Ryobi HD1830 3 Speed Hammer Drill Gloat

[Lance Norris]

Well... I dont usually gloat, but I just picked up a HD1830/P220 3 speed cordless, 18 volt, Ryobi Hammer Drill off of that big auction site for $72 and I want to talk a little about it. This hammer drill has been discontinued for several years now, but was an amazing drill when it was offered by Ryobi. It has 3 speed ranges, 0-370 rpm, 0-760 rpm, and 0-2,200 rpm. It offers 35,000 blows per minute at full speed. It weighs around 7 pounds. It has an all steel Jacobs chuck and front body. It is simply HUGE. Its the biggest, heaviest cordless drill I have ever seen. It is not the common Ryobi cordless drill you see at the Borg. It is a commercial tool, and in fact was offered as such:
http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com/reviews/ryobiCID1823VK.htm
It is an unofficial member of the One+ tool family, as the batteries are interchangeable within the 18 volt line, but it was never listed as a One+ tool. I have needed a Hammer Drill for some concrete drilling I need to do soon, and I have been happy with the One+ system of cordless tools from Ryobi, so this is where I started a search for a Hammer Drill. I soon found the P220/HD1830 and the positive comments from owners of this drill, and the fact that it was discontinued and unavailable. So I have been watching for one, and today, it came. Its in almost new condition, runs smoothly and quietly, but does have a few scuffs. I was able to download the owners manual and order the auxiliary handle and depth rod which were missing. I think I am going to be very happy with this Drill, the quality seems excellent.
I know its just a dumb drill, but its cool when you finally find a treasure. Here are some pictures of the drill on a new Lithium Ion battery(for scale).

[Dewey Torres]

Lance,
I will be interested to see how this works our for you as it is rare we see folks gloat over the Ryobi brand (here or anywhere). I have mostly heard that the batteries are weak and fail easy. As for the tools mediocre feedback. I am hoping you have found one of the exceptions to the rule with your new drill:)
Dewey

[J. Z. Guest]

Lance: I think it'll be great. Make sure you check out all the functions while it still would be reasonable to return it.

Dewey: FYI, I've not had any problems with my numerous Ryobi tools Dewey: 18 V drill, 18V flashlight, 18V shop vac, 18V jigsaw, 18V radio, 18V impact driver, 7.2V drill, variable speed benchtop drill press, 12" planer*, and 18V dustbuster**

In my experience, they're not quite top of the line, but much closer to the top of the line than they are to Black & Decker, Skil, and Tool Shop these days.

* = snipes a bit
**= OK, this one is worthless, (not much suction) but for $20, I took a chance

[Harley Reasons]

Can't complain too much about the Ryobi tools. I've been using them for a few years now in my homeowner shop. As to the batteries, they come with a two year warranty. I date all of mine with a paint stick and keep the receipts. I had one to fail at the 1-1/2 year mark, sent it in and in a couple of weeks received a new on in the mail. Besides, at $20 bucks each they are disposable almost.
If I were investing in a whole new system I would look at the Ridgid or Milwaukee line, but your talking megabucks there.

Congrats on the excellent Ryobi score and nice gloat:D

[Gary Lange]

Well I have the Ryobi 18Volt Screwdriver, Circular Saw 5-1/2" and Reciprocating Saw as well as the flashlight. The picture of the floor I put down in my shop if you remember from the photo I posted had about 325 1-5/8" screws in it all done with one lithium Ion Ryobi Battery on one charge. I don't think the new batteries run out of power. The old ones did run down faster but still worked pretty well. The new Lithium Ion Batts are awesome to say the least.

[James Ayars]

I have a Ryobi 0.5" corded drill that is going on 15 years old. It's only 5.5 amps but still works great. It has a triple reduction gear and gives plenty of torque. It is the drill I take to school for my students to use when we need to drill holes for a physics project. So it's survived years of use by me plus use by teenagers that have increasingly less and less experience with tools. And it's marked "Made in USA".

When I was in college, I worked in a Lowes/HD type of store. Initially we carried B&D and Skil only but around 1984/5, we started to carry Makita and Ryobi as well. We sold both brand's circular saws for $100 back then! Both brands were sold as commercial tools and had the prices to go with it. We sold the B&D/Skil saws for ~$30-$35. Drill prices I don't remember except that the Makita/Ryobi prices were >> than the B&D/Skil prices.

In fact for the Makita/Ryobi tools we kept empty display boxes on the shelf along with tools attached to chains. All the others were kept locked in a locked cabinet. All the B&D/Skil tools were kept in open store shelves as they were seldom stolen. Somewhere along the way, Ryobi chose to design their tools more for the DIYers and less for the pros.