Grabbed my cordless DeWalt 18V sawzall today and put in a battery that had been sitting plugged in the charger for a long time.
Thing ran at half speed and seemed like the battery was drained. I charged up the backup battery and same thing.
Haven’t used this particular tool for many months, one battery has sat idle in the charger all that time (plugged in) and the other just sat in the case.
Do these things poop out from not being used? I’m really surprised at the poor performance (the saw ran fine last time I used it, which admittedly was a long time ago).
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According to the paper work that comes with those batteries, they should be fine even if stored in the charger.
I have about nine of the 18v's and it seems like everytime I grab one it always needs a charge.
Every once in a while I try to charge the whole bag and eave them in the charger over nite, I think they call this conditioning but I dont know if this really helps either.
How old are your batteries? Are they black top or yellow top? Bateries only last for so long regardless how many times they are charged.
they're not supposed to do it, but i've noticed they do it anyway.
thats why I like the radio charger. you almost always have a radio going at the job site. the constant use and draining of the batteries seems to help their life.
I still think its a good idea to drain them right down to nothing (under load if possible) -- one thing though, I've noticed they're not lying when they say don't keep batteries in a hot truck. (like we're going to keep them in a fridge)
Well, last night I put one of the batteries in the charger and this morning popped it in the saw and she fired right up full speed.Odd. I still don't get why the battery that had been sitting idle in the charger for several months was low. Doesn't the charger keep a trickle charge going?I agree probably the best thing is to totally drain the battery and then charge her right up.BTW, these are the black batteries, I bought the saw in 2002.
That's funny this weekend my DeWalt cordless battery 18v drill plus my backup was performing poor. Did 2 deckboards which is about 60 screws and had to go for the backup. Does anyone know the life of these batts. Tough to get much accomplished. Thanks for help. Dutch
from Dewalt, these batteries don't develop a memory, this is a characteristic of constant low voltage drain applications (not likely with cordless tools) .. they should never be drained, that will harm the tool and battery (never let iether get hot) .. they also have specific charging temperature ranges (check the manual) .. if you use them everyday, 2 - 3 years max ..
I agree with Wane. Battery memory is a folktale. Recharge your battery the moment you see a drop in performance. Dewalt batteries last about 400 charges. A Hilti rep to;d me that the recondition feature should be used every couple of months for heavy use. Apparently, this function does drain the charge completely and then recharges the battery. It is also an overnight process, so dont look for a fresh battery in an hour.
I have also noticed bad battery life from dewalt, but more so with the 18V systems. I cannot get good life out of mine.
the higher the voltage the less the lifespan, I'm only on my 2nd 9.6 v in 25 years!, 18 volts, well, 2 maybe 3 years tops ..
Correct, the tighter the batteries are packed, the more heat they produce during use and they are less able to radiate that heat away from them. However, there isn't any reason for brand new 18V batteries to be dying as fast as mine are.
what is the recondition feature?