new ryobi lithium battery

[brantmacga]

just curious if any of you have the new ryobi 18v lithium batteries? i saw it on the shelf today. one battery and charger is $100, while i can get two of the old ones for $40, and i already have a charger. just doesn't seem worth the money.

[DavidA]

I have to say I finally jumped off the ryobi wagon. In a year and a half I went through 8 batteries and 3 drills. Okay my most recent pair of batteries and drill (18v) are still running just fine. However, the pair of batteries I bought maybe 4 months ago are just not holding a charge anymore. My co workers are all using ryobi also and are having similar complaints. I switched to the 24v lithium Rigid brand a few days ago and am pleased so far. For me, I just couldn't justify dumping more money to keeping my ryobi running all day. It did serve me well though...
RIP ryobi

[misterbill1972]

ryobage is only worth it if it doesnt leave the house.

[brantmacga]

i've had no problem w/ my 3 speed drills, but the batteries do suck. i have to keep several on hand and charged, that's why i was curious about this new battery. i've heard good things about the rigid. i got to use an hvac guy's 24v milwaukee and i really liked it.

[e57]

Ryobi = waste of money, granted it is not a lot of money, but still money wasted. Sure a quality tool will cost 3X's or more, but will last 10-20x's longer doing much more. Ryobi is made for and marketed to HO's who might use it every blue moon - not someone who'll be using it all day to the point of failure.

And the right tool for the job is another factor. If were talking about 'drills'???? A 12v impact driver will drive screws way more efficiently, and a plug-in right angle or hole hawg is far superior for say crancking out holes all day in rough framing. And hammer drill should only accept SDS bits or spline IMO, and also be plugged in. Otherwise my battery 'drill' only sees the light of day only for a few tasks involving drill bits 1/16 ~ 3/8", and a 7/8 carbide hole cutter. (ocassionaly a spade bit) And this one is only my third battery drill (14.4 dewalt) in roughly 15 years and with the batteries it came with - my current one is 4-5 years old. So is the impact driver it came with, and I use that all day long.

And if you want batteries to last a long time.... Any battery... Lithium ion or what have you.... READ THE MANUAL! First decrease in performance - put it on the charger. I keep spotting guys running thier batteries down to zero, even tapping the trigger and putting it in a corner.... Most of these idiots were not even alive when you actually "had to do that" with the old Makita "Green Banana" due to battery memory. Yet old myths and fabels die hard... So do your batteries when you do that. The voltage goes down, the amperage goes up (added heat on the motor too.), and has to be on the charger longer recovering from a hot - deep cycle drain. At that point the act of charging itself is even harmfull to the battery.

[electriciangirl]

Has anyone tried the cordless Milwaukee 24v lithium right angle drill? I'm wondering if they can do the same work as the corde and for how long.

[growler]

just curious if any of you have the new ryobi 18v lithium batteries? i saw it on the shelf today. one battery and charger is $100, while i can get two of the old ones for $40, and i already have a charger. just doesn't seem worth the money.

Brant not long ago I bought a new Ryobi 18V drill, flash light, saw, charger, two batteries and some sort of tool bag in a kit all for $90. It cost $100 to fill the van up with gas. I really don't worry about how long the batteries last, at that price I consider them expendable. I don't think I would bother to chase a theif if I saw them stealing it.

I really think Ryobi 18 V drills and batteries are a good deal for the money. I have gotten good service from them ( for the price).

If you are going to buy any of the new drills or batteries I think that I would wait because I think the price will come down fast. I think you can already get a new drill, 2 batteries and charger for $159 at HD.

I got my rigid 24 V hammer drill with charger & two batteries on sale for around $180 and not long before it was close to $350.

[cschmid]

I use a 12 dewalt and love it only as screw gun but makita has a new 18volt out that is sweat..weights less than my 12volt and has more power, nice unit. batteries are good for 2000 charges if you charged them everyday you could use them for 5.5yrs. nice longevity for a drill system and my makitas have been vary dependable..so if you have gone through 8 batteries and 3 drills by a new hybrid and be done for years to come..battery technology is why I am changing..

[tallguy]

I use a 12 dewalt and love it only as screw gun but makita has a new 18volt out that is sweat..weights less than my 12volt and has more power, nice unit.You talking about this one?:
http://www.makita.com/assets_product/BDF452HW/BDF452l.jpg
A friend has it... very slick. My favorite feature is how nicely balanced it is. You can have a long/heavy bit on it and still set it down on its battery without it toppling over. Can't do that with a DeWalt...

[tallguy]

A friend has it... very slick.BTW -- battery croaked the other day. Didn't wear down, just died abruptly. One year old.

[guschash]

I agree my Ryobi batteries are not holding a charge. Either is my 7.2 Dewalt which I like better than lithium Bosh screwgun. My 18v hammer drill Rigid seems to be losing its charge fast. And I gave my Milwaukee drill away, did not like it. I think I'll get the lithium batteries for my Ryobis and look at the Rigids. They are all made by the same company, can there be that much differents.

[petersonra]

my Xmas present last year was a ryobi 18V set. came with drill, recip saw, circular saw and light, 2 batteries and charger. $99 at Big Orange. Also came with a coupon for a 100% rebate on any other tool in the same line. I got a miter saw.

I have not used the miter saw except to play with it.

The light is bright and works very well.

The drill and circular saw work very well.

Only used the recip saw a little bit, not really enough to tell much about it.

I concur with the poster who said the batteries don't last all that long. maybe 100 screws per charge on the drill.But the batteries recharge pretty quick.

I never had a battery powered circ saw before. i really like it.

I suspect the poster who said it is a good HO choice but maybe not so good for a contractor is probably on target.

[cschmid]

You talking about this one?:
http://www.makita.com/assets_product/BDF452HW/BDF452l.jpg
A friend has it... very slick. My favorite feature is how nicely balanced it is. You can have a long/heavy bit on it and still set it down on its battery without it toppling over. Can't do that with a DeWalt...

Yeppers that is the one I just bought it on friday of last week. bought one a year ago (the blue one) that has hammer drill, drill and screw gun features and it is an animal I like the new better for everyday use..the pictured drill has a 15 minute charge time..

[peter d]

I've used the Craftsman kit, which is a Ryobi clone (or is made by Techtronic at any rate.) It's been very reliable. The batteries are not that great as others have said, but they are cheap enough to buy a bunch of them and not worry about it.

[tallguy]

the pictured drill has a 15 minute charge time..Even with heavy usage, I've yet to see the situation where you'd drain the one battery before the 2nd was ready to go...

[brantmacga]

well i can tell you the reciprocating saw is crap. mine died within a couple of months. i have a plug in milwaukee. the circular saw is convenient for small stuff. i used it once to cut out one of those glue down wood floor systems. on the job though i'm using a milwaukee circular saw; the one w/ the handle that locks in all sorts of positions. my set also came w/ a chain saw which i use once a year to cut down a Christmas tree. :D it came w/ a jig saw that works fine, a two speed drill that i have never used, and i bought the 3 speed hammer drill separate. the hammer will drain the batteries within a matter of minutes. i mainly use it for the 3rd speed which works excellent for self-tapping metal screws. its a little heavy though. the main use of the 3 speed is as a screw gun, and drilling holes 3/8" and smaller. otherwise i use the hole hawg. i'll probably wait a few weeks and get the lithium if the price comes down just to try it out. like it was said earlier, they're inexpensive and despensable.

[cschmid]

tall guy I see you have good taste in tools..Okay so you guys say you got this stuff cheap enough..so you get ryobi drill and batteries for say 60 dollars and a duel battery pack costs 50 dollars so you have 110 dollars invested..batteries die in about 11 months spend another 50 dollars have 160 dollars invested..now drill dies 13 months after you purchased it got another 60 dollars spent so now you have 220 dollars invested..I spend 200 dollars in drill that has 2yr guarantee and five yr batteries..no trip to the big orange box so constant drain on my pocket book..what is the real price of your cheapo tools..

[danickstr]

That lithium Makita Zebra 18v looks like a winner, but then I have to worry about theft. I do not worry about theft with my Robi stuff, but the batteries are quick to run down I admit.

But in a world without thieves, I would love to buy that Zebra.

[Clangy]

Has anyone tried the cordless Milwaukee 24v lithium right angle drill? I'm wondering if they can do the same work as the corde and for how long.
I own one. It does do the same work, It lasts a good amount of time, im not sure exactly because i only use it when i need it for that angle

[cschmid]

I have never lost a power tool but I do misplace linemans and stripers every now and then..

[badabing]

I'm a big fan of the Ridgid 24volt LI set that i bought from home depot in May. Registered all my tools that came in the kit (Hammer drill, Circular saw, recip saw, flashlight, 2 batteries and charger) And I now get free batteries for life if / when they die. They are supposed to charge in an hour, usually takes less, but they do last a long time compared the my ryobi set that I used to have. The other guy I work with also just bought the same Ridgid set I have and likes it too. We're very pleased with them. The only tool from Ryobi that I do enjoy is the Spiralcut saw for doing cut in boxes in woodwork and such. We also use a Hilti hammer drill for all our masonary work. I must say that no tool can drill a hole in masonary/stone like it. It will just eat through the stone, my old ryobi hammerdrill and even the ridgid one will take forever to drill a hole in stone, and this cordless hilti will just eat through it like it was fresh cement.

[ItsHot]

Glad to see someone finally mention Hilti!! By the way, where are they made?

[peter d]

Glad to see someone finally mention Hilti!! By the way, where are they made?


Liechtenstein and Germany.

[DavidA]

I don't know, ryobi does make a smokin radio. I can't think of a similar item from another manufacutre that I can tuck into my tool belt for those ever so special rooftop adventures.

[jaylectricity]

No chance to read this thread as my computer is dead and I'm working with my old one so I'll just add my two cents.


My Ryobi stuff isn't horrible, I've burned through a couple of cordless rotozips by cutting ceilings. The batteries I got with the kit 4 years ago died 2 years ago, but my latest ones have lasted. They probably weren't used heavy duty and almost always used by me personally.

That being said I picked up a Makita 18 volt impact driver with lithium battery and quick connect bits and an 18 volt cordless drill with 1/2 chuck with another lithium battery plus the charger for $269 a few weeks ago. I really like them, but I haven't been able to torture them yet.

[randomkiller]

Has anyone tried the cordless Milwaukee 24v lithium right angle drill? I'm wondering if they can do the same work as the corde and for how long.



I have the 18v one and I use it constantly, to me it is just as powerful as the corded model. I also have the 18v sds hammer and it too gets used all day long for anchor holes. I will say that as soon as it sounds like the battery is slowing, I pop in a new one. I never liked the other Milwaukee battery tools.

[randomkiller]

I agree my Ryobi batteries are not holding a charge. Either is my 7.2 Dewalt which I like better than lithium Bosh screwgun. My 18v hammer drill Rigid seems to be losing its charge fast. And I gave my Milwaukee drill away, did not like it. I think I'll get the lithium batteries for my Ryobis and look at the Rigids. They are all made by the same company, can there be that much differents.

What do you like about the 7.2 dewalt screwdriver over the Bosch 10.8 ? I have the Bosch impactor and since I got it my other regular battery drills stay on the truck.

[tonyou812]

Ive always gotten good service from 18 volt millwaukees. But their only problem is they dont have as a diversifed list of different tools like dewalt or ryobi. Its nice when you can limit the amount of different battery chargers and batteries. Dewalt has the best smallest 18 volt vaccum thats great for small stuff like office type service calls and such. its nice to have a wide array of cordless at your disposal.

[iaov]

You talking about this one?:
http://www.makita.com/assets_product/BDF452HW/BDF452l.jpg
A friend has it... very slick. My favorite feature is how nicely balanced it is. You can have a long/heavy bit on it and still set it down on its battery without it toppling over. Can't do that with a DeWalt...I have one of the older Makitas that I use mostly as a screw driver with some light drilling on occasion. I love it. The battery charge will last for days and I have had the same 2 batteries for a couple of years now. Anything heavy duty I use a plug in drill.

[iaov]

tall guy I see you have good taste in tools..Okay so you guys say you got this stuff cheap enough..so you get ryobi drill and batteries for say 60 dollars and a duel battery pack costs 50 dollars so you have 110 dollars invested..batteries die in about 11 months spend another 50 dollars have 160 dollars invested..now drill dies 13 months after you purchased it got another 60 dollars spent so now you have 220 dollars invested..I spend 200 dollars in drill that has 2yr guarantee and five yr batteries..no trip to the big orange box so constant drain on my pocket book..what is the real price of your cheapo tools..Doing a professional job is much easier when you have proffesional grade tools. They cost more initially but I believe they more than pay for themselves in the long run.They also make my job easier to do and for that I'm willing to shell out a few more bucks.

[S'mise]

Amen cschmid, You get what you pay for. I had a Makita that died on me about a year back and I had to revert back to the cheepie Cordless drill I had laying around. They are Ok for dellecate stuff but they are just a toy.
I am now in the market for a good (hopefully made in USA) quality drill motor.
Thanks for suggestions. What I havent heard yet, is how the batteries are cared for. I wonder if the posted comparisons were judged on actual duty. If you fully discharge your batteries before charging them you are bound to get more life out of them. And storing them in the cold isnt good for them either. I am going to pass along a trick on how to re-juvinate your "dead" cordless batteries:
It works on 12 thurgh 18volt batteries.
Use a 24v DC power supply (at least 1.5A) and jump directly accross the battery terminals with your leads for about 5 seconds. WARNING, DO NOT LEAVE ON LONGER than 5 SECONDS! WEAR SAFETY GLASSES because it could blow up! This will give you another 4 or 5 months of battery life.
I guess the overvoltage knocks out corosion from them. They are selling this Idea on ebay for $6.00 (Honest!!) You guys can all mail me $1 and I'll call it even. Whatchya say? John;)

[sparky_magoo]

Ryobi = waste of money, granted it is not a lot of money, but still money wasted. Sure a quality tool will cost 3X's or more, but will last 10-20x's longer doing much more. Ryobi is made for and marketed to HO's who might use it every blue moon - not someone who'll be using it all day to the point of failure.

And the right tool for the job is another factor. If were talking about 'drills'???? A 12v impact driver will drive screws way more efficiently, and a plug-in right angle or hole hawg is far superior for say crancking out holes all day in rough framing. And hammer drill should only accept SDS bits or spline IMO, and also be plugged in. Otherwise my battery 'drill' only sees the light of day only for a few tasks involving drill bits 1/16 ~ 3/8", and a 7/8 carbide hole cutter. (ocassionaly a spade bit) And this one is only my third battery drill (14.4 dewalt) in roughly 15 years and with the batteries it came with - my current one is 4-5 years old. So is the impact driver it came with, and I use that all day long.

And if you want batteries to last a long time.... Any battery... Lithium ion or what have you.... READ THE MANUAL! First decrease in performance - put it on the charger. I keep spotting guys running thier batteries down to zero, even tapping the trigger and putting it in a corner.... Most of these idiots were not even alive when you actually "had to do that" with the old Makita "Green Banana" due to battery memory. Yet old myths and fabels die hard... So do your batteries when you do that. The voltage goes down, the amperage goes up (added heat on the motor too.), and has to be on the charger longer recovering from a hot - deep cycle drain. At that point the act of charging itself is even harmfull to the battery.

I couldn't agree with this guy more!

[LarryFine]

If you fully discharge your batteries before charging them you are bound to get more life out of them.
Not true. As soon as the power drops to the point of lost performance, remove the battery from the tool, let it cool, then recharge.

[tallguy]

Not true. As soon as the power drops to the point of lost performance, remove the battery from the tool, let it cool, then recharge.The Makita we've been talking about has a charger which manages all that --- cools it to just the right temperature prior to charging... Does the whole thing in 15 minutes max.

[cschmid]

the more I use the baby zebra the more I like it and makita has a smart charger must see if I can find info on it..

[chris kennedy]

Not true. As soon as the power drops to the point of lost performance, remove the battery from the tool, let it cool, then recharge.
Quote from Hilti:

Never use a battery until it becomes fully discharged. Recharge the battery as soon as its preformance drops noticeably. When a battery is drained until totally discharged, the cells that become discharged first are damaged by the current still being drawn from the other cells.

[cschmid]

Amen cschmid, You get what you pay for. I had a Makita that died on me about a year back and I had to revert back to the cheepie Cordless drill I had laying around. They are Ok for dellecate stuff but they are just a toy.
I am now in the market for a good (hopefully made in USA) quality drill motor.
Thanks for suggestions. What I havent heard yet, is how the batteries are cared for. I wonder if the posted comparisons were judged on actual duty. If you fully discharge your batteries before charging them you are bound to get more life out of them. And storing them in the cold isnt good for them either. I am going to pass along a trick on how to re-juvinate your "dead" cordless batteries:
It works on 12 thurgh 18volt batteries.
Use a 24v DC power supply (at least 1.5A) and jump directly accross the battery terminals with your leads for about 5 seconds. WARNING, DO NOT LEAVE ON LONGER than 5 SECONDS! WEAR SAFETY GLASSES because it could blow up! This will give you another 4 or 5 months of battery life.
I guess the overvoltage knocks out corosion from them. They are selling this Idea on ebay for $6.00 (Honest!!) You guys can all mail me $1 and I'll call it even. Whatchya say? John;)


You can bill it to my account Dust and let the wind blow it to me .. If you damage a cell by over loading which can be done by drawing them down to much they are never the same..Smart chargers has a button you can depress and it does total discharge and charge..

[LarryFine]

Quote from Hilti:

Never use a battery until it becomes fully discharged. Recharge the battery as soon as its preformance drops noticeably. When a battery is drained until totally discharged, the cells that become discharged first are damaged by the current still being drawn from the other cells.
Exactamundo! The deadest cells can get reverse charged. Plus, I've read that battery "memory" is really whiskers of conductive materials that form between plates, effectively shorting one or more cells. Total disharge contributes to this.

[tallguy]

the more I use the baby zebra the more I like it and makita has a smart charger must see if I can find info on it..Here it is (http://www.amazon.com/Makita-DC18SC-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Charger/dp/B000EDRT7A).
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419BN8JCC2L._AA280_.jpg

It states 45 minutes charge time, but my experience is 15 minutes if put on there as soon as performance drops appreciably. Always having a fully charged battery on hand, never seen a need to keep using the drained one to the point that it is completely useless.

[Vertex]

I've had the Makita lithium ion drill, recip. saw, circular saw and flashlight for almost two years now. I have to say that they are by far the best cordless tools I have ever owned.

I told Dewalt not to let the door hit him on the way out.

[S'mise]

Yes, I suppose your right. The discharge advise was more for ni-cad or lead-acid batteries. I know keeping them on the charger is very important, especially when they are ran down. I didnt mean run down to zero every time. They should not lay around after you run them down. Get them on the charger asap. Yes, They got all these new-fangled types out now. OK, I'm ready to get with the times and get a lith-Ion or whatever one has the best life. Most top brands have smart chargers on them but I'm still a little on the fence about which one to get.

PS: The rejuvinating trick does work. What do you have to lose with a dead battery?

[tallguy]

PS: The rejuvinating trick does work. What do you have to lose with a dead battery?Your eyesight?