I have a Ryobi cordless drill and a bunch of Ryobi LED flashlights, which all use Ryobi One batteries, and a Hobbico Torquemaster 90 starter. I have read of people rigging up batteries to their plug-in electric starters, and was wondering if anyone had rigged up a Ryobi. The biggest challenge would be the electrical connection. I could easily do it if I bought another $20 Ryobi flashlight and cut / threw away everything but the battery connection hardware, but I hate throwing away usable things, and would rather not do that.

Another option would be to just jerry-rig something, which I could do, but that would require a considerable amount of time and brain power.

I was hoping someone had already done this, and could post about it with a description, or better yet, some pictures.

I tried doing a search for this topic, but even though most web forum search engines stink, the search function here tops them all, in that regard. Same with the "New Posts" or "Today's Posts" buttons. Both of them are a sick joke here.

If you want to jump over to RC Groups there is a good current thread on this subject.
Subject category: Aircraft-Fuel-General
Thread: Sullivan starter battery pack registers 14 volt, but DOA.

There are many adapters out there for that very purpose. In fact, many of these adapters are made for use on the Sullivan starters that you can buy from Tower or local hobby shops

Thanks for the replies so far.

Before starting this thread, I did a search for adapters for Ryobi batteries to Hobbico starters. Not Dewalt or Milwaukee batteries, and not Sullivan starters.

I have Ryobi batteries and a Hobbico starter, and I am not going to buy other brands. I am trying to save money.

I found nothing in that search, and was hoping someone else had gone through this particular challenge, and had already came up with a solution. I guess I will probably end up being the pioneer on this.

I wanted to do the same thing, but & I bought a used 4 cell li-po for $5.00 and have been using it for about 3 years. I had a battery box to mount to the starter. it's lighter & spins over anything.

That is probably a more cost-effective, much lighter, and much simpler option. Do you think something like 1300 mAh would be enough for starting a .40-.62 4-stroke maybe 10 times in a day?

I use a 3S 2100mah LiPo, and made a simple holder for it that's attached to the bottom of the starter. I cut the cord on the starter, and soldered up a Deans connector to plug the battery in. I've been using it for about 5yrs now with great results. I start glow engines up to about 1.20 four-strokes, and have started 30cc gas engines with it. I only have to charge it about every 3 months...The battery was an old 2100 LiPo I had laying around, and the whole thing cost me nothing to make. It was the best nothing I've spent in a long time.

I think your 1300mah is fine to give a try. Hopefully it doesn't fry though. It might depend on the C-rating on that 1300 as to how it takes the load. Reality is though, the starter should only run a few seconds at a time, and the engine will probably start very quickly. I think that's why I get such good battery life is my engines start with just a quick bump of the starter. Watch the classifieds, or HobbyKing and you can easily get a decent battery for about $10-$15 if that if your 1300 isn't big enough.

Good luck with it.

Used old charger and spliced in connections it's 18v but works good for short bursts.

I gave up on this idea, and mounted a 4S 1350 LIPO directly on the starter. That works like a champ.

i know this was an old thread but i accidently ran across it looking for something else!

It's so much easier to just take conventional 3s or 4s RC LiPo, zip tie or whatever to your starter(try that witha Ryobi battery) , charge it once in a while and fly. No cords, easy charge on your hobby charger(try that with a Ryobi battery), and go fly. Last I looked the Ryobi batts(I own 2 of them for my cordless tools) are $80 a pair. How many lipos can you buy for that? (Remember it only takes one for a starter).

For all that, just take a 7ah 12v hobby battery and use it... The Ryobi is 4ah... seriously in this day and age there's thousands of batteries to choose.. make it simple or make it hard. I'm glad the original poster made it simple. Wasn't that easy? Good luck with the new battery system.