New to me Ryobi cordless drill and flashlight set

[Number_35]

Hello all.

My mother-in-law was organizing her place, and found a large plastic case in her storage room. She figured it was a tool set of some sort, and gave it to my wife, who was visiting, to pass on to me if I wanted it.

It turned out to be a Ryobi 18 V cordless drill and flashlight set. Besides the drill and light, there are two batteries and a charger.

I suspect the set has not had much use at all, but is at least a dozen years old. The light is ancient enough that it's got an incandescent bulb instead of an LED. I'd bet the batteries haven't been charged in at least eight years, and perhaps longer.

I've been charging the batteries, but am not sure whether they'll come back from the dead.

I'm a bit of a Luddite; this is my first foray into cordless electric tools. Questions:

1. Is it reasonable to expect these batteries to recover?

2. Can I do anything to rejuvenate them (beyond using the factory charger)?

3. Is this a good enough drill to warrant replacing the battery?

4. What are you recommendations for a new battery? Are there aftermarket clones that work well?

Thanks!

 

[Greasymechtech]

1. yes
2. no. If they don't take a full charge, or die quickly, rebuild them or send them to the recycler.
3. is it an 18v one or one+?
4. Genuine ryobi..... Homedepooo stock Ryobi 18+ batteries and chargers for the older nimh and current lithium batteries.

Flashlight can be upgraded with an LED bulb. Ryobi still sells incandescent flashlights that use the ONE+ system.

Does the battery/charger male/female port look like:

ryobitools.ui

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www.ryobitools.com

 

[Number_35]

1. yes
2. no. If they don't take a full charge, or die quickly, rebuild them or send them to the recycler.
3. is it an 18v one or one+?
4. Genuine ryobi..... Homedepooo stock Ryobi 18+ batteries and chargers for the older nimh and current lithium batteries.

Flashlight can be upgraded with an LED bulb. Ryobi still sells incandescent flashlights that use the ONE+ system.

Does the battery/charger male/female port look like:

ryobitools.ui

<!-- START doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update --> <!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->

www.ryobitools.com

3. The batteries say only "18.0 V" - there's no mention of "One" or "One+". There's no mention of the battery chemistry either (e.g. Ni-Cad or Li-Ion). The charger output is stated to be 19 V 2.2 A.

Would the charger be compatible with the One+ battery?

 

[ondarvr]

Look online at what the new batteries look like, while the plug in portion is the same, the rest of it looks different.

The drill is compatible with the new batteries and the drills work well enough.

Don't buy new batteries by themselves, they will package them with a tool and charger for the same price as the battery alone.

The old chargers are not compatible with the new batteries. All the old tools are compatible the new batteries though.

 

[ondarvr]

If the light comes on indicating it's charging, then they may work, but probably not very well. If the light doesn't come on, try repeatedly pulling the battery out and putting it in until the light does come on. Sometimes plugging the charger in and out will do the same thing.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Cool find for sure. I’d say you probably need new batteries.

 

[daves87rs]

Might need new batteries....

 

[FT92]

there are some youtube videos on bringing back old batteries...I tried it and had 50/50 results. Might be worth a try. The batteries that did come back to life for me didn't hold a charge for very long

 

[RyanY]

Can you post pics? This will help with IDing the set. And I just like to see the retro tools!

 

[Donald]

I would think given the age the batteries are not LiIon.

I would figure out your cordless tool platform. Then see if this fits in. For me I try and only buy Milwaukee M18 Fuel tools.

This may end up being a item to sell cheap on Craigslist.

 

[Number_35]

Update: Yesterday evening I finally read the funny manual.

The charger has three indicator lights, GN, RD, and YL. Initially, both the GN and YL lights were on. Per the manual, this is normal for up to 15 minutes, as the charger assesses and preps the battery. But longer than 15 minutes, as I experienced, indicates a problem with the battery.

But anyway, after several hours, the GN and YL lights went out, and the RD light (fast charging) came on. That was yesterday evening. This morning, the GN light only was on, indicating a full charge.

So there's the first hurdle - one battery is allegedly fully charged. I don't know what its capacity will be.

The 2nd battery is still showing GN and YL, so time will tell. Will let you know.

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

 

[Wolf359]

I think you have the old ni-cads because I don't think Ryobi sold that kit when they went to the newer batteries. I bought one of those about 16 years ago. If the batteries are yellow and black and you have a black charger, those are the nicads. The drill and flashlight would also be blue. The newer tools are green which are lithium ion. The new batteries also have that green coloring. The nicads has memory so if you charged them too often, they would remember and wouldn't hold a charge long. I bet all this time it's been in storage, it's been dead so that's probably why they didn't get killed. You can use the new batteries in the old tools though, they all still work. I think you might still be able to charge the old batteries in the new charger as at one point they did both, not sure if the new ones still do that. Can't do the new batteries in the old charger though. There's always cheap kits on sale that come with a battery and charger. I always wanted a drop in LED for the flashlight but never found a really good one.

 

[Number_35]

I think you have the old ni-cads because I don't think Ryobi sold that kit when they went to the newer batteries. I bought one of those about 16 years ago. If the batteries are yellow and black and you have a black charger, those are the nicads. The drill and flashlight would also be blue. The newer tools are green which are lithium ion. The new batteries also have that green coloring. The nicads has memory so if you charged them too often, they would remember and wouldn't hold a charge long. I bet all this time it's been in storage, it's been dead so that's probably why they didn't get killed. You can use the new batteries in the old tools though, they all still work. I think you might still be able to charge the old batteries in the new charger as at one point they did both, not sure if the new ones still do that. Can't do the new batteries in the old charger though. There's always cheap kits on sale that come with a battery and charger. I always wanted a drop in LED for the flashlight but never found a really good one.

Wolf, exactly as you said - BK charger, BK batteries w/ YL trim, and BL tools.

The one battery has accepted a charge, though I don't know how good it will be. For the other battery, the charger is still indicating GN and YL, so it's not in charging mode yet.

 

[Wolf359]

Wolf, exactly as you said - BK charger, BK batteries w/ YL trim, and BL tools.

The one battery has accepted a charge, though I don't know how good it will be. For the other battery, the charger is still indicating GN and YL, so it's not in charging mode yet.

Unplug the battery and try it again a few times. It might have already been dead when it was put away. Those nicads only lasted a few years before they fell apart. I used to pick up a kit around black friday every year or two as they used to have the drill and battery charger for $30 whereas the battery alone when it wasn't on sale was $40. Now I think the drill, battery and charger is more like $60 when it's on sale. They do have interesting kits once in a while at $100 that come with the battery and charger. You can get the tire inflator tool only for about $25 and that should still work with the old battery. I think you could take apart the old battery and test out the individual cells and just replace the individual cells that were bad. There's one cell in the top of the battery that goes into the charger and that cell typically gets baked from the heat of the charger, the rest of the cell packs are usually good. Too much of a project so I never bothered. Don't leave it in the charger after it's done.

 

[Number_35]

It looks like the one battery pack is done - it won't go into charge mode, and when I opened it up, there was some fuzzy powder on a few of the cells. Will probably run on the one battery for now, and watch for a sale on a new battery and charger. I don't know how far I want to go down this rabbit hole; this will be my first cordless tool, and from what others have said, Ryobi is not a really good brand.

Photos as requested:

 

[Wolf359]

It looks like the one battery pack is done - it won't go into charge mode, and when I opened it up, there was some fuzzy powder on a few of the cells. Will probably run on the one battery for now, and watch for a sale on a new battery and charger. I don't know how far I want to go down this rabbit hole; this will be my first cordless tool, and from what others have said, Ryobi is not a really good brand.

They're owned by the same company that makes Milwaukee. They're basically consumer grade tools. They're fine for regular occasional use. I think I might still have a couple of those blue drills around. I've lent a few out and never got them back. Cheap enough not to worry about it.

 

[Number_35]

They're owned by the same company that makes Milwaukee. They're basically consumer grade tools. They're fine for regular occasional use. I think I might still have a couple of those blue drills around. I've lent a few out and never got them back. Cheap enough not to worry about it.

Thanks, good to know. I do find that buying good tools is cheaper in the long run, so won't spend a lot on these.

 

[meep]

I remember those! That was a fast, solid drill for what it was back 15 years ago!

But, the newer stuff continues to improve. I wouldn’t put money into this one.

 

[Number_35]

I remember those! That was a fast, solid drill for what it was back 15 years ago!

But, the newer stuff continues to improve. I wouldn’t put money into this one.

Thanks, meep. If you were buying from scratch, what brands do you recommend? I have no cordless electric tools other than this one.

As far as power tools go, I bought a small used Makita table saw in 1989, and it's been great.

My corded Craftsman drill was a gift in '92, and it's still going, though there are a few dead spots in the motor. It's done much better than its predecessor, a Black & Decker.

My circular saw, a Skil, was bought new in '95. It's also been good, but has had much less use than the other two.

 

[meep]

You’ll get two leading opinions for rigid vs ryobi, and then outliers for others such as makita and Milwaukee among others. Ryobi has a universal battery system that supports a large number of rechargeable tools from drills to drain snakes to lite duty chain saws. Rigid also has a wide offering but not as widely varied. The general internet consensus, however is that rigid tools seem to have a slight edge in durability. I own both. My go-to is Rigid first. In the hand they seem sturdier, and they have lifetime warranties on the tools AND the batteries which come with them, PROVIDED that you follow the warranty registration perfectly. They don’t warranty the larger batteries sold separately for life, but the smaller kit batteries are covered. Rigid has for me repaired my favorite drill when the motor started sparking (12 volt, little guy which is always the first one I grab), replaced a 12v flashlight when the switch wore out, and 4 batteries for me now. So, my drills and saws are all rigid.

I also own a couple of ryobi tools, where their variety plays. Hedge trimmer, chain saw, portable fan (sort of a dud but still ok) and drain snake. The drain snake is, when used gently, a terrific tool.

both are very good to go with. I’d go hold each in your hands, squeeze the triggers, tighten the drill chucks by hand and see which feels best for you. I also wouldn’t make the whole purchase based on the warranty - some folks goof the registration process and get frustrated if that’s the leading reason they bought that brand.

good luck!