A tip for all...

[Goose]

I hope this doesn't open another whole can of worms, but some might find it a useful tip.

When I tried out my new cordless snowblower on Saturday it did everything my gasoline powered one would have done, plus it was a lot quieter with no starting hassles. Then I went to charge the batteries. The first one charged up OK. When I put the second one on the charger yesterday morning, all I got was a red light on the charger, instead of the usual green charging light.

I got busy during the day with Christmas company, and gave it no more thought. Then last night, on a hunch, I brought the battery in the house overnight and let it warm up. This morning it charged up like it should.

Apparently, the first battery was still warm from use and charged OK, and by the time I put the second battery on the charger it had cooled off to the 20 degree or so temp in the garage.

To me, this is no big deal, just a characteristic of lithium ion batteries, although I'm sure there are those on this board who would find it cause to condemn the entire snow blower.

Just thought I'd pass it along.

 

[Richard G.]

Yep, I store mine in a warm place in cold weather.

 

[farmersamm]

Might be a big deal when your electric car charges like crap in cold weather.....................

[b:3f764fae45]https://inl.gov/article/electric-vehicles/[/b:3f764fae45]

 

[mikeb789]

Same, but opposite, is true for my battery powered lawn mower on 90+ degree days in the summer. If the battery is too hot, it won't charge until I let it cool for an hour in the AC house. They have a temp sensor inside them.

 

[Janicholson]

Smart chargers will wait (with the battery inserted) until the temp is within range. Jim

 

[wp6529]

(quoted from post at 15:16:54 12/26/22) Smart chargers will wait (with the battery inserted) until the temp is within range. Jim

Yes, however if the charger and battery are in a space that is too cold or too hot the battery will never get charged.

The key thing is to ensure you have your batts and chargers in a space that is acceptable temperature, which in an open shop might mean in a lightly heated cooler as in a recent thread, or in a place with some ventilation to keep temps down.

 

[Mule Meat]

The charger temp is not a big factor. The battery temp is what needs to be with a certain range to charge.

My Dewalt chargers have a hot/cold delay mode built in. You can place a battery on the charger and if it is to hot or cold it will not start charging until it reaches the desired temp.

Most ION batteries or power equipment that uses them come with a warning to not expose the batteries to extreme heat or cold. I have always been in the habit of storing my power tool batteries in 5 gallon buckets in a closet during winter.

Another twist. I have often wondered about cars like aTesla. How does the cold effect the batteries in them when left out for hours. Like being parked outside at work in subfreezing weather with minus wind chills?

 

[Bill(Wis)]

If you've left the car outside during a normal 8 or more hour working shift it will cool down to the outside air temperature but will not get any colder than the actual
outside air temperature. Won't matter how high the wind is blowing. If parked only a short time, then wind will cause it to cool more quickly but it still will not get
any colder than the temperature on the thermometer.

 

[Phil Tibbetts]

That's what I've been saying all along We are being fed a line of BS ten miles long. Never trust a politician.

 

[SDE]

I tried to charge my phone but it stated that it was too cold. It had been in the house for 5 hours. I restarted the phone and only then did it start charging again.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Cordless batteries are like people.
They don't like it when they are too hot or too cold.
That's one reason I posted my warming box.
I keep cordless tools in both pole barns and my truck.
They don't like to be used when they are too cold either.
My truck is parked in a heated garage, 55, so I don't worry about those batteries
Keeping batteries warm is essential in winter.
Not charging batteries when they are too hot is not a good idea either. A good charger senses when batteries are too hot or too cold.

 

[paul]

When you live in Minnesota and folk living in warmer climates want to mandate these changes upon you its kind of a big deal. Im glad you have a 55 degree shop. I do not.

Do I need to bring all my pumps, snow blowers, cars, trucks, portable generators, and tractors in the house with me?

Do I and all my neighbors need to now build a heated 60x80 machine shed to function in the future?

And does doing so help improve the world?

I mean this sincerely, has any of this been thought out, does anyone care, are we heading to a better place.

Your tip is noted and helpful. Im not sure it is really practical or a better world. Is all.

Very confusing virtual times we live in.

I just bought myself a very nice and large set of battery tools for Christmas, impact and drivers and drill and so on. Even a chain saw for trimming. So Im not against all things battery! But, now Im faced with having to keep them in the house 4 months a year, and trek back and forth to the shed to use them. As well most chain sawing is done in winter here when one has time. Im wondering if it will even work in the typical wood cutting environment here.


Paul

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

You don't have to keep the tools in the house with you, just the batteries. So you can tone down the arm-flailing, righteously indignant rhetoric a bit.

As for the cars, has anyone actually ASKED the manufacturers how they handle extreme cold? NO! Nobody has. It's more fun to rant about imaginary problems...

 

[Goose]

Enjoy your tools, Paul.

I have a whole bunch of cordless tools, from drills to cutoff wheels, to an impact wrench, and many others. Mostly Ryobi because they all use the same 18v 'One+' battery.

The area of my shop that I heat is 22'x36', and I have a good furnace. I don't like to work in the cold, so when I work in my shop in the winter I usually heat it to 65 degrees or so, but I don't heat it unless I'm working in it. I can also say that with all of the hand tools I've never had a problem with a battery that could be attributed to the temperature in the shop, or a change in temperature. If the batteries are sensitive to the temperature, they simply warm up with the air temp in the shop and never cause a problem.

The snow blower was the first time I had an issue like that.

 

[Goose]

BTW, I just checked. A cordless drill that was in my unheated garage through this whole cold snap with the battery in it worked just fine.

 

[paul]

And I appreciate your thoughts and advice and observations. Not trying to be a grump-us on you.

Came through a rough spell here with freezing rain, couple days later snow, 50+ winds, temps well below zero, tree falling on the house breaking storm windows, frozen water and tough feeding conditions for the livestock. Fuel running low on the furnace but I have a bulk tank of diesel so not a big concern, etc. roads were closed over 24 hours, we still havent hit 15 degrees f days later.

Not abnormal conditions for here from time to time. But it does become a challenge to keep things going.

I needed and used all options I had for power energy heat and resources. It takes a lot to get an isolated farmstead through such tough conditions.

Just a little worse ice storm or winds and an electrical outage and it would have been even tougher, I would have needed backups in a tough environment.

I look to the future and see people removing any other option but a single source electric line from me, and I wonder if anyone is looking to the future. It is concerning.

Paul

 

[farmersamm]

(quoted from post at 08:47:21 12/27/22) You don't have to keep the tools in the house with you, just the batteries. So you can tone down the arm-flailing, righteously indignant rhetoric a bit.

As for the cars, has anyone actually ASKED the manufacturers how they handle extreme cold? NO! Nobody has. It's more fun to rant about imaginary problems...

Here ya go.......................

https://www.tesla.com/support/winte...or. Winter Tires and Accessories Winter Tires

Me being a moron............I read this as "Precondition your Tesla before charging in cold weather.......plug it in to heat the cabin and battery"

That's a car a wanna own. YMMV.