There are many ways that you can use your cordless drill. Many projects around the house can use these drills and take proper care of it, and the battery that helps power the drill will help this tool last for longer. Knowing how to store your cordless drill battery makes it easier to power up the drill for your next home improvement project.
To store your cordless drill batteries, it is important to charge it up well, store in a dry location, avoid metal storage, extreme temperatures, and moisture, and store in a case. While some batteries are fine if left in the charger, this will often shorten the life of your cordless drill battery.
Taking the proper care of your cordless drill battery is important to help it work for longer and to ensure you can work on any project you want. This article will look at some simple steps you can use to store the battery to help it last for as long as you need it.
Do Not Drain the Battery
It may be tempting to use the battery until it is all out of power.
This is bad for the battery and makes it work harder than it should.
Always recharge the battery after use instead of waiting until it is all drained.
Remove the Battery
This may seem simple, but always take the battery out of the tool before storing. Leaving it in the tool causes a higher self-discharge rate that will harm it.
Take the battery out after each use and store it in a safe spot. The batter case on a shelf is the best way to store the battery.
Store in a Dry Location
Like with any other type of battery, your drill battery can be ruined if it gets wet or is near moisture for too long.
Do not leave the battery in a damp location or one that ever gets wet.
Even a little moisture is enough to cause your battery to stop working.
Avoid Metal in Storage
Anything metal could bridge the contacts and may cause a short.
In some cases, if the metal is strong enough, it could cause a fire.
Do not store your cordless drill, or the battery, in a toolbox with lots of metal objects.
Avoid Extreme Temperatures
Cold temperature may help some batteries, but you don’t want the temperature to get too low even on these batteries.
Too much heat will be hard on any cordless drill battery. This means you should never store the cordless drill in a greenhouse, garage, van, truck, or car.
Find a place that can maintain a similar temperature all year long.
Protect Your Battery
The more protection you provide the battery, the longer it will last. It is best to use the protective plastic cap when you try to store it.
Never drop the battery. If you see visible cracks, this often indicates internal damage.
The best container for storing the battery will be in a container you can seal to ensure the moisture is not there. The manufacturer’s case is good as well.
Store at the Proper Charge Level
There are different guidelines based on the type of battery you plan to use.
The NiCd and the NiMH batteries need to be stored close to 40% charge. This helps to minimize age-related loss when you store. It is possible to store a nickel-based battery without harm at a completely discharged state.
Li-Ion batteries can be stored at any level. The best is somewhere between 30 and 40% because it produces the least amount of self-discharge.
Will the Storage Affect the Charge Level of the Battery?
Yes, the storage will affect this. All batteries will self-discharge over time. The batteries that do the best for this are Li-Ion cells. They can maintain the same or similar charge level for the longest while you store them.
In addition to losing some power with short storage times, longer periods of storage may result in a loss of capacity in the battery.
The best way to avoid this loss between uses is to keep the storage temperature above freezing, and lower than 75° Fahrenheit.
Can I Leave the Battery on the Charger?
In most cases, the answer is no. This makes it hard to keep the battery safe and can cause the self-discharge rate to get worse.
With that in mind, there are some chargers and batteries you can keep connected for short periods.
It depends on your cordless drill and the type of battery you have.
When to Leave the Batteries Connected?
Many of the newer chargers are made with some features that allow you to leave the batteries inside.
For example, DeWalt has designed its chargers with a maintenance mode. This is important because it allows you to keep the charger’s drill battery until it is ready to use.
Before you leave your drill battery in the charger, there are a few key things to consider.
These allow the battery to stay safe in the charger and include:
- Trickle charging helps to offset the self-discharge of the battery.
- The charge level testing, and the power cut-off help to ensure that overcharging doesn’t happen.
If your charger has both of these features, you can likely leave the batteries connected to the charger without issues.
When Not to Leave the Batteries Connected?
It is always important to read the instructions from the drill manufacturers before deciding to leave the battery connected.
Every manufacturer wants the best for their tools and will give recommendations that keep the drill and battery lasting longer.
If the manufacturer does not recommend keeping the battery connected during storage, it is best to disconnect the battery and store it properly.
This will keep the battery safe and working for longer.
Should I Leave the Drill Battery Plugged In?
While you can choose to leave the battery constantly plugged in, it is not a good idea if you want to make the battery have a longer life. There are two main reasons to avoid this, including:
The battery will have a natural self-discharge rate. This means they lose power over time, even when not in use. If you keep them plugged in, this increases the self-discharge rate.
The potential for tool faults and accidents will increase when you leave the batteries plugged in.
It is always better to unplug the batteries and store them safely. Take the time to charge the battery properly before putting away if necessary.
If the battery is fine and doesn’t need to be charged, it is fine to place them in a sealed container or their case until you need to store it again.
If you are in a hurry, put the drill away and recharge before using it next.
Some nickel-based batteries will lose close to 40% of their charge in the first two days of storage, so it is a good idea to set aside time before using the battery on a project for it to charge.
Conclusion
It is important to store your cordless drill batteries properly. This will help the battery to last longer and work for all of your projects.
While each battery is a little bit different, and some newer models may allow for more leeway with the way you store it, it is best to store the battery in a safe container, away from metal and any water that may ruin it.
Storing in the right place, instead of leaving the battery out or charging it all the time will help make the battery work for all of your projects.
Cheers, tools owners!