batteries will discharge faster, but storing them in the cool will give them longer overall life, no?

 

[77thor]

I bring mine in for the winter, store them in basement with all the other batteries I pull out (cars, boat).

^^^ This.

 

[kctyphoon]

All the ones we have at work live inside the cabinets of the bucket trucks. I've had Milwaukee batteries through a couple winters without any issues. I would imagine other premium brands would be the same.