Looks like the breakdown on your experiment can be translated into this. AT THIS LOAD LEVEL, going from 4 to 5 AH costs $20 more and gives 23 more minutes of run time. To go from 5 to 6 AH (non HP battery) cost $20 more and only gets you 15 min more run time. A 4 AH costs $1.73 per min of run time. A 5 AH costs $1.54 per min of run time. And a 6 AH costs $1.52 per min of run time. When upsizing from a 4 AH to a 5 AH you pay $.87 for each extra minute. When upsizing from 4 AH to 6 AH you pay $1.05 for each added minute. To me the 5 AH looks like the best upgrade. That is just true from the standpoint of cost, because if you need more run time as a matter of convenience or necessity, you have no choice but to buy the biggest battery, whatever it costs, to get that run time. Also, it is my understanding that some tools with higher torque outputs will simply run both better and longer on higher AH batteries, so that can come into play as well. I'm writing this on 9/20/21 and the prices you give are still the correct prices on Home Depot for non HP batteries. Thanks for running this test. It was helpful to me.
I'm not sure the load level was the same. My guess is the fan moved considerably more air with the 6Ah battery. Amperes and Amp-hours are two different things. We need to know how many amps the battery delivered. For the LED light, it shouldn't have changed from one pack to another because the LED lights should be a constant draw. But the fan might be able to draw more amps than the smaller packs are allowed to deliver. I have noticed that my brushless chainsaw (non HP version) has a LOT more power with the newer, higher-rated packs compared to the older 2.6 Ah packs. Ryobi is not very forthcoming in their descriptions of these products. I have one of the big 7.5 Ah packs with the two additional contacts, and it is clearly labeled "HP". I have two of the 6AH packs in that same, larger 30-cell format with the two extra contacts, but they are not labeled "HP" My guess is that Ryobi started to brand the packs as HP and then decided that would be too confusing, so now they are mainly branding the tools, but not the packs as "HP". Nonetheless, I believe the packs that have the two extra contacts are indeed "HP" (so to speak). That is to say, if you have an HP tool, it will only do all the extra regulation stuff if you use a pack that has those two extra contacts. I doubt that really makes much difference. Ultimately it comes down to how much energy you have in the cells.
I like your breakdown mathematically but for me I would rather just have a second 4ah battery as they tend to be more readily available used, reconditioned, or blemished. Direct Tool Outlet is a great option.
@@ParmerleeTube In the 18v battery packs I think that the dimensions of the cells are the same, but those cells come in some variations that are rated to pass more current through them. 30 amps rather than 20 amps. I believe the higher AH batteries may use the lower resistance cells and give more torque as a result.
I have a Ryobi chainsaw, RY40502. In the past, I have used a 40V 4AH Ryobi battery with it, part number OP40401. I was recently gifted a brand new 40V 4AH battery part number OP40404. To my dismay, Ryobi changed the profile on the 40V 4AH battery and the new OP40404 does not physically fit in my chainsaw. I have a number of Ryobi tools and I have liked them, but this is the sort of thing that could drive me away from Ryobi and start a collection of a different manufacturer's tools. :-(
About 6 years ago I bought a 16" ryobi mower to use to supplement a riding mower that I bought so I could trim where I couldn't cut with the riding mower. At the time I was cutting 2 separate yards. A 4Ah 40V battery came with it. I'm down to one yd. I bought a 6Ah battery part no. PO40601 to get better run time with the 16" cut lawn mower since the 4Ah battery could only cut 20٪ of the yard if it wasn't too tall. Recently I bought a Ryobi 20" cut mower. It came with the 6Ah 40V Ryobi battery part no. PO40602, Which is bigger than the other 6Ah battery i purchased for the smaller mower. I called Ryobi to check on the difference in the 2 batteries. I was told that the PO40602 battery that comes with the newer mowers have circuitry in them that allow them to communicate with each other to allow optimum performance of the mower. That is why when you hit a taller or thicker patch of grass the mower will ramp up it's cutting speed so that it doesn't bog down, stall and shut off. I called Ryobi because I'm having a problem with the newer battery when charging it. Especially if I use it with the older charger that charges my 4Ah & small 6Ah 40V batteries fine. I also have an xpand-it trimmer, a leaf blower and chain saw that all use 40V batteries. It charges those batteries fine as well. The older charger does not completely charge the PO40602 battery on the initial charge cycle and tells me after charging for a while that the battery is bad. This also happens with the small charger block the size of a pack of cigarettes that snaps onto the battery that came with the mower, it had a brick like a cell phone uses that plugs into the wall.
The reason that 6AH battery is bigger is because it has 30x 18650 cells, 10 in series + 3 in parallel whereas the smaller batteries have 20x 18650 cells, 10s x 2p. It has nothing to do with cooling.
I just bought the 6AH battery just now. At the moment is in my rapid charger. I bought it to work with my 40 v vac/mulcher. I have 2 (4ah) and 1 (2 ah) which I acquired with other tools I have gotten in the past. My yard is full of leaves and I want to be able to switch out the batteries when they die and place them in the rapid charger so that I can finish my vacuum of the leaves before the rain comes down later.
If you use 2Ah battery with the tool which is sold with 4Ah battery (Vac), expect that 2Ah battery will run half of the time; BUT: the life in charge cycles of 2Ah battery will be shorter because it will be discharged with higher current per cell and this additional stress will shorten battery life.
Just what I needed! I just bought the lawn mower which came with the battery. It has the big one. I have 2 40-4. I needed to know if I could use them in the mower. Because I have 2 the same and 1 big one I was hoping I could use all three by changing them out as the die and need recharging. Thank you!
Batteries are compared by capacity (in Ampere Hours) and rated output current max. The Ryobi packs are made of 18650 2Ah cells now; smaller 4Ah has two strings of 10 cells on parallel, the larger 6Ah has three strings (total of 30 cells). There were some 6Ah packs with 20 cells but these were higher quality cells not produced anymore. The maximum current per string is limited, thus 3 string battery has 50% higher max load current - for use in high power tools like lawn mowers. It *does* have some relation to cooling - the cells in larger battery give less current per cell, and this each cell dissipated less heat and has longer life in high power tools. For tools like fan, the current is low and any (1, 2 or 3 cells in parallel) will work fine. There are many chinese "replacement batteries" which claim 6Ah but containing only 20 cells. They have only 3.5Ah capacity (measured). If discharged in high-power device (like lawn mower), it will shorten the life of the battery and you will have fewer charge cycles. That is the effect of paying lower price.
Great video mate, very helpful..! I know you have the 12amp 40v battery, Could you compare this Vs the 6amp battery when you get a chance? Thank you and blessings to you.
@@NepaAirsoft It depends on the load. The bigger batt has 50% more cells so it'll perform better in high load applications, but the cells are also lower quality made in china by EVE energy. The smaller OP40601 is using Sony VTC6 cells so longevity should be better, but fewer cells = more stress during high load so runtime should be lower. Weed whackers & lawn mowers are considered low/med load whereas chainsaws & snow blowers are higher load.
So are all 40 volt Ryobi batteries the same? Like are some regular and some high capacity? Or are they all high capacity? I can’t find much info on this and I notice some of the 6AH batteries look different from each other. Thanks in advance!
I was wondering about the difference between vs cost. These things are expensive, and as far as value for money or if you compare say a 2ah vs 6ah your better off getting the 6ah every time. But it is a huge battery. It barely fits in my path blower and lucky it came with a lawnmower adapter otherwise it wouldn't fit in my 2017 mower
I saw a 12ah battery at Bunnings (home Depot) and I'm tempted to pick it up... It's alot of cash to throw down but it's $100AU cheaper than buying two 6ah's plus I've got a $100 voucher. I'm thinking it will be good for the mower not switching out batteries and if there's a power out or go camping I can use the inverter to power a small fan or heater in my toddlers room half the night
Yes. I have both a trimmer (with other attachments like edger and blower) and a mower. I actually use the 4 ah that came with the trimmer in the mower and the 6ah that cam with the mower in the trimmer since I actually use the trimmer more. I have a smaller yard as well, but am super anal about my yard and driveway being clean, so I use the blower for a loooong time.
Yes you can with shorter run time; but also expect that the smaller battery will be more stressed/heated by discharge current and it will have shorter longevity in charge cycles. Better use largest batteries you can afford.
Where can someone actually buy the 40V HP battery? They don't seem to exist. Even the 40V HP mowers don't appear to come with an "HP" battery (at least not anymore, though I have seen photos of them, but nothing in stores with the 40V HP mowers). I just spent an extra 50 bucks going with the 40V HP trimmer that has the carbon fiber shaft, but that's more of a gimmick than anything - if there are actual HP batteries that this uses,and there's an actual performance upgrade, then it makes sense, otherwise this one's going back for the other non-HP, 40V trimmer (RY40270)
Yeah, those are likely people who "returned" their old battery for the new one and got away with it because the CS rep didn't check serial numbers. You're buying old batteries, most likely (not every time, though).
@@fuelvolts Two were brand new & still in the original plastic. The third was not wrapped, but showed no scratches from use. It was as pristine as the others. All 3 were from different sellers.
