Ryobi Cordless Tools

[jimvannoy]

Well I was in need of a portable grinder to mount cutoff wheels in to cut some panels at the local Pull-A-Part so I went to Home Depot to look at some. They had a Ryobi on sale for $29.95. Next cheapest was well over a hundred dollars. It did not come with a battery or charger so I looked at those. Batteries were $34.95, charger was $29.95. They had a combo kit with a drill, flashlight, 2 batteries, charger, and case on sale for $79.95 so I got it too. Don't know how good they are but for the price I did not think I could go wrong. I'll give them a workout tomorrow.

 

[Lyaec350]

Same as the Craftsman C3 stuff.

 

[l_bilyk]

They are not the best, but they are probably best value

 

[nissan_crawler]

I'm not a fan, but maybe you'll like them.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have had that set for 3-4 and I have no complaints. I am sure many of the other brands are far better but the kit you show has done everything I have expected of it. I think you will be pleased with your purchase.

BTW Tell me all about the angle grinder Jim price etc, I have never seen that before. Especially tell us how it does with battery life on the grinder.

 

[chad s]

I have only owned one ryobi tool, and it was a (non-cordless) angle grinder I got several years ago before going to a makita (and then metabo). It wasnt the best balanced tool, but it had plenty of power, was used hard, and took it well, and still works fine today.

I have never used one of their cordless tools, but I see contractors on jobs Im on who use them, and while as a professional I would go with something like Milwaukee, bosch, panasonic, etc, the Ryobi cordless tools obviously hold up well, at a good price.

 

[gotmud13613]

I just bought that same grinder a few weeks ago, It's great for small touch-up grinding or cutting a small bolt, but it's ***** the juice outta those batteries quick. I have mine with a flap wheel on it now and that probably what i am going to leave on it.

It's handy for quick jobs but if you are doing a big fab job you better bring out the plug in grinders.

As far as the there drills go, mine just wont die. it's used daily for about 3 yrs now, even had a bit of smoke coming from it but it's still going. I have a relative in TX that does construction and he swears by them.

So far I have got the drill, impact driver, angle drill, and the grinder all of them have been put to the test and none have failed.

I paid $40 for mine at HD

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100519983&N=10000003+90093+1688

 

[jimvannoy]

I just bought that same grinder a few weeks ago, It's great for small touch-up grinding or cutting a small bolt, but it's ***** the juice outta those batteries quick. I have mine with a flap wheel on it now and that probably what i am going to leave on it.

It's handy for quick jobs but if you are doing a big fab job you better bring out the plug in grinders.

I paid $40 for mine at HD

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100519983&N=10000003+90093+1688

I bought the grinder to bring to junk yards to do some cutting. I have 3 batteries so I think I'll probably be ok for what I want to do. In the shop I'll stick to my plug in grinders. I got the grinder on sale for $29.95. Have not used it yet but it's going to get a work out next week.

 

[jimvannoy]

I have had that set for 3-4 and I have no complaints. I am sure many of the other brands are far better but the kit you show has done everything I have expected of it. I think you will be pleased with your purchase.

BTW Tell me all about the angle grinder Jim price etc, I have never seen that before. Especially tell us how it does with battery life on the grinder.

Glad to hear that you have had the set for a while with no problems. The grinder was on sale for $29.95. It's the main thing I was looking for in the first place. I want to bring it with me to cut off stuff at the local junk yards. I have 3 batteries so I should be good to go. I am going to give it a work out next week. I'll let you know how it does.

 

[JB740i]

I've got no complaints with any of mine. I got the drill, flashlight, tool bag, circular saw, 2 batteries, sander, recip. saw, and dirt devil for $99 a year and a half ago on clearance. Should have bought the other 4 they had.

I've got no complaints with any of mine. The sander is kinda useless and the vacuum doesn't **** all that much but the rest work fine.

 

[Crasen]

I have had a Ryobi 18v cordless drill for 2 and a half years and i use it everyday. It has held up fine and I believe it is the best drill you can buy for under $100. I also have the flashlight, and circular saw that does drain batteries pretty fast but works fine.

 

[jimvannoy]

I am already thinking about the right angle drill, and reciprocating saw........

 

[eschoendorff]

I just bought that same grinder a few weeks ago, It's great for small touch-up grinding or cutting a small bolt, but it's ***** the juice outta those batteries quick. I have mine with a flap wheel on it now and that probably what i am going to leave on it.

It's handy for quick jobs but if you are doing a big fab job you better bring out the plug in grinders.

As far as the there drills go, mine just wont die. it's used daily for about 3 yrs now, even had a bit of smoke coming from it but it's still going. I have a relative in TX that does construction and he swears by them.

I have the same problem,

I have had the three-speed hammer drill for about 4 years and it won't die. Even when I try to kill it!

I would (begrudgingly) buy another Ryobi product based on my past experience. My dad also has a set and doesn't seem to think that they're all that bad either...

 

[gotmud13613]

I am already thinking about the right angle drill, and reciprocating saw........

That angle drill is just as tough as the regular drill. Plus the battery rotates so it make it a little easier if your in a tight spot.

 

[kythri]

I've got a huge collection of the 18V Ryobi gear, and it's great stuff.

As mentioned, it's the exact same tool as the Craftsman C3 stuff (C3 has one extra 1.2v cell, whoopty-doo).

The angle grinder has done what I've needed it to, the reciprocating saw is AWESOME (just wish the batteries lasted longer), and the drills are excellent.

I haven't bought any of the lithium-ion batteries, yet, but the new batteries fit the old tools, and the old batteries fit the new tools.

 

[bchee]

They are not the best, but they are probably best value

They seem to get consistent reviews as being the best value, at least from what I've read.

 

[MIKE1965]

I have a big collection of the Ryobi stuff, not as good as my Dewalt stuff but half the price. The sawzall and grinder eat up the batteries fast, but work well.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have the drill, flashlight (which is great) saber saw, circular saw, compound miter saw and a bunch of chargers and batteries. All my stuff works great and the best part is when the batteries croak you can get 2 replacements for less than $50.00!

 

[jimvannoy]

I've got a huge collection of the 18V Ryobi gear, and it's great stuff.

As mentioned, it's the exact same tool as the Craftsman C3 stuff (C3 has one extra 1.2v cell, whoopty-doo).

The angle grinder has done what I've needed it to, the reciprocating saw is AWESOME (just wish the batteries lasted longer), and the drills are excellent.

I haven't bought any of the lithium-ion batteries, yet, but the new batteries fit the old tools, and the old batteries fit the new tools.

I wish they were the same as the 18v Craftsman stuff. I have several tools and no batteries that will hold a charge any longer. Stupid Craftsman batteries are way too expensive. I took one apart and tried to put the battery pack from one of my new Ryobi batteries in the Craftsman case. It almost fits but no go. The contact part that slides into the tool is the same but the side clips don't line up right.

 

[jimvannoy]

I have the drill, flashlight (which is great) saber saw, circular saw, compound miter saw and a bunch of chargers and batteries. All my stuff works great and the best part is when the batteries croak you can get 2 replacements for less than $50.00!

I am sure I'll end up with pretty much all the power tools they have. Not the vac, fan, or caulk gun though. I saw that they even have a radio. I do like the battery price! Anyone try the Lithium Ion batteries yet? Price is kinda steep for me.

 

[jimvannoy]

Speaking of the other tools I just missed a brand new circular saw. It ended at $11.01 with $9.50 shipping. I forgot to check it a little while ago....

 

[kythri]

I wish they were the same as the 18v Craftsman stuff. I have several tools and no batteries that will hold a charge any longer. Stupid Craftsman batteries are way too expensive. I took one apart and tried to put the battery pack from one of my new Ryobi batteries in the Craftsman case. It almost fits but no go. The contact part that slides into the tool is the same but the side clips don't line up right.

You might look for a local battery store, and get your stuff re-packed with new cells...

If you're handy with stuff yourself, and it's cheap enough to do so, you could always disassemble the Ryobi pack, and move those cells into the Craftsman pack (I think they're all the same sized cells, but I could be wrong about that).

 

[Dale]

I have most of the 18 volt Ryobi tools. used the cordless caulk gun redoing all the windows,trim and storm windows. It worked great and saved my hands a lot of work. I have several worn out batteries and need to rebuild them, has anyone do their own yet?

 

[joa65]

I have had a "set" for about a year now. It replaced my Porter Cable stuff. Ryobi is a "good value" but not the best equipment.
The chuck on the Ryobi drill was junk from the first day. I replaced it with the one from my old Porter Cable drill and have been happy since then.

 

[djjsr]

I have 9 Ryobi 18V tools and love them. Haven't broken or wore out any of them yet. I've had to replace a few batteries, seems like they won't take a charge after about 4 or 5 years.

I have 8 batteries but only 1 lithium. I use the lithium all the time. Seems to have more power and it's lighter, but it doesn't give you much warning when it's about to go dead. I'm hoping the price on them comes down a bit.

 

[musgofasta]

I've got them too. I've beat on the drill and circular saw pretty good the last few years.

My original 2 batteries are just starting to die. They work great out of the charger, but they're dead in a few days, whether I leave them in a tool or sitting by themselves. I might start surfing eBay for a few new ones.

I also have a plug-in Ryobi grinder that just won't die either. Change the blade for whatever I'm cutting, and it mows through anything. I'm putting in granite countertops and cutting them to fit with this grinder and a diamond blade.

 

[kythri]

I have most of the 18 volt Ryobi tools. used the cordless caulk gun redoing all the windows,trim and storm windows. It worked great and saved my hands a lot of work. I have several worn out batteries and need to rebuild them, has anyone do their own yet?

When a 2-pack of new batteries costs $40.00 regular price (sometimes on sale for $35), it's cheaper just to buy new batteries right now, rather than re-pack with more NiCad or NiMH cells.

Even if the cells are a buck each, you'd save $5 repacking your own.

Not saying not to do it, but for me, it's just not cost effective yet. None of my packs are fried, but I'll definitely save them for the day that it does become frugal to re-pack myself.