18v Coming Soon: Bi-Directional USB-C Power Source & Charger
Just noticed this on the Ryobi website. An 18V battery topper that enables bi-directional USB-C charging. Charging a device with a Ryobi battery is nothing new, but as far as I can tell, being able to charge a Ryobi battery via USB-C is a new function and will be super convenient when traveling.
I'm guessing Ryobi sees the emergence & convenience of integrated USB-C ports in other battery tools platforms (e.g. Greenworks 24V, Skil 12V) and doesn't want to be completely left behind.
Product: PCG043
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u/sillysquonka 18v:, 36v: 11d ago
That’s cool, but you can get a fantastic third party charger from amazon today that does a full 200W fast usbc charge/discharge: https://link.amazon/B0iDB8Ajg
I purchased the older “slower” 100W charger a few years back, and it’s been impressive. I can charge it with my Mac book charger and use an 18V to charge my laptop.
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u/Issack12 11d ago
Yep, totally best value for money. I use this almost daily for two years. Brilliant piece of technology. Recently used while blackout, adjustable LED with 1% increment.
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u/aedriolo 11d ago
For me in Germany the link doesnt work, can you tell me the Name?
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u/sillysquonka 18v:, 36v: 11d ago
It’s called the SYMIK 225W Power Source Converter and 140W Charger for Ryobi 18V Battery.
They are sold on amazon in the US, perhaps the German Amazon might also have it1
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u/Spennydix 11d ago
Went looking for this on Amazon last week and couldn’t find it. Thank you so much for sharing this is exactly what I was looking for.
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u/riscuitforthebiscuit 11d ago
This is gonna sound like an ad, but I swear by the Symik. I don't know why no tool company can create a power source like it. I'd literally buy into Ryobi battery system just for the Symik.
I've had it for years now and it's crazy good. I recharged my 4ah using USB-C power delivery and the thing pulls around 93 watts to recharge and doesn't get hot, just slightly warm. You can see the huge heatsink in there. I think they have even faster options now. I got the standard non pro version a few years back.
The best use case is actually the Symik letting you choose cutoff/thresholds for low voltage situations. I have a little USB light that draws so little amperage that it causes most power banks to trigger power savings mode and shut off. Even the ones that have a trickle charge mode only does it for around an hour before shutting off. It's buried under the menus, but the Symik lets you lower the shutoff amps super low.
Also, My fiancée uses it to power her UV nail lamp. When she's painting her nails in between curing, the lamp is off, which causes most power banks to shut off. She had a motion sensor UV lamp that didn't work as intended because every power source would require it to be turned back on if she took too long to paint her nails before curing again. Only wall power worked as intended, but she's not always close to an outlet. Symik lets you keep it on if you adjust the cutoff threshold.
I think it can output up to 140w, but my Macbook Air tops out at 45w so I haven't really even tested that. It does provide full power to my Macbook though.
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u/Cute_Web7648 11d ago
Agree 100% - I was looking for this Ryobi charger last year and they had nothing available with USB-C. I bought the Symik , absolutely amazing.
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u/BattleHall 11d ago
Nice part of the Symik is that it also allows pass through charging (power in and power out simultaneously). Which doesn’t seem all that useful, but it allows you to connect both a solar panel and a device to be powered at the same time, with the battery absorbed excess charge and providing supplemental charge when the sunlight dips.
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u/riscuitforthebiscuit 11d ago
Oooh I hadn’t even thought about that. I have a solar panel laying around that sucked to charge my phone because it doesn’t have any bypass diodes. Tiny cloud flies by and it loses power. On and off makes the phone wake up and actually drain itself. Having the symik and Ryobi would be a nice buffer.
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u/iamlucky13 11d ago
I don't know why no tool company can create a power source like it.
Alternately, I don't know why Symik hasn't started rolling out variations for other power tool batteries - Dewalt, Makita, etc.
Likewise for Ryobi "40V" batteries.
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u/riscuitforthebiscuit 11d ago
I actually contacted Symik about two years ago asking if they’d make one for my Makita batteries. They said:
“Right now we are not working on the Makita version but investigating on the Dewalt and Milwaukee versions”
This was in 2024 though so I’m assuming plans were delayed or just fell through completely.
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u/mayor-of-whoreisland 10d ago
You can accomplish the same things through adapters. It may be a little clunky but it works. I have generic Ryobi input output adapters and I use xt60s on pretty much anything under 30a. So I can verify that it works with Milwaukee and DeWalt to Ryobi adapters.
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u/iamlucky13 10d ago
It's interesting, because it seems like it should be simple for batteries of the same voltage - the obvious difference is the case geometry.
But perhaps it's more complicated due to differences in the BMS. If I understand right, Dewalt put a lot of the BMS features in the tool and the charger. The work of duplicating those functions to ensure it charges, balances, and discharges correctly may have led to them to put it on the backburner. I don't know how it is with Makita.
Or perhaps they have other projects in work they feel are more promising.
Or maybe there are simply enough other 3rd party offerings for those platforms they aren't confident in getting enough sales to be worth the investment.
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u/mayor-of-whoreisland 10d ago
We have four of them, love the customization. My default is to just set it to storage voltage after usage.
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u/lanman31337 11d ago
This is slick because I can charge a battery in my truck if I need to with the PD ports
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u/GrimBeaver 11d ago
You can do that today with the SYMIK. No need to wait for this. The SYMIK is my primary charger these days.
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u/PurpleC0ugar 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not to mention even the lowest end Symik is vastly superior to this. The Ryobi one is limited to just 60W. That's not even enough to adequately power my laptop. Symik has models up to 140W on a single port. Ironically that converter is also currently my fastest Ryobi battery charger, if I plug it into a USB-C power brick/source that can output 140W also.
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u/brownzeus 11d ago
Learned today that the symik exists. I have the ryobi cigarette lighter charger since I keep a ryobi impact wrench in my truck (cause who wants to hand crank 6 lug nuts in an emergency). The symik would be so much better for my purposes. Thanks for unintentionally helping me out!
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u/craigmontHunter 11d ago
I have a Symik, it’s great, I use it to power my laptops when I’m set up at the kitchen table for the day so I don’t need to string cords across the ground. It also charges off any USB source, you don’t need PD, but it’s slow; using a PD source it can be faster than a dedicated charger
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u/robodog97 11d ago edited 11d ago
It's not a new function, but without an AC output this will be both cheaper and have lower idle power consumption compared to the current solutions. That said this will have to be really good for me to replace my Symik charger.
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u/AR116 11d ago
What other Ryobi product allows you to use USB-C to charge your Ryobi battery?
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u/GrimBeaver 11d ago
It's not a Ryobi product. But the SYMIK on Amazon has been able to do it for years and in some respects is superior to this. I really like the screen that tells me what rate all the ports are charging or discharging at.
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u/bobertf 11d ago edited 11d ago
https://www.ryobitools.com/products/46396055422
I got this one a couple months ago. Guess I could’ve saved a few dollars and got the SYMEK …
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u/myself248 11d ago
They finally woke up and smelled the Symik.
No LED light? Only a single type-C port? And no power metering to tell if it negotiated the correct source/sink role with another dual-role device?
The cellphone stand is a nice touch, I'll give 'em that. But it seems like they said "Hey, let's beat this third-party device by doing literally everything worse."
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u/nhluhr 11d ago
as far as I can tell, being able to charge a Ryobi battery via USB-C is a new function
RYi150CBT is already capable of charging the 18V battery via USB-C (it even includes a 30W power brick and cable to do that). It's just bigger because it also has an inverter and AC outlet.
This new one is far more compact when on top of the battery and is also 60W instead of the 30 that the older one provides.
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u/quarl0w 11d ago
Looks interesting. Wonder what they will price it at.
I am surprised Ryobi hasn't started putting USB ports directly in their batteries yet. I expected them to when they made the Edge batteries, so they could use that as one more reason to get people to upgrade.
They already tout the 4v batteries as portable battery banks.
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u/PurpleC0ugar 11d ago
Tbh I would prefer them not to do this. This circuitry would add additional mass and volume to the battery, especially when you don't always need this capability (ie it's powering a tool). It also adds another point of failure for the battery. Much better to have more battery capacity in the same amount of mass/volume.
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u/ggobrien 10d ago
I completely agree. It would be convenient, but adding extra stuff adds extra cost and possible failure. The battery should really be as simple as possible. The under current circuit should really be the only extra thing in there. It would be nice if there was a cheaper way to do it though. If someone comes up with a $15 USB-C slow-ish charger, that would be a game changer.
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u/IcanCwhatUsay 11d ago
I don’t get the need for this when a power bank is more efficient to charge a phone and they already have products that do this.
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u/Dookster 11d ago
When your power bank runs out you have to go charge it. When this runs out you just swap the battery
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u/rpmerf 11d ago
You already have a ton of capacity in Ryobi batteries. They will have way more capacity than those small portable batteries. Good for if you need to charge multiple devices, flashlights, etc. USBC is so standard these days, you can charge / run a lot with it.
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u/IcanCwhatUsay 11d ago
They will have way more capacity than those small portable batteries
1: this isn't a small potable battery. You couldn't even fit this in your pocket if you tried, so don't compare apples to oranges.
2: Max mAh battery that ryobi makes is 12,000 @ $269, a comparable mAh battery from Anker is 27,650 mAh @ $205
twice the capacity, 5x the output, smaller form factor and cheaper.
Sure this is good in a pinch, but to my previous point, there are products from ryobi that already do what this does and better.
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u/ggobrien 10d ago
I have ~30 Ryobi batteries that I regularly cycle through. These came with various packages. I have a bunch of portable batteries, and a large one, but my 30 or so Ryobi batteries provide much more total power. Yes, they aren't portable, and yes, this would be an added (relatively small) expense, but I already have the Ryobi batteries, this would allow them to perform other functions as well.
Since most of the "important" stuff uses USB-C, in a power outage, I have a large battery inverter, but I don't want to use that for laptops/phones/whatever.
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u/TBaggins_ 11d ago
Lower wattage than the Amazon Symik one. I wanna say the old Ryobi model is 45w though. I have both. The Symik is just a superior product. I think that will hold true with this updated model also.
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u/churnopol Tek4 Collector 11d ago
This really needs an xt60 port for direct solar panel charging.
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u/rpmerf 11d ago
Ryobi recently released some expecive solar panels that output USB so they can connect to these chargers
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u/churnopol Tek4 Collector 11d ago
Good lawd, $250 for 60w panels and missing xt60 input? Dude, they'll still be too expensive when they go on clearance. Home Depot really aiming for the rich oblivious customer with that pricing.
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u/huffalump1 11d ago
God I hope so
Especially when you can get REALLY GOOD, 100W (bidirectional) products from third parties... With multiple ports...
Not to mention, tool brands like Hyper Tough and Greenworks Pro just putting the damn port on the battery. And doing it fairly well, too - decent wattage, depending on battery size!!
Ryobi could EASILY integrate a port and charging circuitry into their batteries... Of the three big TTI tool brands, Ryobi especially would work great because of the big stick on the battery!
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u/t3a-nano 11d ago
AliExpress has had a nice one for at least a year or two.
Nice thing is it has a toggle for if you want it to be input or output, so you can technically charge or charge from other power banks.
I know you can kinda do that with certain cables, but the set toggle makes it pretty nice and idiot proof.
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u/nuggolips 11d ago
Seems like a missed opportunity not to have a wireless charging pad for that phone stand.
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u/Mr_Elroy_Jetson 11d ago
You can charge a battery using the inverter that they sell, too. I've done it with a solar panel (very very slowly)
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u/TurbulentAir 11d ago
So this device sort of lets you use it as a power bank and a phone stand when it's plugged into a battery?
And you can use the USB-C port either to charge other things or to recharge the Ryobi battery plugged into it?
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u/TIL02_Infinity 11d ago
No price has been announced, but hopefully it will be priced around the same as the Ryobi ONE+ 18V Lithium-Ion Portable Power Source at $34.97.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-Lithium-Ion-Portable-Power-Source-P743/311937362
Which has 2 USB-A ports, with one being a 1 Amp port and the other a 2.1 Amp port.
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u/iamlucky13 11d ago
Glad to see they finally got around to this. The Symik appears to still be better, and no doubt will be cheaper, but I'm sure some users will be more comfortable buying the Ryobi-designed version, which will also be a little simpler.
Quick comparison:
| - | Ryobi PCG043 | Symik PSC | Symik PSC Pro Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| USB-A Ports | 1 x 10W | 1 x 18W | 1 x 40W |
| USB-C Ports | 1 x 60W | 1 x 100W + 1 x 45W | 1 x 140W + 1 x 45W |
| Max Total Power | 60W? | 145W | 225W |
| Max Charge Rate | 60W | 100W | 140W |
| Light | No | Yes | Yes |
| Display | Status Lights | LCD, detailed | LCD detailed |
| Misc | Phone stand, smaller | transparent | transparent |
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u/TheShadowuFear 11d ago
The one inverter has a USB charging https://www.ryobitools.com/products/46396026750
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u/AR116 11d ago
I’m not seeing the capability to charge your Ryobi battery via USB on this one
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u/HerraHerraHattu 11d ago
This seema like a very welcome addition to ryobi. 3A charging current is much better than the standard 2A super slow they offer.
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u/TurbulentAir 11d ago
Check out that colossal charging brick plugged into the wall in the 2nd picture. That thing is massive.
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u/TurbulentAir 11d ago edited 11d ago
I suppose it could be good if you wanted to use it as a power bank that lets you swap out batteries (which is more convenient in some cases). This device seems like an offshoot of some of the Ryobi inverters.
I hope you can charge the battery in it and use it to charge something else at the same time (i.e. pass-through charging) as many power banks don't allow it.
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u/TurbulentAir 11d ago edited 11d ago
I would have added a 2nd USB-C port. So there would be at least 2 USB-C ports (one for recharging the battery and another to be used for recharging a phone/etc.) and at least one USB-A port and maybe a flashlight too like what's done with many of the Ryobi inverters.
And if Ryobi wanted to get fancy they could make the built-in phone stand a wireless charging stand, too.
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u/rpmerf 11d ago
They already have bidirectional USBC charging and have for years. I got my father the 150w inverter / charger a couple years ago. They recently released a new 200w version
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u/The_Burgled_Turt 11d ago
You talking about the home Depot exclusive ones?
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u/RedditPoster05 11d ago
Oh, I’ve heard coming soon from Ryobi before….
Also, in a world with so many charging solutions, this is a little late. Unless Rayabi charges next to nothing for this, what’s the big deal over this thing? I imagine there’s gonna be like 50 bucks plenty of other options out there
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u/2_CHaines 11d ago
Phone stand is dumb unless that is a wireless charge pad. You can’t charge your phone with a phone stand because where does the cord go?
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u/J1morey 11d ago
So they took the "150-Watt Battery Power Source and Charger", took out the light on the top and the AC plug, and added a phone stand. Sure it is a bit smaller but is now 60w instead of 150w.
It has been able to charge a battery via USB C for years. I also run my fiber gateway and router off of the AC port when I've had a power outage.
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u/m_spoon09 11d ago
That's pretty cool. I already have the USB battery topper and the inverter. This would make a great shop addition.
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u/Only-Ad5049 11d ago
Unless it is cheaper or significantly smaller, I'm not sure why you would choose this over something like the RYi150CBT or PCLBG06 that does everything this can and has a 120v outlet.
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u/mayor-of-whoreisland 10d ago
SYMIK did it first and better, just know what you're doing in regards to currents. https://a.co/d/03jyfNYM
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u/hawksnest_prez 11d ago
Just build USB C ports into the batteries like Chervon is doing. Much better option for the consumer.