Ryobi LiIon Batteries

[Pappy]

Saw some Ryobi 18V LiIon batteries last time I was in the Borg that are selling for just over half the cost of the original ones. The cases are black instead of green and they don't have any indicator for the remaining charge.

Anyone know if there are other differences? If the over all power rating is the same, I don't care about the color of the case. As far as the charge indicator, I don't pay any attention to it anyway. I always have 2 batteries sitting in the chargers ready to go.

[mpc]

Ryobi 18volt batteries come in two sizes and three standards.
Sizes:
1: compact
2: high-capacity
The high capacity format is taller in the actually battery pack area (not counting the post that inserts into the tool), about double the size, of the compacts. And has about twice the run-time of compacts.

Standards:
1: the old style NiCd batteries. Yellow and black plastic bodies. These are now available only in one size I think, physically the size of Ryobi's "high capacity" lithium battery packs.
2: The "Lithium" branded ones. Black and dark gray bodies, black tops. Compacts have similar capacity to the NiCd packs but are smaller and lighter; the high-capacity size is supposed to have twice the run-time/capacity of the NiCd batteries.
3: And the "Lithium+" branded ones. Silver body with green tops. These have about twice the run-time/capacity of the "Lithium" models.

It sounds like your Borg has the straight "Lithium" packs; a 2-pack of those typically sells for the same price as one Lithium+ battery. Once in a while Ryobi puts a twin-pack of the Lithium+ batteries on sale - 2 for the price of 1 basically. My local Borg has a few of those left over and marked down actually - yellow-tag priced at only $79 right now. They had about 6 such packages remaining as of this weekend.

mpc

[JimD]

There are compact batteries of two different grades. The one without the battery charge indicator is said to provide 20% more power than a Ni Cd. The one with the indicator is supposed to provide 35% more power than a Ni Cd. Both are 45% lighter than a Ni Cd. Amazon has the lesser on for about $36 each and the better one for about $52 each. I have two of the better ones and one of the lesser one. I can see a little difference but they will both do the same things. For that sort of a price difference, I think I'd get the cheaper one. 50% higher price for a little more capability doesn't seem like a great deal.

I don't have any of the bigger ones. I might have to get at least one but the little ones really work fine. I have the circular saw, jigsaw, reciprocating saw, two drills and the 18V brad driver - and the 1/4 inch impact and a light. All work fine with the little ones. It's hard to deplete a battery before another one can charge. I only have to wait if I don't have at least one good one with a near full charge.

[leehljp]

I have the large capacity and small capacity Lithium + and two small capacity Lithium black models.

I ran into something yesterday evening that I had not encountered before. I pulled out my Ryobi cordless circular saw and stuck in a small capacity black Lithium battery that had just been charged. I tested it (as I usually do) and the blade just budged once and then nothing. Like a dead battery. I put the battery back in the charger and it showed full. I then put it in the drill driver and it worked fine. Back into the circular saw and nothing.

Next, i added a high capacity battery+ to the circular saw and it worked fine. I did not try the smaller Li+ (PLUS) battery in the saw.

My conclusion is that some cordless tools require the high capacity batteries to operate correctly. I could be wrong.

[mpc]

I have a few Ryobi One+ tools now including the larger impact gun (which works REALLY well!) and the yard/leaf blower. The leaf blower gobbles up the high-capacity Lithium+ batteries in 20 to 30 minutes of continuous use which isn't quite enough for the large concrete area on my property. I don't even try using the two "compact" batteries I have in this tool. The compacts do fine in the impact driver though. Unlike many older NiCd packs, the Li packs have some electronic smarts to monitor how discharged the cells are; my blower runs at pretty much full power constantly and then suddenly stops - no appreciable slow-down unlike my NiCd (Ridgid) tools. Thus the state-of-charge LED lights are more useful.

For my Ridgid tools, the NiCd batteries I have are all the same physical - and large - size; I don't remember if anything like a "compact" format was available. Actually though I'd prefer even larger batteries for the circular saw; the ones I currently have barely cross-cut a sheet of half-inch plywood before running out. When they were brand new I got around 2 to 2 1/2 sheets out of a battery. I pretty much gave up on the idea of a cordless circular saw for anything but a few quick cuts. And that was with Freud blades, not the factory blade. Ridgid eventually offered compatible lithium-ion batteries in a similar/compatible pack format but I've never tried them new. They'd require a new charger as well. If/when my NiCd packs are really useless I'll see if the LSA is worth anything.

mpc

[Bill in Buena Park]

I have the large capacity and small capacity Lithium + and two small capacity Lithium black models.

I ran into something yesterday evening that I had not encountered before. I pulled out my Ryobi cordless circular saw and stuck in a small capacity black Lithium battery that had just been charged. I tested it (as I usually do) and the blade just budged once and then nothing...My conclusion is that some cordless tools require the high capacity batteries to operate correctly. I could be wrong.

Hank,
I own the Craftsman C-3 version of these Ryobi tools (they are in fact made by Ryobi, but just enough change so that the batteries are not interchangeable ) So I am wondering which circular saw you have that it wont work in? I own just about every C-3 tool made, shop and garden, and only have the compact LiIon batteries, and they work in everything: 7in circular, 5in trim, router, chain saw, recip saw, you name it. I find it unusual that any tool from the Ryobi set would require the Plus battery.

[JimD]

I'm pretty sure that I've used my black compact battery in the circular saw successfully. My guess is it might be a battery that is nearing the end of its life. The circular saw is a much larger draw than the drill. With Ni Cads I had decided the circular saw was nearly useless. It wouldn't cut one time down an 8 foot sheet of plywood. With the Lithium ions it is a very useful tool. For home improvement things, I rarely get out the corded saw.

I really like the batteries with the charge indication. I don't like charging batteries before they are pretty well depleted. I know it isn't supposed to be bad for lithium ion but I still think they have a fairly finite set of charge/discharge cycles. But it is irritating to have 3 and have them all with little charge so I am unable to do something until one is charged. With the charge indication button I can test them and put the worst in the charger.

[leehljp]

Hank,
I own the Craftsman C-3 version of these Ryobi tools (they are in fact made by Ryobi, but just enough change so that the batteries are not interchangeable ) So I am wondering which circular saw you have that it wont work in? I own just about every C-3 tool made, shop and garden, and only have the compact LiIon batteries, and they work in everything: 7in circular, 5in trim, router, chain saw, recip saw, you name it. I find it unusual that any tool from the Ryobi set would require the Plus battery.

I have the P504 model.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ryobi-P504G-...item33a2b09a9f

The new model is the 507 I believe.

I'm pretty sure that I've used my black compact battery in the circular saw successfully. My guess is it might be a battery that is nearing the end of its life. The circular saw is a much larger draw than the drill. With Ni Cads I had decided the circular saw was nearly useless. It wouldn't cut one time down an 8 foot sheet of plywood. With the Lithium ions it is a very useful tool. For home improvement things, I rarely get out the corded saw. (JimD)

Jim, I am sure you are right. It seems like I used it this way before. I have 5 full size (large) Lithium+ batteries, so I cannot be sure that I have. I have 3 small, 2 black and one +. In general, I grab a the larger batteries, but for a flash light and drill driver and sometimes impact driver, I grab the smaller ones.

And this black one could be going bad. I bought my first lithiums 3 years ago.

[Pappy]

Ryobi 18volt batteries come in two sizes and three standards.
Sizes:
1: compact
2: high-capacity
The high capacity format is taller in the actually battery pack area (not counting the post that inserts into the tool), about double the size, of the compacts. And has about twice the run-time of compacts.

Standards:
1: the old style NiCd batteries. Yellow and black plastic bodies. These are now available only in one size I think, physically the size of Ryobi's "high capacity" lithium battery packs.
2: The "Lithium" branded ones. Black and dark gray bodies, black tops. Compacts have similar capacity to the NiCd packs but are smaller and lighter; the high-capacity size is supposed to have twice the run-time/capacity of the NiCd batteries.
3: And the "Lithium+" branded ones. Silver body with green tops. These have about twice the run-time/capacity of the "Lithium" models.

It sounds like your Borg has the straight "Lithium" packs; a 2-pack of those typically sells for the same price as one Lithium+ battery. Once in a while Ryobi puts a twin-pack of the Lithium+ batteries on sale - 2 for the price of 1 basically. My local Borg has a few of those left over and marked down actually - yellow-tag priced at only $79 right now. They had about 6 such packages remaining as of this weekend.

mpc

The batteries I was looking at are LiIon but the body is solid black instead of green like the original One+ batteries. Come in both compact and high capacity.