LIthium Ion Batteries and Freezing Conditions

[Rich Aldrich]

I ordered a new Dewalt Lithium Ion battery for my dewalt cordless tools. It is winter and I heard about letting Lithium Ion batteries freeze and loosing battery life. I know the battery was shipped in freezing conditions - USPS didn't keep that semi trailer above freezing.

I researched and found this article as well as a few others that confirm that storing a battery in cold isnt a big issue as long as it isnt stored below -4 F, fully charged. If the battery is stored below 4 F or lower and is fully charged, it will be overcharged.

Charging the battery in freezing conditions is the real issue as explained in the article below.

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/263036/why-charging-li-ion-batteries-in-cold-temperatures-would-harm-them

[Ted Derryberry]

Makes sense, I wouldn't do well at -4 either.

[Charles Lent]

I keep my shop at 40 F or above to keep my batteries, water lines, and paints happy, but also so the shop can be warmed quickly when I want to be there. Keeping the cast iron above freezing also helps avoid rusting from condensation too. My shop is less than 100 ft from a lake and only about 4' above it. Night time condensation can be brutal on cast iron around here.

Charley

[Jeff Robinson]

I have a DeWalt battery that a friend left in my unheated mud room when I lived at almost 10,000 feet elevation in the Rockies. It sat in the mud room for at least four winters and it regularly got down to well below minus 10 F on a regular basis during the winter. He told me to just keep it when I moved, and I use it almost every day now and have never had a problem with the battery life. I think a short jaunt in the usps van will leave it just as good as new.