Ryobi has come out with a new 18V cordless fan, model PCF02, and I must say – this looks to be their coolest new product of 2021.
The new Ryobi 18V One+ cordless fan features a 4″ fan size and has a built-in clamp for securing it to materials or surfaces up to 1-1/2″ thick.
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It features 2 speed settings and has a multi-directional rotating head. Meaning, you can pretty much aim it in any direction you need to, and the multiple speed settings lets you select between max airflow or longer runtime.
The fan can clip to standard 2x wood boards and materials.
And, it can be placed on top of any flat horizontal surface.
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You can take to outdoor gatherings.
Or clamp it to exercise equipment to help keep you cool and dry.
Its portability is very well demonstrated in Ryobi’s product photos.
Features and Specs
- Compact and lightweight design
- Clamps onto materials up to 1-1/2″ thick
- 2-speed settings
- Rotating and pivoting fan head
- Delivers over 180 CFM
- Over 40 hours of max runtime with a 6Ah battery on low
The product images show the fan paired with a 2Ah battery, which by extension should deliver more than 13 hours of runtime on low.
Pricing and Availability
Price: $20
ETA: May 2021
Jammer
Some people on reddit claimed they were able to purchase in the store. Someone who mentioned they work at HD said they are stocked in the “home” area
VindalooDiesel
…coolest…
ISWYDT
Stuart
=)
Jared
That thing looks tiny! Kind of neat. Nice to have another option anyway.
I have the hybrid Ridgid now – though I don’t often use it with a battery. It’s nice to have.
In the workshop I sometimes use it to blow away dust or fumes while I work. In the winter I point it at the woodstove in my shop – both to increase the air supply to the stove and push the heat around my shop.
I haven’t taken it camping yet – but I mean to. Seems like I nice easy way to get a fire started or the smoke going the right way!
James C
The Ryobi inflator (not the tire inflator, the low pressure bit high volume one for air mattresses and pool floaties) works great for outdoor fire starting. Just be warned once it sucks smoke into the intake it will forever smell like it.
Patrick
I have the old (previous) Ryobi, and the Ryobi air cannon. In the summer it really helps to keep airflow and especially bring in fresh air from small windows.
When we had some power outages in warm weather, these were the most valuable battery tools besides the lantern.
At only $20, I’ll might have to get at least one. I’m thinking it might be helpful at the grill.
Bob
So tempted to buy into Royobi batteries for stuff like this. $20 take my money……if I was already in that battery system.
I got some Ryobi batteries out of the recycling bin specifically to make adapters for my Dewalt batteries. I really should get on that project.
Jared
Not to discourage your DIY project, but I bought a Dewalt to Ryobi adapter about a year ago for $20 Canadian dollars (so probably substantially less in the USA) and it works great.
My Ryobi inflator actually operates at audibly higher speeds with my Dewalt batteries than my Ryobi ones (albeit I just have 1.5ah Ryobi). It clips to my Dewalt batteries solidly too.
Might not be worth overthinking it if it’s ~$15 expense.
Brian Harris
I was in the same boat as you, I have a substantial investment in Milwaukee M12 and M18.
Ryobi offers some very unique tools, so I decided I would invest in a charger and a couple of batteries so I could utilize some of the tools Ryobi offers but Milwaukee doesn’t. I especially like the inflator and their sprayer. This fan looks like a coming purchase as well.
Nick Peelman
did the same thing. M12 for my heaviest used tools. but have ryobi for the variety.
Nate B
Surebonder makes adapters, since their gluegun is Ryobi native but they want other batteries to be able to power it.
There are also third-party adapters all over the internet now. They work great for low-drain devices like this.
Shane
I just ordered an adapter that goes from Rigid 18v to Ryobi 18v. The company is called Badaptor. They have lots of options to go from brand X to brand Y. From what I can tail, most adapters cost between 20 and $30. I got it specifically because of Ryobi’s hot glue gun. It feels pretty well built and fits tightly onto the tool. Now I have my eye on a few more Ryobi tools.
Jared
I looked up their site (https://badaptor.com/) – I only saw adapters for Ryobi tools though (e.g. Dewalt to Ryobi, Makita to Ryobi, Bosch to Ryobi, Milwaukee to Ryobi).
I have a horrendously mixed set of power tools, so adapters always intrigue me (e.g. I have Dewalt 12v, 20v & 60v, Porter Cable 20v, Bosch 12v & 18v, Worx 20v, Ridgid 18v & (of course) Ryobi 18v). If I could bring all my batteries to bear on a single platform, I would have ungodly power. 😆
Beside the Dewalt to Ryobi, the only other adapter I have now is Dewalt to Bosch – I basically never use that one (I have plenty of Bosch batteries), but I feel warm inside knowing I could.
Where did you find the Ridgid adapter?
Or if anyone knows where to find them, the adaptors I most wish to own are:
– Dewalt or Bosch batteries to Ridgid tools.
– Dewalt or Bosch batteries to Porter Cable tools.
– Dewalt or Bosch batteries to Worx tools.
– Bosch batteries to Dewalt tools.
James D Ouzts
a word of caution. A lot of adapters don’t have an auto shut off. I had one of my 5ah DeWalt batteries go unchargeable in an adapter with my Ryobi glue gun. It’s an easy enough fix to give it a little jump start from another battery but some people are not too keen on doing that.
the glue gun is such an awesome tool that I ended buying a couple of 4ah Ryobi batteries just so I can leave it on for long stretches of time and not worry about it.
Jared
Good advice. I am aware of that – and not sure if my adapters have that or not. I am usually mindful of the risk and don’t discharge my Dewalt batteries anywhere near the limit.
I have some Ryobi 1.5ah packs – I just like having the Dewalts around for extra runtime. I was surprised to find that they sped up my inflator too – even compared to freshly charged Ryobi packs (and my packs aren’t old either). I thought the voltage is the same, they would run the same – plus the adapter might cause some losses. Instead the pump works noticeably faster with the Dewalt packs.
I don’t use my adapter as my primary source of power for Ryobi tools – I treat it more like a backup if I run out of juice or don’t have the Ryobi packs close at hand.
Jim Felt
Interesting. But this tiny fan doesn’t much appeal to me but I’ve surprised myself how often I’ve used the larger Milwaukee version. And oddly enough to me at least the Red tire inflator as well.
One just never knows until something appears on the market…
Bryan
This is awesome. Ryobi killing it as usual.
Regis
I love the safety protocol in the first action shot.
Attic,
Loose fiberglass insulation,
No mask,
Fan.
Plain grainy
I have the Dewalt 20v job site fan(11”). I think it puts out 500 cfm’s on high. The Ryobi is rated over 180cfm’s. I wouldn’t want anything less than 500 cfm’s in most situations. If you are able to keep the Ryobi fan real close to you, it would probably be helpful then. I like to have the Dewalt 500cfm’s, then turn it to a lower speed if needed. I think the Dewalt runs 7 hours on high with a 4 A battery.
Plain grainy
The Dewalt fan runs on an AC cord also.
David Zeller
Ryobi has a medium and a large fan above this in the lineup, both of which are hybrid with AC. They are probably what you should be comparing to.
Tom
I just today bought that fan. It’s a deal at Home Depot for $119. It comes with a 5.0AH battery
I’ll also be getting the ryobi small one when available
Koko The Talking Ape
Thanks for the tip! Screaming deal.
With the Ryobi I was looking at $20 for the tool, plus $20 or so for a battery adapter. A DeWalt 5 ah battery costs at least $80 (in a 2-pack), so you’re getting a larger, more powerful fan for $40, same as the Ryobi plus adapter (assuming you need the battery, which I do.)
Plain grainy
The Ryobi 54 inch zero turn mower is very impressive. It features brushless motors, 48v 115 ah battery. It is capable of mowing 3.5 acres per charge. One reviewer stated that he figured he saved $1500.00 a year on fuel, oil & filters over a gas model. I guess you could find a spot for the clip on fan, to keep you cooler while mowing.
Plain grainy
I guess i’ll do a little more ranting on the subject. At $1500.00 a year savings, the mower will pay for itself in a little over 3 years. And if the economy gets stoked up, and fuel prices hit $ 5-6 a gallon, the payback will be much shorter. Throw in fuel chain supply problems(pandemic, terror acts, ect). The electric might be a lot of freedom from those things. I don’t see any US made mowers comparable to the Ryobi’s. That is such a shame, people wanting to buy US comparable products have no options. I looked at an extra battery for the mower, I think it was $265.00, check for yourself.
Plain grainy
I didn’t notice the $20 price, that’s very reasonable. Ryobi sure has some innovative products.
Dave the tool
I have the medium sized fan it it does put out an impressive amount of air when needed. I typically use it for ventilating small areas. Obviously I have larger fans in my garage. This fan I will probably purchase based on price point and for niche based applications. Being in a attic or crawl space all you would get is hot air being blown back in your face but the gym, outdoors, etc seems like neat applications.
Fm2176
This is going on my to-buy list, and I’ll likely hit up my local HD to see if they have them in stock. Ryobi cordless stuff is stocked all over the store, as Jammer alludes to…various lights in lighting, pool stuff in outdoors (do they still make their pool vacuum and speaker?), etc…and I wouldn’t be surprised to find these in the home section.
I have the Ryobi Air Cannon, an Arctic Cove misting fan (since recolored and sold as Ryobi), and three Ridgid hybrid fans. During outdoor events, I like to put the Ridgid fans on a tripod and have the misting fan near the grill. Since turning in my government laptop, I’ve used one of the Ridgids to keep my 9-year-old personal laptop cool while teleworking (one of the internal fans stopped working). I need to find or buy more short extension cords, as I use my hybrid fans with batteries even inside the house. If I want more noise and/or airflow, I have a large Ridgid and about 5 B-Air air movers. This little fan will be perfect to take to the gym.
Ryobi makes it almost impossible to avoid investing in the One+ system. They offer innovative items that no other brand does (the Devour power sweeper comes to mind, as does the Score speaker system), and with promos such as Ryobi Days, it’s possible to get a “must-have” tool with a couple batteries and charger for $100. My first Ryobi purchase was just that, I needed a pole saw so I got mine free with purchase of a $99 3Ah starter kit. I have a few “conventional” tools such as an impact driver picked up on clearance and an old blue drill that belonged to my father-in-law, but the majority of my Ryobi stuff are things that other brands simply don’t offer, or that cost 2-3x more in Yellow, Red, or Orange.
Nate B
Weirdly enough, I just searched “PCF02” on HomeDepot.com with no other words. It didn’t show me the PCF02 fan since it doesn’t seem to exist on the site yet…
…..but it showed me a bunch of other fans!
Somehow it knows that’s the name of a fan, even though it doesn’t exist. Whaaat?
Dhcrocks
40 hours…damn that’s impressive.
Fm2176
Eighteen days later…
…and no local stores have these in stock. Two stores around 50 miles away have shown them in stock for the past couple of weeks, but where they each had around fifty available back then, they show limited quantities now. My wife is in that area and will hopefully check the stores before she gets home next week. Online ordering seems to be a no-go for this fan.
I don’t really understand Ryobi’s marketing strategy when it comes to niche products like this. They offer something unique that no other brand offers, but either restrict production/availability (this fan, unless for some reason Ryobi is just slow pushing them out to stores) or discontinue them after a year or two (the Devour sweeper and Score speaker system come to mind).
Hopefully these pop up locally if my wife can’t find them down south.
Stuart
It’s expected to launch this month.
It’s possible/likely they’re in floor displays that are waiting until a scheduled date to be put out.
fm2176
Hopefully this is the case. I find it odd that two stores would put these out early, though. Ryobi has some products that scream “take my money!”, combining innovation with low cost. At $18 (w/discount), this fan costs about the same as lunch at a chain restaurant.
Flotsam
Ryobi has been coming out with some pretty innovative tools recently. I bought one of their brushless recip saws and its fabulous. It was basically free with the starter battery pack i had purchased. Nice deal.
I originally went that route of having a Ryobi to DeWalt adapter to use the Ryobi stuff i had accumulated. Mostly blue stuff like small circular saw, jig saw, sander but eventually i got some other newer stuff like the glue gun, angle grinder and caulk gun that justified real Ryobi batteries.