ryobi battery restore

[Ken Tucker]

I have two 18v ryobi drill/hammer , the battery charger yelllooow light came on whitch ment baaad batery , I had read somewhere that some brands can get recond. anyway i put mine on my car charger + to + and - to - for 35 sec. put it back on the ryobi charger and wa la it charged up fine with no prob. thought i whould let everyone know . saved $60.00

[David Cefai]

You melted a crystal which was shorting a cell ( or crystals shorting cells). It's like blowing a fuse.

Don't expect much more life from the battery though.

[Steve Bracken]

I have two 18v ryobi drill/hammer , the battery charger yelllooow light came on whitch ment baaad batery , I had read somewhere that some brands can get recond. anyway i put mine on my car charger + to + and - to - for 35 sec. put it back on the ryobi charger and wa la it charged up fine with no prob. thought i whould let everyone know . saved $60.00

Once those batteries start to give out, and it happens depressingly quickly, they are done.

You might be able to eek out a bit more life, but they will not fully recharge, nor develop full power for long.

Most battery packs can be rebuilt either by specialists or at home. Inside, they are just commercial cells soldered together.

Some research will help with this one, as to the type, quantity and cost of cells.

[Steve Bigelow]

Take a look here: http://www.arboristsite.com/showthre...128518&page=26

Use the freezer to revive your battery.

-Steve

[Van Huskey]

Take a look here: http://www.arboristsite.com/showthre...128518&page=26

Use the freezer to revive your battery.

-Steve

I am skeptical BUT it s cheap and easy...that said I have a battery in the freezer right now. I don't expect a miracle but I don't have much to lose.

[Myk Rian]

I just bought a Ryobi drill today. It has 2 One+ 18v NiCad batteries with it. That matches my string trimmer with a 18v LIon battery, so I have 3 to use.
You can get really good NiCads at a hobby shop, and replace them yourself.

[Steve Bigelow]

I am skeptical BUT it s cheap and easy...that said I have a battery in the freezer right now. I don't expect a miracle but I don't have much to lose.

Any update? Did it work at all?

[Van Huskey]

Any update? Did it work at all?

I cycled one 5 times and didn't see any significant change. My batteries were not nearly as bad as the poster on the other forum so that may be part of it. The thing I did notice was if they were "frozen" prior to charging they did take a better charge (about 15% extra run time with a drill running no load) but later when charged from room temp they were back to basically the same. I would have played with it more but after subjecting one of my drills to hours and hours of run time to discharge the battery it didn't seem like the smart thing to do from a long term financial standpoint.

I can be frugal at times to a fault and even though I have a large set of much better quality tools just sitting (got a deal), I haven't even charged thew batteries the first time since I have a ton of Ryobi tools and 8 batteries and 4 chargers so I just keep saving the new ones until I finally give up on the Ryobi tools because when they are up to the job I just pull out the tool with a cord.

[Nick Williams]

You get what you pay for and in this case the price is right but If you bought the kit at a Box store the batteries are seriously underpowered.

[Jerome Hanby]

Assuming it's a one+ Ryobi, you can get Li-Ion replacement packs. I bought one of the larger capacity one from the orange borg for less than $100. Also bought that 6 slot dual chemistry charger. It doesn't charge all 6 slots at once, but for me that's a plus. It let me retire my homemade charger control station with the 12 hour timer.