battery use

[AZ Nomad]

It depends on temperature and the battery's design. Is there some reason you can't test to see if the battery is discharged and then recharge them?

[LouB]

Its a PIA??

[AZ Nomad]

Give them away if check battery condition is too much work.

[rb]

Just got some new battery operated tools. When they're charged fully, how long can you keep 'em in the box before you have to re-charge?

[joevan]

Pain in ass?

[Ed Pawlowski]

They last about the same in the box or out of the box.

I charge mine at least once a month if not used.

[Stormin Mormon]

A week or two. It's a good idea to plan on a charge before use.

[Christopher Glaeser]

You are using the wrong test procedure.

[AZ Nomad]

Removing the drill from the carrying case, locating the power button and pushing it is nearly beyond his technical skills. He really should give it to charity as he'll only hurt himself and others if he were to ever try and use it.

[Jules]

To be fair, it's probably a bit of a pain in the butt to pick up a tool that's suddenly needed and then find that the battery's flat.

[DerbyDad03]

If you are not going to be using the tool on a regular basis, and are concerned that you won't have a fully charged battery when you need it because they both discharged in the "box", just keep one battery in the plugged-in charger all the time.

Any decent modern charger will stop chargeing the battery when it's full and you'll always have a fully charged battery when needed.

When you pull the battery out of the charger to use it, put the other one in until you need it.

[E Z Peaces]

A neighbor bought a B&D 24V NiCd drill last year. It came with two batteries and a simple constant-current charger. The instructions said only that it should finish charging in a certain number of hours.

[Stormin Mormon]

He loves the tingle he gets from the live batteries.

Thanks, I needed the laugh.

[JIMMIE]

What type of batteries are you using. The old Ni-Cd batteries were bad about disharging while sitting idle, newer batteries last longer on the shelf.

Jimmie

[Christopher Glaeser]

Some rechargable battery technologies have a relatively high discharge rate, and a fully charged battery can be dead within a month or even less. Some rechargable battery technologies have a low discharge rate. For example, the new low discharge eneloop NiMH batteries still have 80% charge after a full year of sitting on the shelf. If you don't use a tool very often and you would like to have a charge after weeks or months of sitting in the case, I would search for a brand that uses low dischage batteries rather than a charger that continously tops off batteries with a trickle charge.

Best, Christopher