Ryobi 18V Lithium Battery Experiences

[banzaitoyota]

For all you HD Fans, how has your experience been wit the 18V Lithium Batteries?

 

[NotEnough]

So far so good. I've only had them for a few months, but I haven't used it much.

I bought a paint spray kit on clearance for 150.....it had 2 high capacity batteries and charger. The big batteries are 90/each so I was pretty happy bc my old blue tools were useless (NiCad batteries died awhile ago). It had been on the shelf for awhile bc the batteries wouldn't hold a charge. After a bit of wrangling, I got them swapped out at HD. Works fine. I run my old blue ryobi vacuums with the new LiIon so the slow discharge is what I needed.

 

[ybnormal70]

If you can find a direct tools outlet and you can by all your ryobi stuff cheap. A lot of it is reconditioned but batteries are new. They just had a recent sale, buy any two item get the third free. The large lithium batteries were I think $75 each, so you could get three for $150.

L8r,

Kevin

 

[djjsr]

I've got 2 Li batteries but the oldest is only about 18 months old, so no problems yet. I'm letting them run dead before I put them in the charger.

 

[mdbeck1]

I've had Ryobi drills with the 18V DC system for several years. SWMBFAO purchased me the lithium set when it first came out (we were starting a bathroom remodel-read as BRIBE). The lithium batteries keep a charge a whole lot longer and seemed to have more power. So far I've had one battery that gave me some charging problems but has since started working correctly.

 

[padronanniversary]

compared to my dewalt and makita, the torque is not there. but for the price, its hard to beat

 

[d33pt]

no problems with mine so far...had them for about 2 years now maybe. ever since they came out. 3 batteries. got rid of all my nicad ones.

 

[Griff93]

I have one that has died and the other runs down just as fast if not faster than my ni cads. I'm not at all impressed and will not be buying anymore Ryobi cordless tools. The chuck on the drill absolutely ***** as well. It's downright frustrating to use because you can't really get it to grip the drill tight enough to keep it from spinning in the chuck.

 

[baldbrain]

I bought the 1 drill + 2 lithium battery package about 2 years ago I think. About 2 months ago one of the batteries just quit working, and then yesterday the 2nd one quit working too. I plan to use my 4 much older NiCad batteries that are still working, but require frequent charging. Once those give out, I am switching brands. Ryobi has lost my business with these over expensive 2 year disposable batteries.

 

[djjsr]

In the past, I think I've screwed up my nicads by recharging them before they were completely dead. Now, if I have a lithium that's run down, I put in in a flashlight and leave it on overnight to run it completely dead before I put it in the charger. I sure hope it helps.

 

[Trey T]

for nicad, most charger if not all charger will only charge if the pack is at certain minimum voltage.

rechargeable batteries of all chemistry has quality of the price you pay for. not all manufacturers will be using same cell type and the best brand is the sanyo for all chemistry.

 

[GSteg]

Sanyo is good stuff. Snap On uses them in their NiCad cells. You can buy the same cells on ebay and rebuild your battery pack. They have less tendency to die like some of the other battery. Holds charge for a long time and memory is less of a problem. Great stuff. I forgot what's in their Lithium battery pack though.

 

[Ittledoo]

Both of my batteries have went dead between 12-16 months of use. But in their defense I was not taking proper care of them, i.e. leaving them on the charger in 10 degree weather for weeks at a time and charging before ran down. As far as the tools, like Griff said, I'm not big on the chuck for the drill and I hate safety switches like the two saws have. So for the money and household uses, I cannot complain.