I want to buy a cordless hair clipper (simply because the blade type I am looking for is present only on cordless clippers). The clipper will be high cost/high quality professional model. I currently live abroad and will be carrying it to my home country (no option to buy such clipper back there), in case i ever go back to live there. So it might be sitting in a drawer for years before its first use. Therefore comes the question - how long can the clipper last, considering the above and the fact that the battery will lose charge over time? I am also not a professional and don't plan on every replacing the battery or the blades (anxious about ruining the clipper). Worst case - if the battery has completely lost charge before it's first use - can I use with the corded cable provided? Thank you.
I would imagine most cordless clippers these days would have a lithium ion battery. If stored correctly, those batteries can actually last a really long time and hold a charge well. You want to store it around 60% charged, which might be difficult to determine but a little less than completely full will probably work. I have no idea if a set of clippers will drain a battery slowly but I don't know why they would. If they don't you could probably store the clippers for at least a year without the charge going down much. You do want to make sure the charge doesn't get too low. That will shorten the life of the battery. On using with a cord, you'll have to check the directions. That may or may not work. It just depends on the design.
If you are doing to store it for a while, I would run it down to 50% battery life. Beyond that, I wouldnt be concerned about it. Sure, the battery could die during that time and no longer take a charge but theres an easy way to fix that: just buy a corded clipper.
Most good quality cordless clippers will draw power for use from the charge cord. The directions on my ($20) Wahl beard trimmer say to plug it in and wait about a minute before turning it on. The battery should have a lifespan of about 5-10 years, and even if it won't hold a charge anymore, should still be able to run while plugged in. Hope that helps.