The Ryobi P2100 18V One+ Blower/Sweeper - A Rechargeable Blower for Light Duty Needs
Written: Sep 23 '07 (Updated Sep 29 '07)
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Pros: No cords, not too loud, ease of use!, price
Cons: Battery life, blower strength
The Bottom Line: A good choice for light duty outdoor sweeping needs, but not powerful enough to replace corded or gas powered models.
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| nc10's Full Review: Ryobi P2100 OnePlus 18V Blower |
The Ryobi 18V One+ P2100 blower is a light weight, light duty blower/sweeper, powered by an 18V battery, suitable for home use. I purchased a Ryobi P2100 blower this past spring to help with yard maintenance, particularly to clean up after mowing and edging my yard. I live in suburban home with a sidewalk out front, concrete driveway, and close neighbors, who for the most part, keep their homes and yards looking great. I like to keep up with my neighbors, so I need to keep my yard looking nice, which means weekly mowing, edging, trimming, and cleanup. This Ryobi model simplifies the cleanup, and I use it every week. It falls clearly into the sweeper category, its good enough to "sweep" debris from sidewalks, and its perfect for my minor cleanup needs. However, its not powerful enough, nor is battery life good enough (10-15 minutes) to replace the blower you might use to remove leaves and pine needles from a 3/4 acre yard with several trees.
The P2100 OnePlus blower sells for $30 at Home Depot, and is powered by a rechargeable 18V battery (not included). Rechargeable batteries were the main selling point to me, that is, being able to pick it up the blower on a moment's notice and turn it on and sweep, without stretching out extension cords or having to listen to a loud gas motor. Last year I purchased the Ryobi One Plus Renovator combo, a $200 set of hand held rechargeable battery power tools to help with home improvement jobs. Ryobi OnePlus tools all run off the same standard 18V batteries. The Renovator combo had included two batteries and a one hour charger, batteries which I could also use with the P2100 blower. I use those tools often, and always keep at least one battery fully charged in the charger. Since I was very pleased with the value the Ryobi tools I owned, buying a blower that used the same battery was really my only choice.
In the Box and Setup
The Ryobi P2100 blower comes in two pieces, the blower housing and the blower tube. You press them together, plug in an 18V battery (purchased separately) into the back of the blower, and you’re ready to go. The batteries click firmly into place, but are easy to remove.
Using the Ryobi P2100 OnePlus Blower
This sweeper weighs a bit less than 5 lbs with the battery in place. The blower seems nearly perfectly balanced when you’re holding it by the handle, the fan motor is below the handle, the battery plugs in a bit behind the handle, and the discharge tube extends out towards the front, balancing the battery. It’s powered on and off by a single large rocker switch under the handle. The discharge point of the heavy plastic blower tube is about 30 inches from the handle. The blower is light enough and small enough that anyone from a 2nd grader to your grandmother could handle it easily. It takes suction from the bottom and bottom sides of the blower housing, the slotted openings cannot easily be blocked, but are small enough to not permit even small fingers to be inserted.
I use the Ryobi to clean my driveway (~80’), sidewalks and street edge (~90’ each), and a small concrete patio after mowing and edging. I can blow the grass off of those areas in about 10 minutes, quick enough that I can usually finish, barely, using only one fully charged battery. For about the first ten minutes of run time, the blower velocity is fairly constant. After about 10 minutes, the battery starts to weaken, the blower velocity drops, and it becomes ineffective. My rechargeable batteries are a little over a year old, have been stored indoors, and each has probably been charged 30 or 40 times. Given this, and since they’re Ni-Cad’s, I’d expect they’re performing only a bit below what new batteries would do, you might get 12-15 minutes run time with new batteries..
The blower is much quieter than gas powered blowers, and won’t disturb your neighbors. Ryobi doesn’t report the blower cfm (cubic feet per minute), but does say exit velocity is 120 miles per hour, which is enough to move grass clippings to where you want them, once you're within a couple of feet, but not high enough to create a dust storm. (For comparison, my Weedeater corded blower offers a velocity of about 160mph, the exit area of the discharge tube is at least 6 times as large, so I estimate its blower can move at least 10 times as much air)
I don’t have gutters, but I would expect the blower is strong enough to blow wet leaves out of a gutter or off a roof, if the discharge of the blower was held only a few inches from the gutter. (It will pick up clumps of wet grass from my driveway in this fashion.) Given its light weight, ease of handling, and lack of extension cord, it should be a fairly good choice for cleaning gutters. The Ryobi P2100 would be a little slow, and I’d take more than one battery up on a roof to handle a job like this. I wouldn’t want to use this blower to “rake” leaves from a yard though, the blower capacity isn’t enough to sweep up large volumes of leaves.
Other Comments
Home Depot is the only store that carries Ryobi OnePlus tools, as best I can tell. The Ryobi P2100 comes with a 2 year warranty, and is sturdily built. Replacement batteries are reasonably priced, $40 for a set of two at Home Depot. 18V Lithium OnePlus batteries will be available from Home Depot in late 2007, and promise lighter weight and double the run time (and about double the cost). Unlike many corded blowers, this sweeper can’t double as a vacuum.
If you need a light duty battery powered sweeper, the Ryobi OnePlus is a good value. It’s extremely easy to use, effective for light duty use, not too loud, and light weight. If you have other OnePlus tools, this one will be a nice addition to your home maintenance arsenal.
Ryobi Web Page for this item:
http://www.ryobitools.com/outdoor-power/tool/p2100/
Link to Manual
http://oneworld1.inetu.net/manuals/index.php?dir=ryobi%2F&search=p2100&search_mode=f
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
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