[Miamicuse]

How many of you keep some of your cordless power tools (especially the ones you use EVERY DAY) inside your truck or van ALL DAY ALL NIGHT? If so does it mean you keep your batteries in with them too? Down here in South Florida it can get really hot in a locked vehicle and that’s not good for the batteries but it’s a real hassle to have to move so many things in and out all the time. I don’t know about cold weather but I suspect it’s bad for batteries to be left overnight in the freezing winter right?

[Sorpa]

I keep them in the truck all the time but the winter. And we have a long winter here.
Cold weather drains them very fast.

[BeardedCarpenter]

I don’t know the science of batteries and extreme weather, but I leave my batteries in my vehicle year-round. They seem to run just fine. But where I live extreme cold is more an issue than extreme heat. Bringing your batteries inside everyday sounds like a recipe for forgetting them and not having them at the job.

[kurt@welkerhomes.com]

They do make an insulated battery storage bag for keeping batteries in a vehicle. It will keep them a little warmer or cooler that the temp in the vehicle.

A good cooler would do the same keeping some of the heat or cold away from the batteries for a period of time.

We do not have a lot of problem here in Minnesota other than the cold. I have had to keep batteries and chargers in my truck to keep them warm enough to charge when working outside with them in the winter.

This winter we will be building a hot box to keep batteries and caulk warm in the trailer. It does not take a lot of heat just to keep them 40 or 50 degrees.

[kswiss]

I think cold weather is probably worse for the batteries

[Sorpa]

BeardedCarpenter wrote:

…. for forgetting them and not having them at the job.

Never happened so far.
Probably because I take my pills in the morning.
Memory pills that is.

[brianpeters]

Mine stay in the truck all the time, I probably should have taken them inside last winter when it was down around 0, but I didn’t.

[roninohio]

Mine stay in the truck. Never had any problems. I will say that my impact driver makes some weird sounds when cold in the mornings.

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

Miamicuse wrote:

How many of you keep some of your cordless power tools (especially the ones you use EVERY DAY) inside your truck or van ALL DAY ALL NIGHT? If so does it mean you keep your batteries in with them too? Down here in South Florida it can get really hot in a locked vehicle and that’s not good for the batteries but it’s a real hassle to have to move so many things in and out all the time. I don’t know about cold weather but I suspect it’s bad for batteries to be left overnight in the freezing winter right?

I store my batteries in my van all the time but it doesn’t get south Fla. hot.. The H311 with that 97º and 75% humidity,,,,and the afternoon thunder storms. We only get about 90º on the hottest days of summer.. we are still in the low 80s here and low 70s at night. I see a lot of guy put the solar fans in the top of the vans.

[CB]

I bought a service/utility body truck with the idea of keep tools in it all the time. But around here temperature isn’t so much of a problem as the thieves. They use the battery operated tools stolen from the previous victim to cut, grind, or drill into the next victim. So I haul a lot of stuff in and out. Yes it gets old. I just got done unloading the tools out of the truck at 9 pm… about an hour ago. And in about 7 hours from now, I’ll be loading them back in again.

[TopNotch]

I believe that the NiCads do well in cold weather whereas the lithium are sluggish until put under use for a bit. I suspect direct sunlight and heat are bad for Lithium Ion so I try to avoid that.
I never bothered to take these tools out of the truck on a daily basis. Like I said other than my Lithium being sluggish in the cold I have never an issue

Working Pro since 1993

Tom M

[Doobie]

There’s a whole bunch of battery knowledge here for those interested…..

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

[theamcguy]

Doobie wrote:

There’s a whole bunch of battery knowledge here for those interested…..

Good info Kevin Thank you for posting.

Automotive Pro
Fayetteville, NC

[RonW]

I keep them in my vehicle year round. Can’t say that I have ever had a battery go bad because of the weather. We get hot but not nearly as cold as you up north.

Ron

A Working Pro since 1994!

Member since March 26, 2014.

[PI_Woodworker]

I would worry about heat, most likely being in direct sunlight. Otherwise I do not worry about cold. Never noticed a problem with that.

[jponto07]

I haven’t noticed any prolonged issues, but they do seem to be less than 100% every now and then. I’ll push the batter meter button and find they have lost one bar if they are kept in my hot truck.

I try to park in shaded areas and crack the windows when it’s really hot…seems to help.

Jon P.
Timber Carpentry & Construction
https://www.facebook.com/timbercarpentry/
Instagram

[Clev08]

I will bring them inside during the winter if my hands aren’t full, but I don’t make a huge deal of it. I try to let them warm up in the case when I bring them into a jobsite though, just so they have less condensation on them as them warm up. I feel like the water inside the electronics might negatively effect the tools more than the cold weather itself.

[jkirk]

i leave my batteries in teh truck all the time too, other than charging them…

i have a ton of batteries but i dont carry a charger, i charge dead batteries at home overnight.. ones that are still charged stay on teh tools in the truck

heres a tip, dont fart in a space suit

[kswiss]

Doobie wrote:

There’s a whole bunch of battery knowledge here for those interested…..

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

Lots of information there for sure, thanks for sharing

[PI_Woodworker]

Doobie wrote:

There’s a whole bunch of battery knowledge here for those interested…..
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

Thanks for sharing the link Doobie. Appreciate it.

[Author]

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