Lance Norris
12-12-2007, 1:57 AM
Last year, I bought a Ryobi One+ 18v circular saw to take along to the lumberyard, so I could cut boards down to the 6-1/2 foot length of my Dodge Dakota bed. I really like this tool, and it has done everything I have asked of it. What I didn't like about it were the Ni-cad batteries. I always had to take both batteries because you never knew when they were going to die. I was very unhappy the time I got to the lumberyard and both batteries were dead. I hadn't used the saw for a while and the batteries were sitting on the shelf and had lost their charge. Since its over 30 miles to the lumberyard, running home to charge the batteries wasn't an option.
I happened to be at the HD the other day and I noticed that Ryobi now has a Lithium Ion battery for the One+ system of tools. Since I now have several of the One+ tools, I decided to look a little more closely at this upgrade. What I found made me decide to purchase a Drill-Worklight combo with 2 Lithium Ion batteries and Lithium charger.
There are 3 things that I really like about the new One+ Lithium batteries. First is that the new battery is backwards compatible with the older Ni-cad One+ tools. Secondly, and most important to me, is the new battery has a "Fuel gauge". On the bottom edge of the battery, there is a momentary contact switch, and above that switch is a window that LEDs shine through. When you press the switch, the LEDs shine in one of 3 colors. Green means good charge. Yellow means enough power to still run the tool, but charging is needed soon. Red means the battery needs recharged. This is such a great idea, that I feel all rechargeable batteries should have this feature. The third thing that I like about the upgrade is the new charger is dual chemistry, meaning it will charge the new Lithium and the older Ni-cad batteries.
Both the new One+ tools, now molded in a bright green color, and the older One+ tools that are blue, will work with the new Lithium or the older Ni-cad batteries.
You can get the new batteries 3 ways. An upgrade kit with one(1) battery and the dual chemistry charger. A Drill-Worklight combo kit with two(2) batteries and dual chemistry charger. A Drill-Worklight-Circular Saw- Reciprocating Saw combo kit with two(2) batteries and Dual chemistry charger.
Ryobi clames the new batteries have 2x the performance, 2x the runtime, holds the charge 4x longer and is 20% lighter that the older Ni-cad batteries.
I feel that just the "Fuel gauge" makes this upgrade worth it, but the added benefits of Lithium technology (no memory effect, many more recharge cycles, and the increased performance claims) makes this a great upgrade. Ryobi has made a good line of light-medium duty tools even better in my opinion.
Below are pictures of the "Fuel Gauge" in fully charged state(green), medium charge(yellow), and needing charged(red)
I happened to be at the HD the other day and I noticed that Ryobi now has a Lithium Ion battery for the One+ system of tools. Since I now have several of the One+ tools, I decided to look a little more closely at this upgrade. What I found made me decide to purchase a Drill-Worklight combo with 2 Lithium Ion batteries and Lithium charger.
There are 3 things that I really like about the new One+ Lithium batteries. First is that the new battery is backwards compatible with the older Ni-cad One+ tools. Secondly, and most important to me, is the new battery has a "Fuel gauge". On the bottom edge of the battery, there is a momentary contact switch, and above that switch is a window that LEDs shine through. When you press the switch, the LEDs shine in one of 3 colors. Green means good charge. Yellow means enough power to still run the tool, but charging is needed soon. Red means the battery needs recharged. This is such a great idea, that I feel all rechargeable batteries should have this feature. The third thing that I like about the upgrade is the new charger is dual chemistry, meaning it will charge the new Lithium and the older Ni-cad batteries.
Both the new One+ tools, now molded in a bright green color, and the older One+ tools that are blue, will work with the new Lithium or the older Ni-cad batteries.
You can get the new batteries 3 ways. An upgrade kit with one(1) battery and the dual chemistry charger. A Drill-Worklight combo kit with two(2) batteries and dual chemistry charger. A Drill-Worklight-Circular Saw- Reciprocating Saw combo kit with two(2) batteries and Dual chemistry charger.
Ryobi clames the new batteries have 2x the performance, 2x the runtime, holds the charge 4x longer and is 20% lighter that the older Ni-cad batteries.
I feel that just the "Fuel gauge" makes this upgrade worth it, but the added benefits of Lithium technology (no memory effect, many more recharge cycles, and the increased performance claims) makes this a great upgrade. Ryobi has made a good line of light-medium duty tools even better in my opinion.
Below are pictures of the "Fuel Gauge" in fully charged state(green), medium charge(yellow), and needing charged(red)