I keep a pair of grinders on my balcony. They are protected from rain, and get used at least twice a week for long enough to warm thoroughly. Should I bring them inside when it will freeze overnight?
- posted
14 years ago
Letting power tools freeze?
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- posted
14 years ago
The grinders I leave in the shed have suffered no ill effects so far.
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- posted
14 years ago
I can't think of any reason to keep them from freezing, as long as they're protected from moisture.
The biggest problem with bringing them in from the cold is that you're inviting condensation on the tools, including inside parts that are exposed through cooling vents, etc. That could kill them in short order.
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14 years ago
My shed roof leaks, but I'm not stupid enough to use an angle grinder that was dripping wet - and I would (and did) move the grinder to a part of the shed that didn't get dripped on.
For the OP's information; a grinder that froze after getting soaked under a leaky roof might be frozen solid and on application of power the heat from the windings may burn them out before melting the ice that stopped the armature turning.
That should give some perspective on the amount of abuse power tools can and do withstand.
The straight mains hand drill that I keep for clamping in the vice to spin a wire brush or grinding arbour, was a freebie - the brushes holders had corroded and jammed the brushes off the commutator, it was a dead simple repair, just whip the brushes out, clean the holders and re-fit the brushes. The sort of fault that wouldn't surprise if they happened to any of the power tools I leave out in the cold damp shed - but none have yet.