Is it bad to keep tool batteries fully charged?

[Fanatical Meat]

Not sure if I would go electric with a chainsaw, especially off grid. I have a small Husqvarna 2 stroke that will most likely outlive me.

There is like zero setup time for an electric corded chainsaw. They work great for basic stuff, I assume a battery powered chainsaw would be the same.
If I had a ton of stuff to cut then a gas powered one is clearly the correct choice.

 

[mindless1]

I replaced the Dewalt drill with Rigid the day after confirmed death.

I don't understand. Despite your unfortunate loss, Dewalt makes some good quality drills so why not just get the next higher tier from them as a bare tool since you already had the batteries? I mean something like a DCD991.

Best Cordless Drills 2021

toolguyd.com

 

[jmagg]

I don't understand. Despite your unfortunate loss, Dewalt makes some good quality drills so why not just get the next higher tier from them as a bare tool since you already had the batteries? I mean something like a DCD991.

Best Cordless Drills 2021

toolguyd.com

I like Dewalt, but the drill lasted a year, so I gave Rigid a shot. I own Dewalt saws, the fence system on the table saw is damn good. The compound miter is just ok.

 

[mindless1]

^ ??? "lasted a year".

Gray market tool? They have a 3 year warranty otherwise.

 

[jmagg]

I think the chuck spun on cheap nylon cogs. Bought at Home Depot. One yr warranty I suppose.

 

[mindless1]

^ Bought retail at HD it should have a 3yr warranty. Example:

DEWALT ATOMIC 20-Volt MAX Cordless Brushless Compact 1/2 in. Drill/Driver, (2) 20-Volt 1.3Ah Batteries, Charger & Bag DCD708C2 - The Home Depot

This 20-Volt MAX Brushless Compact Drill/Driver kit includes two 20-Volt MAX Lithium Ion Batteries, a charger, and a carrying bag. At only 6.3 in. front to back, this cordless drill/driver features a high-performance brushless motor that delivers 340 unit watts outs (UWO). It's 25% more compact...

www.homedepot.com

Warranty | DEWALT

We believe a solid warranty package ensures the safety, reliability and service our products are meant to deliver — from the beginning to the end of every job.

www.dewalt.com

 

[jmagg]

^ Bought retail at HD it should have a 3yr warranty. Example:

DEWALT ATOMIC 20-Volt MAX Cordless Brushless Compact 1/2 in. Drill/Driver, (2) 20-Volt 1.3Ah Batteries, Charger & Bag DCD708C2 - The Home Depot

This 20-Volt MAX Brushless Compact Drill/Driver kit includes two 20-Volt MAX Lithium Ion Batteries, a charger, and a carrying bag. At only 6.3 in. front to back, this cordless drill/driver features a high-performance brushless motor that delivers 340 unit watts outs (UWO). It's 25% more compact...

www.homedepot.com

Warranty | DEWALT

We believe a solid warranty package ensures the safety, reliability and service our products are meant to deliver — from the beginning to the end of every job.

www.dewalt.com

Go back 4 yrs non brushless XL 1.3ah and find my warranty. I can somewhat remember complaining the drill dies shortly after warranty runs out. The Rigid is still in service after 3 yrs later, but its life is easier.

 

[mindless1]

I've no idea what you're trying to state. It should have 3 yr warranty and all you need is the proof of purchase date. If it's past that then it's past that. Not my tool.

 

[jmagg]

Im stating that when I bought the Dewalt tool 4 yrs ago, the warranty on it was 1 year.
Its clear you really really love Dewalt. Imo, Dewalt is decent middle grade.

 

[mindless1]

Dewalt is in the top tier of 3 manufacturers of contractor grade tools. This is fact. If you bought their lower tier drill meant (and priced) to compete with homeowner grade brands, you got what you paid for.

Even so, their warranty has been 3 years since 2004. If you bought the drill and it failed a year later, then you didn't take advantage of the warranty, sorry for your loss but it didn't have to happen.

Mistake #1: Pushing a budget priced drill past its capacity
Mistake #2: Not getting it warranty replaced.

I think Ridgid is a good value option but the same situation applies to it too.

 

[jmagg]

Dewalt is in the top tier of 3 manufacturers of contractor grade tools. This is fact. If you bought their lower tier drill meant (and priced) to compete with homeowner grade brands, you got what you paid for.

Even so, their warranty has been 3 years since 2004. If you bought the drill and it failed a year later, then you didn't take advantage of the warranty, sorry for your loss but it didn't have to happen.

Mistake #1: Pushing a budget priced drill past its capacity
Mistake #2: Not getting it warranty replaced.

I think Ridgid is a good value option but the same situation applies to it too.

I'd say the drill was homeowner grade considering the failure(fathers day sale if i remember), but it was only warranted only 1 year, otherwise I would have got it repaired or replaced. Regardless, work needed to continue so Rigid got the call. Screwing down Durock for my kitchen tile subfloor was what killed it (every 6 inches in both directions). If the repurposed batterys hold out for a couple years of light use in the Dewalt string trimmer, I'll forgive. I mean really, the floor was the only hard use besides a few 4 inch screws on a couple occasions. Maybe Dewalt should warn that certain drills should only hang blinds.

 

[mindless1]

^ If all drills were created equal, the more expensive ones wouldn't exist. I'm pretty sure all of them sold new at retail from an authorized merchant have 3 yr warranty, which is also stated on their warranty page I linked previously... should also be on the retail packaging.

 

[jmagg]

If it makes you feel any better, i just used a corded Dewalt angle grinder to do a repair. It worked fine.

 

[mindless1]

lol, not my loss. My ancient 14.4V Dewalt drill still works great but I got tired of rebuilding the NiCd battery packs and generic Chinese packs are substandard. Maybe someday I'll come across someone who's 3D printing adapters for it to take other brands' batteries, but it might burn up if I put 18V in so would be using 12V and take a performance hit... a SMPS buck regulator capable of enough current would be too large to bother with.

 

[13Gigatons]

The manual says to charge it every 6 months if being stored.

 

[Sukhoi]

The manual says to charge it every 6 months if being stored.

That's a bad procedure unless the battery has ridiculously high parasitic draw, like the stupid Makita batteries that had (have?) the battery management circuit only wired to one single cell within the battery. It'd draw that cell down to 0 V after a couple months and kill the whole battery as they had/have the 0 V permanent lockout on the circuitry enabled.

 

[mindless1]

^ But does it really matter? If using a battery so infrequently that it doesn't even need charged every 6 mos, how many years is it worth bothering with storing and recharging something you aren't even using, that will end up shelf rotting before you burn through the # of recharge cycles it would have supported if regularly used?

Suppose your battery would have 400 recharge cycles from a mostly (80% DoD) drained state, or 2000 recharge cycles if you're just topping off self-discharge (DoD) of 20%. #'s taken from table 2 for NMC batt

At every 6 months this is 1000 years while we know they will be poor performers from capacity loss and IR rise within 10-15 years. In other words it is the years of time not the recharging that does the most harm to them. Might as well put them in the rotation of use in tools.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's a bad procedure unless the battery has ridiculously high parasitic draw, like the stupid Makita batteries that had (have?) the battery management circuit only wired to one single cell within the battery. It'd draw that cell down to 0 V after a couple months and kill the whole battery as they had/have the 0 V permanent lockout on the circuitry enabled.

Wow that sounds like a horrible design to have active circuitry leeching off one cell.

 

[Sukhoi]

^ But does it really matter? If using a battery so infrequently that it doesn't even need charged every 6 mos, how many years is it worth bothering with storing and recharging something you aren't even using, that will end up shelf rotting before you burn through the # of recharge cycles it would have supported if regularly used?

Suppose your battery would have 400 recharge cycles from a mostly (80% DoD) drained state, or 2000 recharge cycles if you're just topping off self-discharge (DoD) of 20%. #'s taken from table 2 for NMC batt

At every 6 months this is 1000 years while we know they will be poor performers from capacity loss and IR rise within 10-15 years. In other words it is the years of time not the recharging that does the most harm to them. Might as well put them in the rotation of use in tools.

Yeah it really doesn't functionally matter, it just sounds like they have a poor design. Li-ion cells should never drop that quickly through self-discharge, which means their protection circuitry is taking oodles of power.