Ryobi Li One-plus batteries dying on board

Rich Stidger · Aug 12, 2012

I have had very poor experience with Ryobi batteries but I am using the NiCd's. If I get two years of light use I'm doing well. IMO the battery quality is crap. Compared to the NiCds that I have in my Standard Horizon handheld, the Standard batteries are great- they hold a charge and work the way they should.

I too have a 18V Ryobi drill onboard with a single battery pack and a 12V charger. I need to charge the battery before every use. I have bought some replacement cells that eventually I will build into my packs over the winter, so I will see if they are any better.

Bottom line- you have lots of company with the bad Ryobi batteries.

Scup · Aug 12, 2012

Rich Stidger said:
[snip]Bottom line- you have lots of company with the bad Ryobi batteries.

Agreed.:cussing:

kloudie1 · Aug 12, 2012

Could be the heat, Bob..Inside the boat probably really hot lately..

capta · Aug 12, 2012

Rechargeable tool batteries do not seem to last very long on a boat. I believe it is mainly due to not having 110v a/c going all the time to charge them. Each recharge, they just don't get as far up to the top and in a while you are working the batteries to say 55%, then charging to 85%, then 35% to 55% etc and the batteries are destroyed.
We only run the generator a few hours a day, max. Just not enough time to replenish a depleted battery. Very few portable battery chargers will work on non-sine wave inverters.
I finally got a 12 volt charger from Ryobi and all has been fine.

Bob McL · Aug 12, 2012

I got the fancy new $90 charger that will keep many batteries charged all the time (so they say) DOESN'T WORK when I contacted they said buy all new batteries at $89 each and all would be fine - RIGHT - fine for them!

skipmac · Aug 12, 2012

I got burned out paying $89 for a battery and found some on eBay for about $20 less. Ordered a couple to try and they look exactly like the ones in the store, brand new in plastic, and so far, about 2 months in, work as well as the ones at the store.

Which, by the way, I've had no problems with. The Li batteries have more run time and last more years than the NiCads but I've had good luck with both. I built a large shed with a set of Ryobi 18V tools and 5 NiCad batteries.

I do keep them charged up, have a true sine wave inverter on the boat as well as the 12V charger. Maybe that's the secret.

tommays · Aug 13, 2012

I have (8) 18 volt Ryobi batteries i have collected over the past 3 years and i keep them numbered 1 through 8 with a sharpie to keep the use them in order

I also have the 12 volt to 18 Volt FAST (P131)charger onboard and it defiantly is MUCH harder on the batteries than the slower home charger as they get MUCH hotter

That being said they all seem fine and as i have no permanent fans yet the 18 volt fan is my new best friend until i find the most useful places to install permanent ones

I am NOT at all happy how hot the 12 volt plug gets on the charger and its on the list for a hardwire install

http://www.ryobitools.com/product_manual/file_url/7/P100_508_eng.pdf
I still question the value of trying to keep a charge in a battery not being used for a long time and there manuals say to store them discharged for best life

Maine Sail · Aug 13, 2012

Wow I've had good luck I guess. On Saturday morning I discovered that two of my Ryobi One+ 18V NiCad batteries were finally dead and threw them away. I had a total of 8. They are/were almost 9 years old...! Six of them are still going but are getting long in the tooth. Considering I paid $20.00 each for them, when I bought them they were 2 for $39.95. I really can't complain....

NiCad batteries will self discharge if not kept charged but LiIon's should not. NiCad's really discharge it warmer temps pretty quickly. I really like LiIon for power tools as they can sit in my tool bag and be at the same state of charge as the last time I charged them but unlike the NiCad's they don't like cold weather as much..

I still like my Ryobi stuff, especially for the price, but I use Milwaukee M12 tools for working on boats because they are small, compact and do the job very well. They fit where other tools simply won't and the M12 line is the most extensive compact tool line out there, heck I can even get an M12 pipe cutter and pex expander...

Here's a thought & my initial gut feeling. Battery chargers for power tools, cordless razors, toothbrushes, camera's etc. DO NOT like to be run off non pure sine wave inverters.

Many of these chargers will NEVER shut off when powered of a non pure sine wave and can literally cook the batteries. I ruined 4 very expensive Nikon batteries using a Xantrex MSW inverter. I also ruined three extremely expensive DeWalt batteries using the same inverter. Why? The chargers NEVER turned off due to the input... We switched to a pure sine inverter and never again had the issue all our batteries now charge fine and last a loooooong time and the chargers do shut off when the batteries are full...

I would suggest against using power tool, camera or other 120V chargers through any inverter that is not pure sine. If they make a 12V charger use it instead.

tigerregis · Aug 13, 2012

I have my batteries rebuilt by an old Pakistani man. He told me factory batteries are composed of the cheapest Chinese units. He only uses SONY or Panasonics. Never have had a problem since.

kenn · Aug 13, 2012

I have a house-branded ("Mastercraft" from Canadian Tire) 18v drill with two Li battery packs, and they've hung in for about 4 years of non-professional but enthusiastic use, including long stints in a hot truck.

Dumbest thing about the battery packs - the individual cells are just wrapped in cardboard. One of the packs got just a bit wet (rain I believe), the cardboard got wet and the $%@#ing thing shorted itself out when two cell bodies touched.

Only two cells actually died and I was able to steal cells from another retired drill pack to repair it.

I recently snagged a 12v drill with dead batteries that I'm going to just stick a wire with a cigarette plug on, for car/boat use. Anyone else done this?

redhead78 · Aug 13, 2012

I have the dewalt 18vts. I am a carpenter and have at least 10 batts, and all sortsof tools 4 drills, saws ect, I keep and old drill and dewalt snake lite on board, since launch and I used it last week on remove and install cieling panel, they seemed fine. Iam at a mooring if they sound or lite looks weak I bring home and exchange, so I have not charged any thru the boats systems. When I first got in the cordless scene dewalt was the best, I hear now from some of my peers the ryobi was good. I am in too deep wf dewALT to change...Red

Blindnavigator · Aug 13, 2012

Ship your dead NI-cad power tool and marine radio batteries to Primecell in PA.They rebuild them with high quality cells in short order, triple your capacity, and adjust the circuitry so you can use your original charger, all for a fraction of the cost of a new battery- turn around time has always been under ten days , and they have expedited options. Whether you need a hundred batteries, or just one, their service is hard to beat.
I was skeptical myself, but I keep sending them batteries to rebuild, with no disappointments. Even waterproof VHF battery cases get resealed so you can't tell they opened them up.
I agree that dedicated 12v chargers probably work better than Non sine wave inverters.

rardiH36 · Aug 13, 2012

Several years ago, I took a stab at doing a life-long desire -- fly remote control model airplanes. I found that the hobby had been totally revolutionized by Li-Po battery technology which allows reasonably long fly times and great power without the terrible noise of the gas glo-plug engines. No fuel to buy. Just recharge the LiPo pack -- with very special and sophisticated chargers.

In the process I learned about the limitations of Li-Po batteries.

In particular, if they are overcharged to more than 4.2 volts per cell (with maybe a .1V or so margin) they are toast. Also if they are discharged below about 3.0V per cell, they are toast. There is no recovery to the battery at all. All LiPo battery packs (and/or their dedicated charger) have solid state circuits which monitor the charge and discharge voltage. This type of circuitry is embedded in your cell phone, digital camera, laptop computer etc. If either the plus or minus threshold is reached, the charge or the discharge is terminated before damage to the cell/cells occurs. LiPo's maintain their charge very well for extremely long periods compared to other types of battery. Self discharge rate is low. Number of discharges and re-charges is very high. An RC battery pack has taps for each cell. Discharge is in series, but the taps allow each cell to be individually charged to the 4.2V maximu. The pack is then balanced.

Nominal voltage for a single LiPo cell is 3.7v So a power tool at say 15V or so would have four cells in series. Like any battery type, LiPo cells are available in lmany maH sizes. And also maximum rate per unit of time of discharge varies. A couple of tiny 100mah LiPo's weighing only 1.5 ounce eac will power a tiny indoor ultra rc plane. Or several huge LiPo's in series will power an RC airplane with a 6-7 foot wing span enough that the thing can even hover vertically for a while.

Reading the threads, maybe the inverters are disrupting ability of the charge control circuitry to function right? The LiPo's might get overcharged and ruined?

If so, MaineSail's last sentence about using instead a 12V charger does seem like the best safe idea for recharging power tools on a boat.

capta · Aug 14, 2012

12 volt drill

I tried that with a B&D 12 volt drill; cig lighter thru the battery connections w/o the battery; no joy.
I still can not figure why it didn't work; it should have????
No matter how I hooked power to the 3 terminals the drill would not run on ship's power.
Any thoughts on that?

rardiH36 · Aug 14, 2012

BobM said:
I recently snagged a 12v drill with dead batteries that I'm going to just stick a wire with a cigarette plug on, for car/boat use. Anyone else done this?

I have an ancient makita 9.8V I could try this with.[/quote]

Yes. I am currently have a 12V drill on my boat. For several years, I had been using a very early battery era drill designed for a 14.4V power pack. Only two speeds on it: fast and slow. Worked OK, but with the nominal 12.8V of a lead acid battery, it was slow. I later came across a 12V drill with no battery pack. It's now on the boat -- so I can't recall the actual brand. But it is one of the well known contractor grade ones like Milwaukee. The drill works splendidly through my boat's cigarette plug. I rigged a 25 foot cord to it. I can reach everywhere on the boat except the anchor. I did find however that my existing 10A cigarette plug breaker was not enough. It would trip if I used the drill for a high load task. Replaced the breaker with a 20A one and all is now fine. (Except 20A is too much if a low draw device is plugged into the socket. But the trade-off is worth the risk.) Really the drill is the best tool on my boat.

You could try the 9.8V drill, but it will run fast. And if you do anything strenuous with it, I suspect the 12.8V's will burn out the motor's windings.

Mark Maulden · Aug 15, 2012

Geez, I've charged Lithium ions and nicads from good inverters and also cheap Best Buy inverters that plug into a cigarette lighter. Never had a problem. Lithium Ions for cameras and Nicads for tools and electric toothbrush. What ya have to remember is Lithiums love being on the charger at any state of charge. The Nicads need to be basically discharged and then charged in a cyclic fashion. My dentist is amazed I'm still on my original sonicare toothbrush. I use it till it dies (not living in the charger) and then charge it. I'm still on 9.8V makitas that I've had for 20 yrs...Well, maybe not 20 but close..The charger failed before the batteries with 2 partial house remodels and boat work.