Any experience/opinion on Ryobi 18+Cordless setup?

IaLeo

Well-known Member
I would like a few useful cordless tools without a whole bunch of different batteries.
1. grass shears
2. "sawsall" to replace the Milwaukee w/cord torn out.
3. maybe a light weight weed whacker for wife to use.
4. maybe a circular saw to replace the dangerous
DeWalt with bad 14.4 batteries.
It would be nice to be able to got get another battery
that is ready-to-go. can I just leave the darn batteries on the charger 24/7 so I don't have to remember to take them off or which one is fully charged?
Thanks for taking the time to read or respond. Leo
 

I own a Black and Decker 18 volt cordless drill, and a Black and Decker 18 volt cordless string trimmer. They both use the same batteries, and I leave those batteries on the chargers all the time. Eventually, those batteries fail. Then it is time to buy new batteries.
 
I've had my Ryobi 18+ tools for several years, first with the NI-CD batteries, now with the lithium. The NI-CD batteries would lose charge between uses as I didn't use them regularly but the lithium ones seem to hold a charge forever and they last longer between charges too. I have a drill, impact tool, and "skilsaw" and they seem to get quite a bit of use, especially where running an electric cord is inconvenient or impossible.

I've been pretty pleased with my Ryobi but would consider Dewalt, Makita, or Milwaukee better but for more money.
 
I have near every Ryobi 18 volt tool made in duplicate. I love them and gave up on Makita and Milwaukee a long time ago. Kind of hard to
beat the 4 amp-hour Lithium batteries when on sale at Home Depot for $30 each.
 
One additional comment. Lithium batteries do not lose charge when stored like the ni-cads do. One caution though. The lithium batteries
get ruined if run too low even once. Subsequently, they have electronic circuitry to prevent you from discharging too much. This results in
the batteries seemingly going dead with zero warning. The Ryobi 4 amp-hour batteries have a built-in level-of-charge indicator and it is a
huge asset.
 
I'm very happy with my Dewalt tools so no reason to toss all them and try Ryobi at this time. I've heard both good and bad about Ryobi, this is about like if you ask what brand of oil or spark plugs is best, you get a ton of differing reasons and opinions...all of which are 100% correct I'm sure lol

John T
 
One huge thing going for Ryobi is they haven't changed their battery system in a long long time. You can't say that for ANY other maker of battery powered tools. Makita, Milwaukee, Dewalt, have all changed their batteries, rendering old tools obsolete and worthless, within the last 10 years, and probably will again.

Their tools could be more robust and powerful but for the average homeowner and occasional user they are just fine. They will even tolerate a degree of abuse.

The lithium batteries are the single best upgrade they've made to these tools in years. As others have said, no loss of capacity and no self-discharge. They are ready to go when you are.

With the old NiCd batteries, they just had a dumb charger that kept charging until the battery was cooked if you left it on there all the time. The Lithium chargers are smart and stop charging when the battery is full.

I bought one of their 6-port charge stations and keep all my batteries in it when they are not in use. It charges them and maintains them.
 
I've had Ryobi 18v for years, well pleased with them.

For the bigger, high demand tools, get the large capacity battery. Costs more, but worth it in life between charges.

For light drills, screw guns, the smaller battery is better so not to wear your self out handling the tool.

You can leave the batteries on charge, fully automatic, will cut back when full.

From what I see, Ryobi is exclusively Home Depot. But you can get better deals on Ebay.

Beware of knock off batteries though.
 
Electric cords are fairly easy to replace for under $6. Battery sawsalls are handy, but 120 volt sawsalls have their uses too.
 
I use my old blue ryobi sawzall everywhere. I cut 1/4" steel with it, then change the blade and let my 6yr old cut firewood from 2" branches. I love em. Best bang for the buck in my opinion. Beware they get unhappy if stored or used below 40*F, for winter I have to bring them in from the barn if I plan on using them for a project.
 
Not a Ryobi fan as I sold it as a distributor years
ago and have sold all of the other major brands for
many years. The thing about Ryobi today is they are
affordable to the home owner with a pretty good mix
of tools available. Good luck with the warranty or
finding a service center. Consider them disposable.
 
Dad has a ryobi drill what a piece of junk.It is always dead when need to use it and been that way since new. I am about done with the whole cordless program. I might need to run a cord but at least it works till I am done or the tool wears out.
 
Saw an idea from a diy tools site for cordless tools where they built a power cord from a bad battery pack to plug into the 12v lighter outlet for use with a vehicle.
 

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