Why do I keep repairing Ryobi junk?

[Packard V8]

Ryobi battery-powered tools, batteries and chargers have given me problems since they became a thing. No, I'd never buy Ryobi myself, but over the years, because it's at Home Depot, family and friends have given me a lot of it as presents.

Most recently, the 48-volt leaf blower had the handle break off. The big 48-volt battery is just too heavy for the POS plastic. I patched it together with super glue and gaffer tape. Then, it just stopped working; obviously something electrical had gone intermittent, as occasionally, the motor would start and run for a couple of seconds and stop.

My wife said, "Just get another one." Yeah, right, another $125 for something I know is junk, but has three 48-volt batteries and two chargers on the shelf, because there's also a hedge trimmer.

Before tossing it, I made one last try, peeled off the gaffer tape, removed all the torx screws and opened the handle. Easiest troubleshooting ever, as one of the wires to the switch had a loose, discolored female spade terminal. Pinched it together with pliers and problem solved.

Putting it back together, instead of trying to super glue the handle back on, I found a large worm drive hose clamp and snugged it REALLY tight and wrapped with gaffer tape.

Good as new, because it isn't that good new.

jack vines

 

[Steve W.]

Why do repair Ryobi junk?

Because the good stuff from Ryobi doesn't NEED to be repaired.

.

 

[bcradio]

I like all my Ryobi stuff

 

[Houdini5150]

I dont own any Ryobi 40V. My 18V Brushless stuff has been fine. Maybe the electic power washer I had the plastic tank for solution doesnt work but I use a hose attachment anyways.

No Warranty on that stuff?

 

[subroc]

Because you like and get satisfaction from repair. If you really thought it was junk you would spend money, spend the premium on something you believe is better.

 

[Packard V8]

Because you like and get satisfaction from repair. If you really thought it was junk you would spend money, spend the premium on something you believe is better.

For true. Every time I start dissing the Ryobi and swear I'll toss it all, I look at the shelf of tools, 18-volt and 48-volt batteries and chargers, add up the cost to replace it all and I cheap out. Think Ryobi planned it that way?

One component of the RYOBI brand promise is that they will never change the 18V ONE+ battery platform. That means that their newest products and batteries fit the original RYOBI tools and batteries from 1996. They have used the same system for over twenty years!

The RYOBI ONE+ strategy is a great example of how alignment can start with One Product and expand into a portfolio of fully compatible products. When a company pledges to never change their system, consumers can buy with confidence.

Their pledge also provides a tremendous differentiator. Once you buy your first RYOBI ONE+ product, the next time you go shopping for tools, RYOBI will be your preferred vendor.

You’ll head over to Home Depot (RYOBI tools and batteries are available exclusively at The Home Depot) and look for their distinctive “hyper green” color. When you compare tools, the RYOBI will be the cheapest alternative, since you can buy the new tools without the battery.

jack vines

 

[K13]

Never had an issue with any of my Ryobi stuff.

 

[P0234]

On the 40v series the batteries are worth more that the tools. You can snag a brushless blower with a 40v battery and charger for $80-120 from directtools. The 4a battery alone is $189 at home depot.

 

[CGarage]

I like the Ryobi glue gun.

 

[The Cobbler]

I've had and have Ryobi things. my power planer has planed thousands of feet of doors and other things. the only thing I replaced regularily was the carbide blades from dulling or hitting stuff . a few years ago I tore it apart & replaced all the bearings and it runs like new again.Its 35 years old

 

[strutaeng]

Some is good, some is decent and some is gimmicky junk.

I've got the 18V leaf blower that my wife uses to sweep the front sidewalk. The end broke so it got duct tape. Battery is shared with my cordless angle grinder. That one is decent for light duty use.

The 18V pole saw was garbage. Tensioner was a joke. Went direct to the landfill with very little use, including the battery that failed quickly.

That's as much as I'm willing to buy from them. Most of their tools just seem too darn clunky and bulky. But I've got a friend that is a Ryobi fanboy and basically has all of their tools. Even though he's a DIYer, he seems to think that Ryobi can hang with Hilti on jobsites, LOL .

 

[zendriver]

Had one of their batteries go completely dead from sitting in an unplugged charger, would not recharge. Got a warranty replacement, they told me to recycle the "bad" one.

YouTube video explains how to take the battery cover off and "jump charge" it with any 12v maintenance charger, then re insert into regular charger.

Been working fine ever since. Wonder how many battery warranty replacements they do because of that?

 

[Packard V8]

Last month, it was the handle on the 40-volt leaf blower. This month, it was the handle on the 40-volt hedge trimmer. One of the attaching screws vibrated out and vanished. I removed the remaining screw on the other side, used a metric die to determine the thread of the mounting nut, searched through the small machine screw bin for the closest one, ran it through the threading die and good to go.

Neither of these tools was abused by a minimum wage teenager or a work-release helper. Both failed while being used by adults long familiar with tools, who knew he'd have to pay to replace it.

jack vines

 

[Al Borland]

Have a bunch of brushed Ryobi. Got it all cheap when Home Despot changed models/SKUs/finished out sales.
Stuff works, and the lime green means it's nearly theft-proof. (Apparently even tweekers have standards ). They have been left at jobsites in their little green bags with ALL the parts -chargers, batteries, tools, and nobody takes them. Try that with your Milwookies or DeWalts.
Got a bunch of "dead" batteries from work, jump-started them so they would charge, and they still work several years later. Heck, my old blue Ryobi drill still works fine.

 

[VolvoRyan]

I've had great luck with my Ryobi 18V stuff.... and I abuse it for the most part. You do get what you pay for: lotta runout in the drill and impact driver. I have better tools for stuff I care about.

So far, Ryobi and my Milwaukee are tied for dead batteries.

-Ryan

 

[JeepYJ]

Buy battery adapters that will allow you to use your Ryobi battery collection on yellow or red tools.

 

[engineer2]

Try Makita 18V. I'm still using 12 year old batteries with my 12 year old impact driver and they work fine.

 

[jonesg]

before lithium came along I had 120v drill and 120v angle grinder from ryobi, I smoked the drill and the grinder fell apart.
no more ryobi for me.

Moved on to dewalt nicad battery tools,, then milwaukee lithiums in the end.
I was happy with dewalt power and quality, they didn't have much in automotive tools though.

 

[whateg01]

Doesn't Ryobi still manufacture a lot of tools for other brands? I know they used to make a lot of table saws with other company's names on them. They're like the Whirlpool of power tools.

 

[P0234]

Try Makita 18V. I'm still using 12 year old batteries with my 12 year old impact driver and they work fine.

Why when my 10+ year old drill, my first ryobi tool is still going strong. It’s a POS drill compared to one’s that cost 5x but it works for me. I was just using it with a 2” auger bit to cut holes under my sidewalk for my gutter extensions. It’s taken this kind of abuse for years. My very first 18v battery is still working too.

 

[tak1313]

Doesn't Ryobi still manufacture a lot of tools for other brands? I know they used to make a lot of table saws with other company's names on them. They're like the Whirlpool of power tools.

Not so much that Ryobi makes tools for other brands, but Ryobi is made by TTI.

TTI, in turn makes a lot of tools under other brands besides Ryobi - Milwaukee and Hart (Walmart) being a couple.

Brands

Learn how TTI brands deliver the innovative, quality products that homeowners and tradespeople trust.

www.ttigroup.com

 

[bwringer]

The newer 18V brushless stuff is quite nice.

That said, I did have one brushless tool fail in less than a year of busy amateur use, and both Ryobi and HD told me to pound sand because I didn't have the original receipt. I thought they could look up receipts, but it turns out they only keep them for three months. Live and learn... not the most expensive lesson I've learned, but still painful. The tools generally work great, but dealing with Home Despot can be a real bag of *** sometimes. However, they seem to have cornered the market on major cordless brands stocked on the shelf. Ryobi sales are frequent and worthwhile, and their range of tools is second to none.

I haven't taken it apart yet to have a look-see, so I'll reserve judgement on quality until I get bored enough to excavate. All my other stuff (I have at least a dozen tools) has been relentlessly abused for one to four years with no issues. I standardized on a single platform about three years ago.

 

[dchawk81]

I think it's a Stockholm Syndrome thing.

 

[dnschmidt]

Here's my suggestion as to why you do this: You're too cheap to buy Milwaukee, Makita, Bosch or DeWalt. Hey, but that's just a guess but it does answer your original question