Switching to Ryobi cordless tools

^woody^ said:

And talking of brand fan boi's, "this brand is better than that brand" is the mantra of the tool using the tool.

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I kinda get your point but at certain points in time, some firms' products are superior to others.

If I had to admit a preference for a given brand it would be Festool. I don't think that necessarily makes me a Festool fanboi though. Having purchased quite a few of their products I have been happy with the design/build quality and longevity. Yes, if I need a tool and discovered that Festool made one, I would put the Festool on the list of possible tools.

It doesn't however follow that I would definitely buy it.

I couldn't in good faith recommend Ryobi products to any one that wants to use them for more than, for example 30 minutes continuously. And therein lies the problem. A light trade tool needs to rest after about 30 minute. A trade tool will run for 3 or more hours, and industrial tool will be happy to run all day,

I admit that my experience of using Ryobi one tools is largely limited to trying to cut through T&G flooring. It was a brand new oscillating saw with a new blade and fully charged battery. Every minute the tool stopped. I came back the next day and plugged in my FMM250Q Fein.

Granted I am comparing mains powered tools to cordless tools, but the Ryobi was frustratingly rubbish. I understand that wish to move over to battery powered products but in many cases a corded based product will probably be the cheaper and the more reliable option, particularly when working indoors.

Sorry, my post is not a slight on you, I do however groan when I see people being coerced in to buy battery based tools when the sad reality is that corded tools might be the better option. It kinds feels like people feel like they need to buy products just to justify their previous purchase of a battery based device.

opps said:

I admit that my experience of using Ryobi one tools is largely limited to trying to cut through T&G flooring. It was a brand new oscillating saw

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I went to Spain once, and it rained. That must mean that the whole of Spain is crap based on my experience.

A tool is a tool. It does a job, despite the colour of writing on the side. The point is only a complete tool falls into the trap of being a brand fan boi.

My experience of Ryobi tools, many Ryobi tools, is that they have worked and earned since 2006. And there's no reason for them not to do so for a good while to come.

^woody^ said:

A tool is a tool. It does a job, despite the colour of writing on the side. The point is only a complete tool falls into the trap of being a brand fan boi.

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So you are saying that you feel there's little or no difference between brands? Thing about brand loyalty, at least with cordless, is that once you buy into a battery system you tend to continue buying from that same manufacturer simply because you already have the charger and the batteries. Now if all batteries were interchangeable.....

In the main I find that cordless tools will do most of the stuff I need them to (but not the really heavy stuff). For a tradesman they are convenient, if nothing else because they remove the need to lug around 110 volt transformers and cables (and deal with PAT testing, etc) but in general I wonder if they are often worth it for many DIYers - especially as corded tools are often cheaper to buy and there's no worry about batteries dying and being impossible to replace 5 to 8 years down the line.

Funny thing is that for the first time in a few years I'm on a job where the first fix phase is taking mainly corded tools - trying to chop-out 24 x 8in beam ends isn't remotely feasible even with Flexvolt stuff and ripping-out nailed floors at 40 to 70mm thickness takes a big corded saw - but jobs like this one are an exception these days.

What Job are you working on that has such thick floors and what was the purpose?

catlad said:

What Job are you working on that has such thick floors and what was the purpose?

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This one is a former cotton mill which we are converting into 'loft' apartments. I've done a few mills over the years in Lancashire and Yorkshire - mainly into hotels or offices - together with a fair few Georgian and Victorian shops. Double floors (i.e. massive beams with joists in between) are fairly common and the mills frequently have floor planking in 2 or 3 layers (at right angles to each other) with masses of cut clasp nails. It all makes for very heavy going and is often well beyond the capabilities of my cordless kit

JobAndKnock said:

So you are saying that you feel there's little or no difference between brands

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No. What im saying is that when someone asks for recommendations on this site, the response of "Buy "brand x" or "tool y from brand z" because they are the best" is just plain stupid. And to discount certain tool brands based on name alone is crap advice.

Most often the question comes from a DIYer, in which case the fan boi response is more ludicrous.

Of course there are differences in brands, quality and performance, and buying choices are always a compromise of some sort based on the user's needs.

And to throw into the mix, there's me with my ryobi, and some mates with their "best" drill from Hilti, and their best saw from Dewalt, and their best plane from Bosch and their best .... and their branded cases, and plethora of different batteries and accessories.

And we all do the same drilling, cutting and planning.

There's possibly some truth in that but here's my experience...

I once needed to do a small job which a multi tool would be perfect for, my supervisor who when he needs a tool goes out and spends hundreds on the company account, when I need one it's just buy a cheap one, so I bought a corded ryobi multi tool, took it to site and offered it up to the work piece - some cls stud work, the blade cut in about a centimetre and just stopped cutting, tried a new cut but same again. The following day I took it back and refunded the account and used my own money and bought a yellow and black cordless one, all my tools are owned by me not work and they're all yellow and black.

A few days later I went back and finished the job in double quick time, it was light and day between the two, when all a multi tool has to do is vibrate a cutting blade a couple of mm each way how can you get it so wrong?

Job & Knock
I would have put money on you coming back with a cotton mill. According to a tool supplier I use bosch are about to bring out some more tools to go along with the 12ah pro core batteries. I am using the 7ah now and there performance is impressive.

blup said:

Even the best power tool batteries will drain quite quickly with high draw tools like lawnmowers and strimmers.

I would go for the best you can afford, for me that is Makita, but Bosch and Dewalt are good too.

I am not convinced that Ryobi are premier league tools, but may be fine for occasional use

Blup

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Agreed wrt the lawnmower but not the strimmer. I have the Makita one. It's a 180W motor but it will only draw this under heavy load. Given that a 5Ah battery is 90Wh the theoretical minimum you would get is half an hour usage from a charge. In reality, it's way more than that. I suspect the Ryobi will be similar.

So given I'm happy to switch to Ryobi (I own nothing yet), what is a general guide for best way to get a starter pack like deal? I'd like to get a tool (first one probably a hedge trimmer or drill) and a charger with a couple of smallish batteries (e.g around 2.5mAh battery) but I want the newer batteries that have the built in battery charge gauge. Any suggestions on the cheapest way to get this?

Thanks in advance

keep your eye on b&q and ryobi direct [not actually ryobi ]
https://www.direct-powertools.co.uk/

just to further add
would aim for 4 or 5ah batts iff possible if not overly daft prices in a kit
as an example last year bxq last year brushless drill and 2x5ah batts down from about 227 to about £185
about 5 years ago to get a second pair off 4ah went for the 2 speed hammer drill down from around £170 up and down many a time at best to around £140 i paid £148 about the same price as 2 batts and a charger with a drill thrown in

any way the point i am making is better to get 4ah as thats a decent amount off fuel n the tank so for heavy draw like lawn mowers or table saws would frustraite especially if it requires 2 batts to operate so may cut for 15 mins on 2.5ah then take another 2hrs to individually charge the batteries where as a pair off 4ah may last 25 mins and finnish the task

ahhh ok jusy found this at bXq if you do nothing else buy about three off these at £40 as they are about 65-80 normally
https://www.diy.com/departments/ryobi-one-18v-li-ion-4ah-battery/194226_BQ.prd

big-all said:

ahhh ok jusy found this at bXq if you do nothing else buy about three off these at £40 as they are about 65-80 normally
https://www.diy.com/departments/ryobi-one-18v-li-ion-4ah-battery/194226_BQ.prd

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Yeah I saw that a few days ago, I think that sale has been on for a while so when I checked there were none at any of the stores near me or anywhere I was willing to travel too (quite a reasonable distance).

big-all said:

just to further add
would aim for 4 or 5ah batts iff possible if not overly daft prices in a kit
as an example last year bxq last year brushless drill and 2x5ah batts down from about 227 to about £185
about 5 years ago to get a second pair off 4ah went for the 2 speed hammer drill down from around £170 up and down many a time at best to around £140 i paid £148 about the same price as 2 batts and a charger with a drill thrown in

any way the point i am making is better to get 4ah as thats a decent amount off fuel n the tank so for heavy draw like lawn mowers or table saws would frustraite especially if it requires 2 batts to operate so may cut for 15 mins on 2.5ah then take another 2hrs to individually charge the batteries where as a pair off 4ah may last 25 mins and finnish the task

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Gotcha, that makes sense. Happy to go with a pair of 4 or 5ah batteries, but I thought these might be a bit heavy for when I need a fairly small tool. E.g. a small powered screwdriver, glue gun etc so thought a small battery might be better for those, no?