Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Ryobi). This thread is read-only.
New member – Just purchased the following items (from HD Canada) P191/PBP206 and PCG002 Charger because my old nicads would only last 2-3 minutes. They were on sale at an excellent price and I read that they would work in my jig saw (P523), my circular saw (P501) and my drill (P206). I am wondering if my old NiCad chargers can charge these batteries? The old charger number is P110, 18V
No, the old NiCad chargers will not charge the LiOn batteries. The hyper green chargers are labeled dual chemistry chargers and they can charge the old NiCad battery packs as well as the new Lithium One+ packs
Jamis is correct; my father-in-law cursed his Ryobi lithium batteries when they both “failed” a few weeks after he got them. He got the 2-pack holiday Special Buy but kept using his old charger, ultimately returning them and getting a new Ni-Cad battery for probably the same price as the two.
Fortunately, most of these growing pains should be sorted out by now due to the passage of time. Ten years ago, as Ni-Cad was being replaced by Li-Ion, it wasn’t uncommon to see Ni-Cad only chargers. Besides Ryobi (who still uses the same battery form), Porter Cable, DeWalt, and I believe Ridgid released Li-Ion kits and batteries with dual-chemistry chargers. The uninformed (and not a knock against professionals but how many of those who use tools daily really stay informed about the latest technologies?) would simply buy a new battery–often with claims of “more power” or “more runtime”–throw it on their legacy charger, and scratch their heads as to why it wouldn’t charge. I might be wrong, but I’m fairly certain Ryobi discontinued their Ni-Cad packs, while DeWalt stopped producing 18v Li-Ion stem packs shortly after 20v Max was released.
Yes, Ryobi discontinued the old NiCad One+ packs. I had six of them and had all of them rebuilt by a local battery shop when they failed before the LiOn One+ packs came out. I have five of these new packs, including two 6 ahr. packs. I still have four of the old black NiCad chargers languishing in the shop unused. I have about two dozen old blue/yellow One+ tools that I use all the time with the newer batteries. Ryobi has a hefty investment in the 18 volt One+ system and is replacing the various One+ tools with Brushless motored versions to enhance performance. I have gone to their 40 volt brushless system for outdoor lawn care tools. Waiting for the new 40 volt Whisper Series snowblower to be released.