Ryobi Drills - any good ?

Hi,

Looking for a new Combi Drill, just for typical diy work, nothing major.

Seen this Ryobi kit that seems good value, compared to some of the cheaper makes which get mixed reviews.

Its cheap by comparison to other Ryobi drills so wondered if its really as good ?

Ryobi ONE+ 18V 1.5Ah Li-ion Cordless Combi drill 2 batteries R18PD3-215SK | DIY at B&Q

 

Never tried Ryobi cordless drills so cant really say.
That is pretty cheap but for DIY probably adequate, some companies do trade versions and less robust DIY versions of tools.
The batteries have a fairly low 1.5 Ah rating, but for occasional use that probably wont matter.

 

Looks like of the cheaper ones come with 1.5Ah.

Bosch do a similary priced one but rather surprised at the reviews on b&qs site where quiet a few were returned as faulty !

Not what you expect from a name like that, but these days don't think we can rely of the big brands so much.

There are even cheaper ones around £50 but some of the retailers reviews do not make good reading.

Have a Worx one thats 7 years old and cost just £40 which has done great service, but the main bearings/gearbox is sounding dry, so no sure how long it will last and equally not sure if its something of a diy job to strip down to repair /relubricate ?

 

Well, there is Bosch and there is Bosch, I've know people buy Dewalt and have all kinds of problems, other love them, I have a couple of Makita ones, one is about 10yrs old now and its done some really hard work winding screws into oak etc. its still going strong.

Batteries usually give up before the drill, but you can get cheaper Chinese versions of most on E bay.

Other than replace brushes I've never done any lubricating or repairs on them.
I've heard the cheaper ones have plastic gears, not sure that is true though.

 

Hiya Ricky.
That’s the one I have. According to the date stamp, I’ve had it for 6 years now. I’ve had a couple of things go wrong. Firstly, one of the batteries packed in (wouldn’t hold charge). Secondly, after a few years, the torque setting wouldn’t function, meaning it’s permanently on max setting. All that said, it seems to be well built and I find it powerful enough, and still use it on a regular basis.

 

Mr. W also says the 1.5ah is rather low and reckons Makita Tools are 10 out of 10, Dewalt he found the batteries let him down. But cost more of course. He has still got both the Dewalt and Makita in use...depends on how much use you give it...

 

Ryobi give 2 years standard warranty and 3 years if you register it with them after purchase, so makes you think they are happy with their quality.

Dwalt do a similar spec drill but at £100, though again you still get a fair few one star failures in the reviews, seem the batteries and chargers are common failures on most brands.

My Worxs charger also failed when only a month old, though Worx did replace it with a better unit.

Pays your money and takes your chances ....

 

I have had a ryobi drill for about 7 years now. Still charges up fine and good for around the house.

 

I have a Dewalt drill now really pleased with it. Had a Black and Decker before that another really nice drill. I did work for Stanley though and got a good staff discount
Not tried the Dewalt yet, but combi drilling into brick is a no no. Well at least the bricks in my house anyway are really hard. I have a nice 600w SDS drill for that.
Ryobi are a very good mid priced drill, I think it would be good buy.

 

I think you have hit the rawl plug on the head there @HarryS .

Often wondered why they bother putting a hammer on these, they are far too light to tackle any serious masonry.

 

You may already be intending to do this, but for purchases from B&Q join their B&Q club | DIY at B&Q for £5 off £30 or more. For subsequent purchases re-join using a different email and get another £5 off.

I've got 3 Bosch cordless drills, plus their cordless jigsaw (x2), angle grinder and reciprocating saw, buying most of them as 'bare tool's and getting the drills with 2 batteries and charger when on offer @ £60 or less. Only 1 battery [1] and 1 charger has failed in about 15 years, the tools are still O.K.

The drills are now much smaller than the originals, but still OK for hammer drilling the old soft red bricks in my house. The original batteries were 1.5 Ah on all the drills, then 1.8 on the reciprocating saw, but are now available in 2.5 (and more) but it's a different fitting that still fits the older tools, but requires a new charger.

What I've always taken into account is the other cordless tools available that an utilise the batteries and charger, plus can they be purchased separately at a reasonable cost. All too often a replacement charger or battery costs almost as much as a new tool.

Bosch tools have a 2 year guarantee, I don't know what happens if buying from B&Q, but when I recently had a corded jigsaw break Amazon arranged for their UK service centre to contact me, they arranged for a courier to collect it from my home, and as unrepairable a replacement was delivered by courier about 5 days later.




[1] My other 1.5 batteries don't last as long as they used to, so I bought 5 new 2.5 ones from B&Q @ £30 each (pre-code!) plus a modern charger from Amazon that will vitalise my collection for quite a few years.

 

Ah, did not know the B&Q club card was still going, they said they stopped its Wednesdays discounts some time ago, still got the card though, but not registered for emails /offers.

Seems like we should be looking at a 2Ah+ batteries over the 1.5Ah ones, but also noticed some of the lowerish priced ones are Brushless, is that a feature worth going for ? our old Worx is a brushed type and thats never caused a problem for our typical diy usage.

 

Only ever had to replace brushes on the one drill and that was my 10yr old Makita.

Not sure about brushless motors, when they came out it was made a bit of a selling point.

 

When purchasing machine tools brushless motors were a big advantage due to reliability. But these machines were run 24 hours a day. For a DIY drill, as pete said, its not much of an advantage.
The 2Ah is a good choice, the 1.5Ah on the Dewalt has run out on me. But that's a great excuse to stop work and put your feet up

 

Ricky, I have the
Ryobi ONE+ 18G AirStrike Nailer, 18V
It is a good quality tool and does the job

The 1.5 batteries will work fine; quick charging too !
Looks a bargain to me