Solar Ryobi 18V Battery Charger Part 2: Modify and Test - Direct DC Solar Input from Solar Panel

Рет қаралды 7,744

2 жыл бұрын

Part 2, showing modification and testing of my solar powered Ryobi battery charger. This charger can take a direct DC input from a 100w solar panel and charge any Ryobi 18V one+ power tool battery. It can function as a storage charger, trickle charger or fast charger depending on the parameters set on the CC-CV converter circuit. I will show you how to modify a Ryobi 18v battery charger to be powered directly from a 100 Watt solar panel.
/// PARTS LIST below if you want to support this channel.
Solar powered 18V battery charging is great for field and mobile applications, and of course off-grid sites. The ability to plug in any size solar panel or DC source and charge power tools is very handy.
Hope you enjoy the video, thanks for watching. -DDSolar
Update 4-2023 still have this charger and it's working great.
Check out Part 1 of the modification process: • Solar Powered Ryobi 18...
#offgrid #offgridsolarpowersystem #offgridsolar #offgridandongrid #ryobi #ryobitools #ryobination
List of recommended items for this project build.
Note - these are Amazon affiliate links - I earn a tiny commission if you purchase the item itself or other items after clicking. If you don't want to do that, you can also just search the item name anywhere. Thank you :)
250W DC Boost Converter CC CV - amzn.to/3NjYGqW
Ryobi 18V battery charger - amzn.to/3n9LL08
2.1mm metal jack good quality - amzn.to/41LFAi1

Пікірлер: 38

@solarpoweredge 15 күн бұрын

Hi all, if you decide to try this project: I found out a CC/CV Buck/Boost board works a lot better than Boost-only. It can accept 12/24v input, high voltage panels and protects from many short circuit conditions. Here's another charger I made using this idea: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ra1mmM6pqL-ZlWg.html Any questions please let me know! -Dave

@ThePower2ChooseDC 2 ай бұрын

BRAVO Native Voltage DC is THE way to go!

@solarpoweredge 2 ай бұрын

@ThePower2ChooseDC Right on!!!

@johnmauer6079 7 ай бұрын

Funny how easy this is should be a standard set up at this point

@solarpoweredge 7 ай бұрын

Yes... I think Ryobi should make their own "green" solar panel that can plug into their chargers. It would probably sell, I might even buy one.

@martincanella3738 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video, Just what I was looking for, Good Job!. Keep Em coming...

@solarpoweredge 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot! Working on more!

@dastatiks6182 Жыл бұрын

I've planed to do this exact mod for a solar box with a MPPT charger for camping, and came across your videos ! I was a bit worried about using a buck boost module but that seems to do the job pretty well. Thanks for your feedback !

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Great! Welcome! :)

@dropedlow33 2 жыл бұрын

love the vid cant wait to see more

@solarpoweredge 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you sir

@madhukarpatel4502 Жыл бұрын

I love your videos, planning to have a go for solar charger for Ryobi batteries.

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks! glad to hear it, fun project :)

@johnrhodes3350 2 жыл бұрын

Great presentation. Faultless explanation. It's a perfect solution for getting that ideal 80-85% state of charge for long-term storage. This will be my next project. Thank You

@solarpoweredge 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot!! Glad you liked it!

@billykulim5202 Жыл бұрын

the full charge for 18650 cell are 4.2v times 5x, its 21volt

@brentjohnson6654 Жыл бұрын

Loved this video and part 1 also. Gives me an idea to charge my Ryobi batteries when at a location. Of course I could always use a good charger with an inverter but I don’t like the loss of power through DC -> AC -> DC.

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it :) the conversion losses were the main reason I wanted to build it. I also like how portable it is. Even a ~50w solar panel could do the job I am sure.

@mrhalfstep 6 ай бұрын

I found this to be very entertaining and educational. I'm just recently dipping my toe into the pool of solar energy and battery storage. Along with that, I have been on a multi-year quest to try to die owning every ONE+ tool that Ryobi makes LOL ! All those factors made this video very useful to me and I thank you for making the content. I think I saw T.P. on the PCB at the points of multiple + and - solder spots (not where the power lead comes in from the wall brick). I assume that that is "Test Point" and am curious about whether those two spots would be coated as well. Seems to me that a test point would need to be easily accessible and not require punching through a conformal coating that might make one think the circuit was dead.

@solarpoweredge 6 ай бұрын

Hello, thanks for watching and for the good feedback. You found another Ryobi One+ enthusiast, I cannot stop buying green Ryobi stuff. Years ago, I made the mistake of buying one tool (hot glue 18v) from them, and it was so nice for the money... I just went out and bought the impact driver. And their 18v weed wacker. And the quiet strike impact driver. And so on. About the test points, I suspect they conformally coat the circuit board at the end of manufacturing. And probably test the product externally one more time before it leaves the factory. Who knows though, I am not expert, just guessing here :)

@mr.makeit4037 Жыл бұрын

I do this on my ryobi 40v platform. Using the 42v dc chargers. I have purchased an mppt charge controller which I have programmed to output 42vdc. It's boosting the 15 to 21 volts max from my 100 watt renogy monocrystalline panel. Seems to work fine although this depends on plenty of sun to meet the maximum power point I want. Probably for shop charging in the future, I will use my lead acid storage batteries to charge these Using your idea of dc to dc boost conversion. Good video. Glad to see others doing this.

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Nice :) I like the efficiency and simplicity of this type of setup

@Bisher1967 Жыл бұрын

Thanks very much for this useful video. Can you please update us all on the reliability of this charger? And roughly how May times you have used it? Lastly how long does it take to charge a battery (please specify if possible battery capacity)? Thanks very much

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Welcome! :) 100% reliability, well so far at least. I lost count the # of charges. Please note that the CC-CV board inside was dialed down to ~1A, which is absurdly cautious. So a 2.5AH battery it could take 2+ hours. But this charger is not a fast charger anyway. If you exceed 1A, I recommend monitoring the heat buildup in side the case. It has poor ventilation. Remember this charger was meant to have an external power supply. I could have just wired in a 2.5mm and powered it externally, but I wanted a clean self-contained look and just plug solar right in.

@royireland1127 Жыл бұрын

Maybe I missed it, but what brand/model of buck boost converter did you use? All I seem to find are small low power versions. Seems like a fun project.

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

The case is short on ventilation, so I used a heavy boost converter running at low current. Not sure how many amps would be safe versus heat inside the case. If you search amazon for "constant current boost converter" you will find some very similar boards, sometimes listed as LED drivers. The brands seem to be random and generic. Hope that helps.

@snoyes34231 Жыл бұрын

could the mod be done for a Makita 18v charger? I have several and would like one to run straight from solar without using an invertor

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Hi, if the Makita charger has an external power brick like this Ryobi type, then it can certainly be replaced with a CC-CV DC converter. I'd suggest setting current to be limited to whatever the OEM power brick was capable of. Just in case a larger solar panel is attached. Some 18V chargers have an internal switch-mode power supply; those just have an AC power cord. I thought about modifying one of those someday, it's much more complicated.

@snoyes34231 Жыл бұрын

@@solarpoweredge I'll crack one open and check it out.. thanks, I found some MAKITA 18v Battery Power Mount Connector Adapter Dock Holders to use with 12v and 6v projects to utilize my 18v battery packs.. I will also be able to use my B6 charger to charge them using the 12v input feed from a solar panel(s)

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Cool, sounds like a plan!

@oldguss Жыл бұрын

What is the advantage over spending the same money for a small inverter and being plug and play

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

It's a pretty broad topic, I'll try to shorten. This channel is from a survival, re-use, recycling, efficiency and knowledge-gaining mindset. The charger was broken junk and the boost circuit cost me about 12$, so less than any of my cheapest inverters. Direct DC power is more efficient. Each conversion circuit (solar > CC to battery > AC Inverter which actually has 2 conversion stages > DC power brick) wastes power. It also saves wear and tear on inverters, charge controllers and house batteries which cost far more than a cheap boost circuit. Actually if I had a higher voltage solar panel (23Voc), this charger would not need a boost circuit at all. Another point is this type of setup is simple to carry into the field. It is lightweight and simple, and can use any DC source, even a 12v outlet (only recommended with a CC-CV boost circuit). Also took a broken charger that was a paperweight and recycled it into something valuable. And then there is the value of learning something new while modifying this charger. Trying to keep this comment under one page. Hope it helps.

@oldguss Жыл бұрын

@@solarpoweredge that is a great reply and i can see the value in recycling a junk item into somthing usable again i my self do this when i can i actually have the same charger and was look to charge via solar but didnt know if there was an advantage to building a direct powered system

@solarpoweredge Жыл бұрын

Thank you :) also I forgot to say plugging into an inverter is far more convenient short term than modifying a charger. but if you have an extra charger, or someone gives you a broken one, might as well do a project

@dropedlow33 2 жыл бұрын

u need to get some 3m liquid electrical tape wood been a better chouse

@solarpoweredge 2 жыл бұрын

I really slapped it together, probably re-do all the wiring later

@dropedlow33 2 жыл бұрын

figger out y it stop working

@solarpoweredge 2 жыл бұрын

So far it's working, I am a bit paranoid and set the charger to low power. I need something that can run safely without me watching. I might turn it up to 30W.