This Ridgid 18V power adapter is a 175W inverter with many different ways to connect your electronic devices for charging.
This Ridgid AC86097 battery-powered inverter is similar in functionality to the Milwaukee M18 Top-Off, which we previously reported on.
It features 2x USB-A charging ports, a USB-C port, and an AC outlet.
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Ridgid says that their power adapter can charge up to four devices at the same time, and can be used to recharge smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other small electronics products.
They add that this is not intended to be used with hair dryers, coffee makers, power tools, refrigerators, or compressors.
Here are the rated output power specs, as listed in Ridgid’s online user manual:
- USB-A: 5V at 2.4A max
- USB-C: 5V at 3A max, or 9V, 12V, 14V, or 20V at 2.25A max
The USB-C port is said to deliver up to 45W max power. The 3-prong AC port delivers 120V at up to 175W, which is around 1.46A.
The AC outlet delivers a modified sine wave output.
There’s also an LED light on the top, with independent power button, for using the power adapter as a flashlight in a pinch.
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This chart shows you the approximate number of times you can recharge electronic devices using the adapter with 2Ah, 4Ah, and 6Ah batteries.
Despite the limited power output capability of the AC outlet, power sources and adapters like this can be quite versatile.
Price: $89
The Ridgid 175W inverter is sold at Home Depot. At the time of this posting, it’s a free bonus item with the purchase of select Ridgid 18V 4-tool and 8-tool cordless power tool combo kits.
Jared
It’s nice to have options like this. I’d prefer one in yellow though.
Lance
The USB-C port needs to be in/out so you can use it to charge the battery too. I believe DeWalt’s unit does this, which figures because that’s about the only brand I don’t own.
Wake up Ridgid! This device would be twice as useful if it had battery charging capabilities. I have two 9Ah batteries that would pair very well with this and my solar generator, IF it could charge the connected battery.
Nathan
I think the ac port is nearly useless. A second USB c with full power delivery spec might be with more
Which then is more like the DeWalt device.
I do like the independent light. Good for a keep in the car in case of need
Nate
I agree, but there’s the occasional device that provides DC through barrel connector and has an AC wall wart. This could be useful.
As an aside, Ridgid is killing it this year. Lots of new introductions and innovations. Glad to see that both Emerson and TTI are not letting this brand stagnate a la Porter Cable.
Jason
AC Port is fantastic for low power draw items while camping or power outages. Sure it won’t run a coffee pot but it was actually really clutch when my wife was pumping to be able to relax on the couch and not sitting next to an outlet (sure an extension cord would work but this was more convenient for her to be mobile). Also worked for the dying baby monitor to plug it in when I was doing some landscaping outside during nap time.
I’ve also heard of guys using these to power CPAP machines with large capacity batteries camping but I can’t speak to the runtime.
Eventually as those low-power devices move more to USB-C it may not be as useful (heck even our new diffuser has a usb port instead of wall plug-in). For now though they definitely still have a place in our home. Our house is old and doesn’t have convenient outlets everywhere, above ground power lines so outages are common during storms. Maybe not for everyone but it’s a good middle ground between a generator and a usb battery bank.
And dangit now thanks to Big Richard I’m going to have to order the Greenworks 80V inverter since those batteries are starting to add up in our garage.
Randy
One marketing image shows the AC port with a USB power brick, and the other seems to imply it’s powering a macbook, also over USB-C. Even the marketing team can’t pretend that AC plug is useful.
Blocky
On the contrary. $89 without battery is an insane price to pay for a usb battery bank device. It’s nice that the usb is there, but the AC plug can power other light-duty equipment when it needs to go mobile: a printer, a wall-wart charger (my spectra laser), a soldering iron, a regular glue gun, some high cri work lights, a boombox. I have lots of legacy small tools that could run nicely off this, and it’s a more economical and probably future-proof solution than re-buying everything cordless.
I bought a power station for these uses, but that doesn’t fit in my backpack.
Drew
Why is dewalt the only company that won’t make one of these with an ac port?
AlexK
If you have lots of batteries, buying any of these for under $100 is worth it, regardless of the brand.
When the power goes out, I plug in my reading lamp and I get to enjoy sitting in my favorite chair and reading, without having to rig up one of my many rechargeable lights. I also use it to power a big box fan outside, when my ryobi fans aren’t up to the job.
These are what they are. They won’t power a circular saw and they aren’t meant to. But having this with 6 18v batteries is peace of mind for me. It does much more than my powerbank and much less than my 2000 watt inverter generator. It fits nicely in my arsenal of stuff to have when the power is out, or when I’m somewhere without an outlet.
BigTimeTommy
These things are handy but always insanely priced. Even the Ryobi one is $85 without a battery right now on Amazon. I ended up just making my own. If you do that you can use a buck converter to step down to 12v and have a more useful 12v outlet. Yeah technically spending my time on it makes it more “expensive” than just buying one, but the smug satisfaction I get from not letting a giant corporation get over on me is worth it.
Dennis
You should also have a low voltage cutoff to keep from damaging the battery.
Big Richard
I have a Greenworks 40v model that is good for 300W and it was only $35 on amazon, normally $49. I haven’t seen many cheaper than that. It is not going to win awards for its design or compactness, but for the money it was much more appealing to me than these ~150W 18v class options that cost almost double as you pointed out.
Big Richard
Whoops, this was supposed to be in reply to BigTimeTommy.
Stuart
(When that happens, place a duplicate comment or “move my comment here please” and I can do that for you behind the scenes. Some people leave duplicate comments, but without knowing the intent I can have a difficult time determining which to keep.)
Frank D
I have the single USB they had … and the Ryobi single AC …
I might pick up this Ridgid for emergencies or some vehicle / travel necessities; once they bring the price down. $90 is a bit steep.
Ezra
I hope they bring this to the Australian AEG range, but our unique plug makes that less likely.
I have a charger mounted in my wagon (12V input) for camping and stuff. This would close the loop on functionality – it could run a car battery charger to boost the starter battery to start the engine to charge the aux battery which powers the AEG charger to charge more 18V batteries to clip onto this inverter…
Blocky
Popping back and forth forever