Ryobi 18V batteries

[Donald]

I thought the batteries were lifetime but on the Home Depot website seems to indicate everything manufactured after 2011 is 3 years. So what gives? Is my memory faulty at 68 yr old?

 

[Schandyman]

I thought the batteries were lifetime but on the Home Depot website seems to indicate everything manufactured after 2011 is 3 years. So what gives? Is my memory faulty at 68 yr old?

Yes I believe 3-yr warranty is right. I just registered new tools and batteries on the ryobi site.

 

[jayjr1105]

Their batteries 100% have some built in obsolescence. I bought a cheap weed whacker/blower 18v combo years ago. Every spring it says the battery is bad. I take it apart and charge the cells in them one pair at a time with a variable power supply to about 4.1v, takes me about a full day swapping to the next set of cells every few hours. Once I do this and start using it, it works flawlessly all summer long.

 

[Donald]

My aftermarket battery for the Ryobi is about the same age and works fine.

No issues with any Milwaukee M18 batteries after many more years.

 

[Tdbo]

I believe the lifetime warranty on batteries is on their Ridgid tools, if they are properly registered, and the consumer goes through all the multiple gyrations required to complete such task.

 

[meep]

I believe the lifetime warranty on batteries is on their Ridgid tools, if they are properly registered, and the consumer goes through all the multiple gyrations required to complete such task.

This! However, it only applies to the batteries packaged with the tools. If you buy the nice up-sized battery itself, it’s not lifetime. Rigid and ryobi and produced by the same parent company, curiously enough.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Their batteries 100% have some built in obsolescence. I bought a cheap weed whacker/blower 18v combo years ago. Every spring it says the battery is bad. I take it apart and charge the cells in them one pair at a time with a variable power supply to about 4.1v, takes me about a full day swapping to the next set of cells every few hours. Once I do this and start using it, it works flawlessly all summer long.

Is there some kind of control module inside? Maybe beyond overheat protection, like a timer, or some communication channel with the charger. Would be interesting to see if an knockoff aftermarket charger keeps them going.

 

[bchannell]

This! However, it only applies to the batteries packaged with the tools. If you buy the nice up-sized battery itself, it’s not lifetime. Rigid and ryobi and produced by the same parent company, curiously enough.

I'll have to do some looking into this. As a contractor, we lose a lot of tools to stupidity, theft and whatever, so I had looked into Rigid tools, and found at the time, that you could register individual batteries, but that may have changed in the mean time.

 

[Carmudgeon]

This! However, it only applies to the batteries packaged with the tools. If you buy the nice up-sized battery itself, it’s not lifetime. Rigid and ryobi and produced by the same parent company, curiously enough.

That policy was changed last year, to make unbundled batteries eligible for the LSA.

I've seen adapters to mate the sliding shoe batteries used by others to Ryobi tools, but not vice versa. No easy way to accommodate the stems that Ryobi's batteries have in tools not designed for them.

Raw lithium cells can be dangerous without protection circuitry, so most consumer-friendly products that utilize them will have some form of extra circuitry. Notable exception being flashlights, and vapes, markets the cell manufacturers dislike and try to discourage use of their products in.

Edit -- citation from Ridgid:



Of course, it's still always wise to read the fine print for potential exceptions, but "All Ridgid batteries purchased after 3/7/21 are eligible Ridgid's LSA, subject to terms and conditions" is less ambiguous and is touted as an improvement.