Ridgid drill/driver kit with 2, 2.0AH batteries

[Riverman]

I bought a Ridgid battery drill around 10 years ago and use it every day in my biz, and it's still working like new. I haven't had to file a claim on the lifetime warranty ever.

[sternwake]

Always appreciate a product longevity report, thanks.

I'm rather enthused that i can charge the Ridgid 18v batteries off grid, without an inverter.

Id bought an ~175$ 400 watt PSW inverter, just to power the Makita 18v battery charger, and the inverter failed with relatively little use within 5 years.

With the wall wart APP'd, i can use it to power my 24v Papst clampfan directly from the grid.

[sternwake]

Took Ridgid 4.0ah battery down to 18v. IT still read 3of 4 bars.

5 18650s in series at 18v, much closer to 50%, than 75% SOC.

Hooked cradle.to wattmeter, wattmeter to dc to dc 150 watt V booster, booster to 2nd wattmeter second wattmeter to 22ah agm. @ 12.99v.

Had set booster to 20.43v, then insert 18v battery into cradle.
Wattmeter went to over 200 watts then went to zero within a second.
Cradle shows green light.
Try wall wart as supply, same result.
Zero amp flow.
Green light happily shining solid.


Security torx bits to disassemble cradle.
DMM reads no continuity across circuit board fuse. I think it says 3.75 amps on endcaps
Make atc fuse holder from flag terminals, solder to circuit board fuse pads. Insert 5 amp fuse.
Test,, setting booster to just above battery voltage.
Whohoo.

Dial up booster voltage until it is accepting 60 to 70 watts. WaTtage falls ls as battery charges.
Spin dial back up, in stages, to keep 60ish watts flowing, not allowing over 20.43v.

So while i can eliminate inverter, and can charge at well over the 40 watts the wall wart can provide, i have to prevent huge voltage deltas to prevent too much amperage flow.

The ridgid cradle is obviously not designed to charge at 200 watts.

I dont know what it can safely handle, long term.

[sternwake]

Meant to include pic.of cradle.internals.

   
   

[sternwake]

I bought a wide Voltage input, USB-C power supply.
8-23vdc in, 5v, 3 amp max out.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195489741156

After testing it, i bought a second.

I have one older.samsung phone, wifi only use. It usuaLLY refuses to charge above 0.41
Amps

With this supply^, and adapter linked below, usb C female.to micro usb male, it charges at 1.32 amps.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275376380780.

I check current flow .wth this USB meter, and the extension cable to reduce.potential leverage on connector ends.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275376380780

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115476057267.

Thjs usb supply on ridgid18v or regular 12v battery is outperforming all my other USB supplies.

The usb -c meter is great, far more.info than my older ones.
Mah, mWh, ohms, volts, amp time, time, temperature, and more.

[sternwake]

The drill's trigger is aNnoying me greatly. Lotsa use lately, sometimes that delay turns intk a WTF pause.
. I think i might get some deoxit faderlube into it.

My dads long time gardener was let go with generous severence yesterday.

My dad said finds a battery powered lawn mower you like.
I found Makitas cheaper offering to be more than adequate, in theory.
Comes with 4, 4.0 ah batteries and charger for 400$,
I linked it.
He announced he bought a package with blower, hedge trimmer, weedwhacker and the mower.

The trimmer and blower arrived. NO batteries, or charger, yet.

Guess I'll be getting some ridgid to makita and makita to ridgid adaoters

My ridgid to ryobi battery adaoter paid for itself today when leaf blower battery bms kicked in and shut it down.

Guess i shoukd get a makita to ryobi adapter too.

Ive been uzing my dc to dc boister to charge my ridgid batteries from my 12v system, but gotta babysit the voltage dial to keep it charging at about 60 watts, and under 20.5v.
20.52v and the charger flashes a red error led.
No real need to charge at faster than 40 watts, other than i can.

I assume Makita battery charger would not be amenable to charging from DC source, no external 20.47v wall wart, its inside the charger and while not insurmountable to bypass it, no need.

But holding off on the Ridgid blower has been a good decision, i think the Makita blower is far more powerful. Its certainly more expensive than the Rdgid.

Interesting design of impeller and stator

[GotSmart]

We seem to be having luck with the Ryobi stuff. From mowers to drills. Tiller, saws, 

We need to set up a special room for everything that takes one of the two batteries.

[sternwake]

I'm pretty impressed with the Makita Blower's power and noise level at low speeds, maxxed out its pretty loud, but max speed is not often needed.

Really like the trigger speed controller..

Dads ryobi leaf blower is just on or off and 1/3 as powerful.

With the baTtery adaPters, one is not quite as married to one to or the other tool brand anymore.

Back in the day, they used to stuff 2 cells in the protruding part of battery, which usually goes inside the drill handle.

This protruding part makes a Ryobi to dewalt, Makita,mikwaukke adapter, sit about 2 inches taller than an opposite adapter, makng jt the least desirable battery system, for me.

The Makita mower is so quiet.
Not that there iS much tall thick grass to cut at the moment, but i topped the few taller bits, Ran it about 10 minutes total, and both batteries still claim 4 of 4 bars.

Been raining in evening last three nights, so hopefully lawn decides to turn green again.

The hedge clippers are miles beyond the 24v nimh black and deckerz i pulled outta trash and tuned, but ive not loaded them hard yet.

The Makita weedwacker arrives Monday.

The mower was obviously repackaged, like someone returned it. ONe of the batteries, would not seat properly in charger, without some tweaking, and the BMS 's LVD was triggered on 3 of the 4 batteries.
I checked their voltage after a minute on charger and they were low 15s.

I think all Ridgid and makita batteries and chargers are gonna get put into aiir onditioned laundry room adjacent to garage, so they dont bake in 95f summer heat and age 2x as fast.

[BCGuy]

Great article. I was not aware of tool/battery adapters. Unfortunately amazon.ca does not have a Ryobi battery to Ridgid tool adapter.

[sternwake]

Glad to have been helpful.
18v Ryobi to 18v Ridgid adapters do exist.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224779782302?chn=ps&var=523639643475&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=523639643475_224779782302&targetid=1496860837652&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=9012310&poi=&campaignid=19851828444&mkgroupid=145880009014&rlsatarget=pla-1496860837652&abcId=9307249&merchantid=433606080&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7PCjBhDwARIsANo7CglYKAvuxYxVKOHo_AVKygU0OT4MEWcXkZsTW5DGqxWRhUuSfxt2lD8aAm2NEALw_wcB

I used to avoid ebay, but now i avoid Amazon, when possible.

THe Makita lawn mower is so quiet. When dipping into the taller thicker grass, it automatically steps up the rpm, unless the silence button is pressed.

I blew 6 month of leaves from under some struggling hedges and sucked them into Makita lawn mower bag. Looks so much better. Ripped out tons of clipped dead hedge clippings that were choking hedges.

I dont wanna talk bad about dads former gardeners, but had they actually respected the task, they'd still have work. The healthy grass, cut as tall as Makita allows, now looks a million times better than when they'd just cut it down to brown, when it did not even need cutting.

Blowing off the areas can be done is same amount of time with 1/20 the dust and noise as they created.

I did stop mowing before battery BMS kicked in, with 1of 4 leds lit, but largely stopped as it was 91f and a good excuse to not drag batteries to their minimum.



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