I'm still on my 4 year old Ryobi 18+ kit from HD,though I've bought 2 more as the 'kits' are cheaper than just batteries ! Aside from being dirty they still work very well.(have 2 brand new ones in boxes still), 3rd set came with an EXTRA battery too ! I 'rescued' an old style Ryobi recip saw, took out the safety and batteries fit/run fine(makes great pruner BTW) Yeah, it makes ZERO sense...like WHY could I buy the ice maker unit for my LG fridge $100 CHEAPER AND free delivery from a 3rd party and NOT directly from LG ?

Also..

I use a car battery to power a 1200 watt UPS that powers an electric polesaw. Allows me to stand in my 5by8 trailer to prune branches safely .. D-14 pulls trailer...

Jay

 

https://www.amazon.com/3600mAh-Replacement-Battery-Compatible-Cordless/dp/B07LCYRVRY?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07LCYRVRY" rel="nofollow - https://www.amazon.com/3600mAh-Replacement-Battery-Compatible-Cordless/dp/B07LCYRVRY?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07LCYRVRY

Back in '06, I bought a Bosch 36 volt drill with two Lith-ion batteries and it is still going strong. BIL bought two of them at that time also, and he had to buy new batteries a couple years ago for his. Thing is a brute. We were taking down a bolted quanset building and Nephew picked it up and put it on a bolt and twisted right out of his hand and over the side it went busting the drill housing. Bought a new housing for it and back to work with it.  Drill and batteries have never sat outside in the cold or rain in the 13 years.

Bought a 1/2" Milwaukee impact with the red lithium M18 batteries and don't plan to leave that out in the cold either.

 All my other battery powered tools have died over the years, batteries just didn't last.. 

200Tom1,  When you make a mistake in your message, and see it after it is posted, you can go up to "Post options" and click on it  and it will give you choices like 'edit post' or 'Delete post'.

    If you choose edit option, you can open it and make corrections or add to it... or delete all you wrote but will still show that you had posted but nothing there for words...

   If you want to change stuff and have a clean post, and nobody has made a post after you, then you can highlite what you wrote, copy it, and then delete the whole post and go back to message box and past your copy in and change it and then hit post reply. 

 Chit,,JC,,I thought ole Tom was just trying to be "Expressive",,,,,

OK... hint on 'dead' battery pack.

One of my 4yr old used-abused Ryobi 18+  batteries wouldn't charge,so I tried to order battery cells from China. nope, can't ship(planes/fires I suppose).....they are '18650' used a LOT in tools and vaping machines(sigh). Anyway, I tear battpack apart...yeesh, friggin itty-bittycomputer in there on top of 5 18650 cells. I check voltages, one cell <2 volts. So I connected a 3 volt power supply(yeah, like WHO has them ???) to 'dead cell' for 3-4 minutes to put a minimal charge on the 'dead cell', it reads 2.3ish... close up pack, toss on Ryobi charger and it works. Maybe not as long as before, but still it works.

If you're reasonably handy, they are easy to change....

Jay

Rance, I got one of those HF cordless that you referred to.  I should have returned it when I took it out of the box - no power.

I would be willing to try the line that Hubert recommenced though.

i just do not have the heart to toss that HF one and it just sets on the bench in retirement.

Well I finally did it.  That drill and charger are residing in my trash can.  Iffin you can reach that far it will be there until Thursday. 

They have us hooked on Battrees!

I have the 18v Ryobi.  Tools all work great but I must have 5 chargers and as far as I can tell, only one works,  When I first got Ryobi they had the big batteries.  The newer ones have the half size LiOn batteries.  The guy at the store told me, Charge the new ones in either charger, but never charge the old type in the new type chargers.  I'm not sure if that is true, never tried it!

I watched a video on replacing bad cells in batteries.  It appears easy enough, you buy the $12 HF batteries and tear them apart to use the cells from them.  With all of the batteries I have and all of the Ryobi tools I have I guess I should. 

If your daring watch all the youtubes on how to revive the old batteries. Some of those are trying really hard to get a darwin award.

After the batteries for a 12vt drill I had died, I tried to put wires from a auto battery to it I got nothing. I read it works  but not for me. Or did I  do it wrong, only 2 ways i could see. But that is like corded anyway so,it was just cause kind a thing.

'new' cordless devices have computers in them, batteries have 'chips'... so you may not be able to use other batteries on certain devices. Same holds true for printer 'toner' cartridges... say they're empty but 15-25% left in them...

I made good money 'foolin the computer' years ago....

I just wish I could BUY 18650s from China...sigh...

20 years ago or so I bought a Makita 18V 1/2" impact and 1/2" drill. Very compact and real strong with good battery life. Lithium batteries. Used the heck out of them for everything for years. The battery charger started not charging them, needed new batteries from what I understood, something in the batteries wouldn't let the charger charge them. $150 apiece for batteries. No..... Charged them with a 12V auto battery charger for awhile and something told me to stop that and I figured they would probably blow up at some point.

Use a Dewault 12V driver and 3/8 drill and have a Milwaukee 18V 1/2" and 3/8" impact now. Very happy with them.

They have come a long way

So the old Craftsman 19.2 impact took the tractor tire off.  Got a nice pair of used 16 x 285 for the old Chey when they fixed tractor tire. With a fresh charge that battery put the tractor tire on and took the pair off and back on the Chey and had a lot left yet. The tires on the old Chey have not been off in longer than I can remember.

Someday's the batteries can be a real disappointment.  But other days they can be a real help.

Like  I said before!

At the end of the day though, I use a 12v drill for almost all of my household work. I use those two impacts for assembling furniture projects because of the assist mode but I installed two wall mount TVs in the last two weeks and never broke out an impact gun, just my drill for pilot holes and screwing into studs. Having the option is nice. Also lithium is what you want. I would check out DeWalt, they make awesome home owner tools and have a https://wisepick.org/best-cordless-hammer-drills/" rel="nofollow - lot of options  that are all cost conscious.

i have the Ryobi 18v tools and like them for what I use them for.

Not long ago the batteries were going bad,and made the mistake of buying some on e-bay.

 One of them lasted about 2 days,and the other lasted for a week.When I contacted the seller,they offered ma a $1.50 refund.After getting pay pal involved,the said I could return them at my expense,for a refund,but had to ship them to the seller in China,which was going to cost more than the batteries.Sucked it up to experience.

 Home depot then had a sale where you could buy 2 batteries and get a tool of your choice,so went that way,and all is good

I bought a B&D Firestorm kit about five years ago.  Brand new, out of the box, with store receipt in hand, plugged in the charger, charged one battery.  Connected it to the drill, went to drill a hole, and it made about six turns, then nothing.  Switched the battery to the circular saw with no blade, and it turned about a quarter turn and stopped.  Put it back in the charger, and the charger flashed "Battery Bad".  I tried the other battery, it flashed "Battery Bad".

I called B&D, they said "Take it back to the retailer", so I did.  Retailer showed me their B&D policy sheet, indicated to ship it, with receipt, in original packaging, back to B&D, so I made a copy, shipped the whole deal.  Eight weeks later, a box arrived from B&D, I opened it, and the SAME STUFF was in there, with a note that warranty return policy did not cover inoperative merchandise.

I'll never buy a B&D again.  Yep, made by same folks as DeWalt... they started the black-and-yellow because their orange-black products wouldn't sell (wonder why?)

All I wanted, was a working charger.  They not only had a failure in quality assurance, they really failed in customer service.  I still have DeWalt corded tools, but as they fail, I dispose them, and seek products elsewhere.

My most recent drill is a Ridgid... I bought a 1/4" impact gun, and an oscillating multi-tool, all running on same battery.  They're okay.  Drill chuck is perpetually loosening up.  The impact gun's bit-retaining nose went to crap when I had one bit break off at the 'neck', and the fragment wouldn't release from the magnet.  While trying to extract the bad piece, the whole nose came apart, sent the three retainer balls into dark corners, and the retaining ring would not seat... so now, any bit that goes in, gets held with gaffer's tape.

My 1/2" impact wrench is a Ryobi, with the large battery.  Unlike the Rigids... the Ryobi is NOT a brushless, and it is absolutely clear that there's brushes, because it's constantly throwing sparks out the vents... since day 1.  Brush-type motors don't last but a fragment of the life of a brushless system, and as they wear, the brushes become much less effective, sothe motor loses power, and consumes substantially more battery power.  Given the choice, always choose brushless.

Chargers and batteries... the fancy batteries and chargers both have microprocessors, and BOTH my Ryobi, and my Ridgid cordless tools are worthless anytime ambient temperatures are above 80F, or below 40... and not only won't they OPERATE, they won't CHARGE.  When I'm on winter jobsites, I need those tools to be functional when it's -20F, so best I can do, is keep the chargers and tools in the front seat of my service truck, with the engine on.  As the tool cools off, I hafta throw it back in the truck.  I pull out my older Hitachi drill, slap a battery in it, and go... it doesn't care about the temperature.

I have had batteries rebuilt by my local Batteries Place...  and I've had oh... 75% success.  For the ones that don't, I take 'em back to Batteries Place <;-)  to get re-rebuilt, and usually they come out okay, but in the scheme of things, when I'm on a job, and a cordless tool bites dust, I expense a replacement tool, and the failed one goes back home to my garage, and if I give the batteries a rebuilt on my own dime, I expect to get a few years of casual home op before they become recycleable.  Like brushes, motor bearings don't last forever, and when THEY start to drag, battery life goes to crap too.

Cordless tools are great, and they suck.   Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.