Ryobi Battery Charger Reliability ?

My son is considering buying a Ryobi 18 V electric drill battery pack and charger to replace the two wearing out Ryobi ni-cad battery packs and two non-functioning Ryobi chargers that he presently has. One charger was for nicads, the other charger was for nicads and lithium batteries. Now he charges the batteries using a separate power supply and says the electric drill itself is fine, the batteries are getting weak.

SInce he is very carefull about his electrical and electronic stuff, he is pretty sure he has not done anything to cause the battery chargers to fail. He is concerned that buying a Ryobi lithium battery pack and nicad/lithium battery charger may be a bad investment since the two other chargers were not reliable. He notes that the new ni- cad/lithium charger he is thinking about buying is almost twice as big as the old non-functioning dual charger, so maybe Ryobi or their supplier has learned something.

Anyway, he would like to hear comments from others in this group about their experiences with Ryobi products.

Reply to
hrhofmann
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I have Ryobi tools and haven't had a problem with the chargers or batteries beyond normal use. My batteries are not Lithium tho. I don't leave my ni-cads in the charger either. When it's charged, I take them out. I don't use them commercially, but I do use them often. I have replaced a couple batteries over the last few years.

For my uses, these have been great. However, I can't speak for the professional use of these.

Hank

Reply to
Hank

I have 3 Ryobi 18V NiCd batteries and two of the large 18V LI-Ion batteries. Initially I charged them using the chargers which came with each set of tools, but then I bought one of the 6-battery charger/maintainers that is supposed to handle both kinds (I got it when it was advertised on the Ryobi Web site as an "in store only" special for $29; the store said they knew nothing about it but they had to sell it to me for that price).

One of the NiCd batteries now lasts only about 5 minutes after removing from the charger, but the other two seem OK, as do the two large LI-Ion ones. I used to have one of the small Li-Ion batteries, but it died completely: showed fully charged but would not work. I have no way of telling whether the faults are due to the batteries themselves or to the charger.

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy

Ryobi is low to middle end quality. I have a Ryobi and the drill has been repaired twice, the batteries replaced, but the charger still works.

The main advantage to Ryobi is price. I have a Panasonic that is far better, but costs much more. Ryobi batteries, last time I checked, were reasonably priced, better than other brands.

Perhaps your son should evaluate his need before spending money that may be better put to a new drill and charger. If cost is the determining factor, he is probably better off getting the new Ryobi batteries. If rugged use is a big factor, time to look at new products.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Primecell.com can rebuild your battery packs with all new higher capacity cells

Reply to
bob haller

Comes down to cost versus quality.

Primecell Nicad would be $48 plus shipping, a Nihm would be $72. They are a more powerful battery, would last longer, but costs quite a bit more. No doubt the Primecell is better, but for $20, I'd take a chance on that one first.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I agree. If this $20 battery only lasts a week, then I got screwed. Time will tell, but I have lost more than $20 on a football bet. :-)

Hank

Reply to
Hank

I don't know about batteries from Ryobi, but they have FANTASTIC headphones (Home Depot sells them).

Heavy (blocks sounds, LOUD sounds even), and has female plug where you can plug in wire to your mp3 device or radio or whatever.

Also, rather neat, this, has two wee microphones up at their front, with a rotary off-on-volume switch -- when off, all you hear is either quiet or your music or talk-radio or whatever.

When on, you can hear the guy who's trying to talk to you.

Pretty damn cool!

Somewheres around $60, $69, $49. Price changes for sales.

David

Reply to
David Combs

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