Who do you think would have been the first brand to come out with a cordless air compressor? If your guess was Ridgid – you’re right!
Ridgid has come out with an 18V cordless brushless 1 gallon air compressor. What’s more is that this compressor is available now, and you can order it online for delivery next week.
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This oil-less compressor uses a brushless motor that can be run off either one or two 18V batteries.
Ridgid claims the compressor can drive up to 1200 brad nails with two 5Ah batteries and that it is powerful enough to drive 2.5″ nails flush into the toughest materials.
The compressor can deliver up to 1.4 SCFM at 40 PSI and 1 SCFM at 90 PSI. With a 77 dBA (outdoor) rating, it seems like it can do it pretty quietly too.
It’s compact, with base measurements of 11 -1/2″ x 11-1/2″, and it is 16″ tall. The Home Depot specs table says it weighs 19 lbs. Ridgid also provides a hose wrap strap on top of the compressor for keeping your air hose coiled and neat.
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The compressor can provide a maximum of 120 PSI. Pressure at the single outlet is adjusted by a regulator knob that can be locked after you dial in the correct pressure.
Ridgid backs the R0230 cordless air compressor with a 3-year warranty. The bare compressor without batteries will run you $199. It doesn’t look like there’s a kit with batteries and a charger available yet.
- 120 PSI Max
- 1.4 SCFM at 40 PSI
- 1.0 SCFM at 90 PSI
- 1-gallon air tank
- Powered by one or two 18V Li-ion battery packs
The compressor doesn’t seem to be available in stores, but you can order it online. You can either have it shipped to a local store for free or directly to your door for about $10. If Home Depot’s shipping estimates hold, it looks like you could get your hands on this compressor by next week.
Price: $199 (bare tool)
Buy Now (via Home Depot)
First Thoughts
I gave up my little portable compressor many years ago when I bought my 20 gallon oil-lubricated compressor for the garage. The little pancake compressor was just too loud and heavy to be useful. When I need to use my air guns in places where I don’t have air plumbed, I’ll usually fill up a little 5 gallon tank and carry that around. The downside is that I can only get about 30 shots before I have to return to the compressor for a refill.
I can see a little light cordless compressor like this new Ridgid being a great supplement to a larger compressor, either in a workshop or at a jobsite. You can still have your large compressor and run lines to where you need them, but with the cordless compressor, maybe you don’t need to run as many or carry extra hoses to make long runs.
1200 brad nails per two 5Ah batteries doesn’t sound like all that much. It seems to me that if you attached those 5Ah batteries to a cordless nail gun you should get 4x that amount of nails. Still, it gives you the ability to run your favorite air nailer on a short hose. Of course the advantage of air nailers, especially trim nailers, is that the guns are small and light.
Notice Ridgid says brad nails. So this compressor is clearly aimed at people like trim carpenters, and not framers or roofers.
Tim
This is pretty cool.
Wonder if it would drive a flooring nailer for a short time on small patches.
rman
Fantastic item for the quick trim job. But green works has had a 40 volt .5 gal air compressor for over a year now. Interesting to compare the two in similar nailing jobs. Of course green works is primarily yard tools. This new ridged air compressor will fill my requirements with my other ridged cordless power tools. Was wondering if there was a chance of higher AH batteries than 5 amp coming to compete with Milwaukee 9ah 18 volt monster.
Chris
Holy crap Ridgid. You just keep on going. Cordless router, cordless belt sander, what’s next? A cordless air compressor? That’s right folks.
In the past year alone, Ridgid has proved itself to be very innovative. While I don’t use any Ridgid products (except a shop vac) i would definitley consider Ridgid as a cordless platform.
Aside from introducing cordless versions of tools I would never have expected to see, Ridgid is definitely showing what lithium batteries are capable of.
mizzourob
What’s next.. cordless propane heater.
Benjamen
I can’t tell if you are joking, but yes you are correct.
Ridgid 18V Hybrid Forced Air Propane heater is coming in March,
mizzourob
Not joking, just have not seen that covered anywhere on this blog.
T-Bone
I have one already!
JC
Maybe this means a milwaukee version is in the works. Might consider it as I have 17 M18 batteries. I also happen to be in the market for a new compact compressor so hopefully we see one soon.
William
I’m in the same boat, totally committed to the Milwaukee platform. Too many batteries to switch.
Hope they come out with one as well.
SteveW
More likely a Ryobi version is what we’ll see next, as Ridgid cordless is more closely associated to them on the non professional scale.
Jim Premo
I am a master craftsman and have chosen to primarily with the
Ridgid line of tools. Just picked up a Ryobi 18v hot glue gun for cabinet crown miters that I pin nail together. Ryobi cordless brad nailer is the best cordless brad nailer on the market.
Do you have any experience professionally with either brand?
Are you a professional craftsman? Or are you just parading your ignorance?
Chris H
Dont think he meant any disrespect. The fact of the matter is that Ryobi is marketed as more of a homeowner type tool, Ridgid is mid-range probably for more advanced DIY types and Milwaukee is marketed as the pro tool.
Im not a pro but believe in buying good tools. I have plenty of Milwaukee stuff, but the tools I would use only occasionally (right angle drill, etc) I buy in Ryobi. The Ryobi stuff is excellent for what it is, but for heavier duty jobs I pull out the M-FUEL stuff. (Example: while my Ryobi cordless sawzall kept freezing up from too tough a job, the M18 Fuel sawzall pretty much laughed at the same job)
Different price points, different quality levels. Like most everything else in life.
RX9
That’s important to mention. All 3 brands – Ryobi, Ridgid, Milwaukee – are owned by TTI, and each is positioned to a different market segment. Between the 3, there is a lot of overlap, but there are some applications/tools covered by only one of the 3 brands.
This point is important, because there are a lot of customers who commit to a given brand/system, because of the availability of one or two niche applications.
Seriously, Milwaukee locked me in as a customer of both their systems solely because of the availability of their ratchet and brushless full-size impact.
It’s a shame that the TTI brands can’t share batteries though. I understand the need for coherent branding, but I would love to see a brand try to decouple the role of the battery from perceived quality of the brand. A universal battery system of some sort would save money on development costs, preventing brands from needing to copy each other.
Blair
I have been a carpenter for 40 + years, commercial, &residential, I now am a remodeling contractor, and I do kow for a factthat the term “master carpenter” was invented by the producer of This Old House by the producer for Norm, what makes you a master craftsman baffles me , as does your attitude toward others .
Sorry Stu, but this forum has been a refuge of civility , and I would like to keep it that way.
Tim
10,000 hours in a given field is usually the prerequisite for “Master” status.
Jim Premo
What does any of that have to do with Ridgid being or not being a professional tool line? A little off topic.
Cr8ondt
Tooo coool
Jonathan
My Bostitch pancake compressor is on permanent loan to a buddy, but it’s getting use.
I am scratching my head a little, other than high CFM tool jobs (i.e. bead blasting, etc) . Its kinda like bringing a $100+ high power electic weed eater to the market admist all the capable and inexpensive cordless options available. I think that corded string trimmers have to be the most despised corded tool of DIYers.
I wonder how hard it would be to bring a lightweight brad gun with a short adpter cord to a backpack, shoulder or belt pack LiON, similar to professional corded hand pruners used by landscape, orchards, vineyards professionals. Solving the heavy battery pack and tool raised overhead for X amount of job time.
This is ripped from an earlier TG post: “Ridgid HyperDrive nailers are said to deliver all the power of a pneumatic nailer in a cordless tool, which means you get air-like power without the need for an air compressor, hoses to drag around, or gas cartridges to mess around with.”
Jim Premo
I use both Ridgid HyperDrive nailers, 18ga and 16ga. Love them, but they do not have the power, smoothness, and fluid nailing motion of pneumatic nailers.
Jonathan
Good info, was unaware, haven’t spent more than a few hours using pneumatic guns, haven’t tried the cordless yet, may pick up Ryobi airstrike when I replace our Fir fence boards this summer.
I guess the cordless nailers are still maturing the same as the ‘gas like power’ for cordless OPE.
I will say that even a tank based compressor will blow away almost all 12VDC/120AC/18-56V cordless when it comes to filling Vehicle tires esp Pickups and HP 16″ high PSI tires. But the time to charge the tank, uncoil, drain the tank and putting it back is a PITA and takes almost as long as a small motor compressor droning along for 5-10 minutes.
Jim Premo
This is not, repeat, not 36v. It is 18v, whether using 1 or 2 batteries. Not going the Makita route with 2 batteries. Makita will not run with 1 battery. Milwaukee has 9ah 18v batteries, Ridgid is getting with 2 batteries, what Milwaukee is getting with 1
The yeti
This would be perfect for the rv . Fill up floating devices etc . Great idea .
Anton
I use the Ryobi $40 inflator pretty much exclusively for all my inflation tasks. It has both a high volume side and a tire inflator side. It does seem to work much better with the 4ah battery for heavier duty tasks like car tires. It probably woulden’t be cost effective if you’re not in the ryobi battery system already since it would end up being over $100 with a battery and charger.
Chance
If you have an RV you have shore power and/or a generator, why would you need a cordless compressor?
Jason
That’s weird it doesn’t qualify for free shipping.
Nathan
hey dewalt and milwaukee – look at this very closely. Now – kick the CFM up a bit and up the gallon – keep the price nearly there and sell it would.
or just replicate this – sell it would.
I would have bought a yellow branded version of this instead of the PC pancake 6gallon job I bought last year had I had the choice. But I didn’t and I know the PC thing is more capable – so I bought a longer hose for it.
But this is something I’ve been thinking was missing in all the tool lineups.
Chance
Be patient. . . . . .
Roger
WOW!!! Just WOW. You’d think with all the stand alone cordless tools they wouldn’t bother with a cordless compressor. The price point is good for something like this if you already have pneumatic nailers and don’t want to buy individual 22,18,16,15, etc cordless guns. I wouldn’t use this for a HVLP sprayer, but it technically can work for small applications. Small to mid tyres, yes. Concrete work.. no… I’d really consider it IF the CFM was double. As for capacity, you can always connect a secondary tank.
Now I want to see Ridgid come out with a cordless woodworking bandsaw. Maybe a “110V power station”… With great price points koff*koff*
Jim Premo
Holy cow. How fortunate I feel to have picked up on the Ridgid line of tools. I feel like Ridgid is really maturing into a premier tool brand. I know where 2 of my 18 4ah batteries are going to be during punch out and cabinet installs.
firefly
Look like an awesome addition. The Ridgid line up is looking better everyday. Personally I wouldn’t use them for their main tool but all the accessories tool are looking really good.
rob
$200 for bare tool. 5Ah batteries run $120 each so, it would run about $440 for the total package.
Jason
Yea, this is something you buy only if your already invested in the Ridgid battery ecosystem if not its probably not worth the expense of buying it all separately to get it going from a bare tool. Maybe Ridgid will offer a 1 battery kit version down the road that would be economical for people that really wanted it.
Shawn
Ridgid has had 2-packs of batteries on sale as shown below. These 2-packs have been available at this price for some time. So, the total for this compressor plus 2 batteries would be $298 (for comp + two 4.0 Ah batts) or $328 (for comp + two 5.0 Ah batts). For air compressors, Ridgid only offers a 3-year warranty. If Ridgid gave their LSA for these batteries, it would most likely boost their sales, but it’s only 3 years for batteries that are not part of a kit. Given the number of “bare” tools that Ridgid is now offering, they should offer their LSA warranty on all of their batteries since there are so few kits in the first place.
$99 for two 4.0Ah Li-Ion Batteries
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18-Volt-4-0Ah-Lithium-Ion-Battery-2-Pack-AC840087P/205999648
$129 for two 5.0Ah Li-Ion Batteries
http://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-18-Volt-Lithium-Ion-5-0Ah-Battery-2-Pack-AC840089PN/206736730
Jason
I forgot that loophole Ridgid only has the LSA on batteries from kits and not purchased batteries.
James Gorman
This would have been a great tool to have their “hybrid power” where you can use either batteries or AC power. If you need a portable air compressor, changes are you are hopping between job sites. Some may have power and it would be really nice to just be able to plug the same compressor in.
RX9
I think we can expect more novel applications from Ridgid in the future. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about TTI, is that they are more than willing to test market new cordless applications to see if they can occupy that niche.
Of all the competitors, only Makita is willing to push the application envelope further. While there were a few weird applications, like the electric bike and the coffee maker, Makita have shown themselves to be very innovative.
The biggest coup, in my opinion was their 36V double 18v battery X2 line.
While early adoption was relatively low, it looks like they’ve had enough sales to make a difference, because now double battery applications are appearing on other makers’ platforms.
Dewalt’s bigger flexvolt tools, and now this compressor from Rigid show there is an interest in modular 18V increment architecture. While the use of two 18V packs is somewhat ungainly, most of the applications that require the 36V power are large enough to not suffer from the added bulk.
Fitting two batteries to a circular saw is kinda goofy, but putting two on a miter saw is no big deal.
I really do hope that Stanley and TTI start looking at double battery 36V architecture, especially since they are trying to move in to more power hungry applications, like the electric OPE (outdoor power equipment) market.
Lenny
Why would Stanley (who owns Dewalt) go to a double battery 36v architecture when they just came out with 60v and they already have a 40v? I can see Milwaukee doing this because they don’t have anything that can compete long term.
Doresoom
Ha, I like how they labelled it with “Best in Class.” You can certainly make that claim without hesitation whenever you’re the only “in Class” tool!
William Butler
This in GENIUS!!! 1,500 is great number when you think about its application. That’s over 1/4 box of nails. This is great for remodelers, small trim jobs, or punch-list jobs. As a cabinet installer this would be perfect. This would last plenty long enough to nail the crown, base, shoe, and other mouldings.
If Dewalt made this I would buy it yesterday.
Jay
Used to be plumbers and pipe fitters gravitated toward Ridgid and or Milwaukee brand tools while carpenter types such as myself preferred Makita and or DeWalt. Now a days there’s a lot of crossover but right or wrong I still view Ridgid as a step down from Makita/DeWalt. Also keep seeing tons of Ridgid “factory reconditioned” tools for sale giving the impression that many are returned which can’t be good. I earn a good living with my tools and have come to trust certain brands to make that happen. That little Ridgid cordless comp is cool and all but it’s not something I’d add to my tool rotation. Have plenty of air already and if I need to drive a few finish nails or brads it’s just as easy for me to grab my Dalluge and a nail set.
Andrew
Interesting. If I only did kitchens and baths this might be great. Also good for all my small trim jobs and punch list stuff, but I don’t like having two of the same tool on the van, so my Rolair JC10 will probably have to continue to be my sole compressor.
For example, this afternoon I shot 700 16 gauge nails. That probably would have depleted two 5.0 batteries. I believe that nailer uses about twice the air of a brad nailer. I only had to move the compressor once, so extra portability wouldn’t help much.
Jay
Same here. Shot approx. 2000 1/4″ narrow crown staples Friday. My Dewalt 6 gal pancake never moved. The single port on the Ridgid is also an impediment. Earlier in the week was repairing wood frame window screens for a customer. Was running a stapler outdoors to build and finish nailer indoors to install. Pancake never moved. Spent the previous week working on a rental vacation home where some dumb guy got wasted and backed his crew cab right through a bedroom wall. Made a big old hole.
Andrew
Based on the specs it’s essentially a 1/2 HP compressor. Two 5.0 batteries should be good for close to 30 minutes of run time.
nigeldh
This would be the perfect unit to be both cordless and corded – battery for when you need portable air, shore power in the shop. Now if Milwaukee did this with 2 x 9Ah batteries and the option for corded.
Andrey
This is just my opinion, but I don’t see the point of have a cordless air compressor when you have companies coming out with cordless nailers and staple guns. Also, you still have the hose, which I think gets in the way more often than the cord. Again, that’s just my opinion.
Andrew
The problem is there still isn’t a cordless nailer that compares to air speed and weight.
Jim Premo
Because cordless nailers cannot do everything that a pneumatic nailer can do.
Great tool! Gives me a cordless, not hoseless, pin nailer and framing nailer.
Adam
This is awesome, but I question why these types of tools are dual powered. (Can run off of battery or outlet). Could double as a charger or simply save battery when you have access to power.
Hal Jordan
Do you think this would work for inflating Dunnage Bags?
Im tired of all the long hoses.
Lisa
We are at 2020 now. I loved the article. Learned a lot. Can’t seem to find a more updated one now. Can anyone send me a link if a more recent comparison has been done? Cuz I lost all my tools in a recent fire and i have to decide on a cordless brand. I can’t decide. My tools were electric and pneumatic with just one 18v drill. Black and decker. Stop laughing!!! Dads drill was dewalt so I had back up. Knowing next to nothing about what each cordless brand is like and needing a full set plus right away, how do I decide? I dont understand the battery amps or what flex force is, or if others have this. I’m afraid of buying the wrong batteries if there are interchangable ones within the brand. It’s just about 2021 so what are the cordless nailers like now? Any new off grid tools like the propane heater and coffee maker? I’m an artist. I make a living at it. But I have also built my own cottage myself. My art can be bigger heavier things too. Like an 8 ft window with stained glass that hangs on a wall like a picture. I make a bit of furniture. I build sheds for friends. I have a job coming up where there is no power. But I dont like the idea of a heavy circular saw with 2 batteries for every cut. Im sometimes building my archutecture art pieces up against a wall on a 20 ft ladder. I dont want limited basic tools. I want tonnes of choices like joiners , planers, thing i don’t really really need lol. I’m a girl! And no where near a master. No training past youtube and learn as i go along over the years. I did my own plumbing and wiring to code, did all the drywall and mudding myself. I want tools that go from art studio to craft room to building site. I carve wood and make ornate headboards. Be nice to have a tool to make that a lot quicker. I need to make my van into an off grid home for this one job thats off grid. No clue how to. My generator quit and i don’t want another. Way too loud and expensive. I need all funds going on my new tools. Or used? Should I go ebay combo kit? Well first, I need to pick a brand. I would like to go with a brand thats doing what dewalt is but less expensive and for a pro is not needed. I need a mitre saw, its part of my everyday work. It has to have power and have good full day run time. I wonder, maybe i’m a person who should go one main brand then a few others mixed in? Hate to do that. Someone help!!! My tools were 6 months old, $3800 worth Canadian. Every single one burned up. Im just able to now get out of bed months later. Cant do a thing until I decide on tools. Thank you. Lisa
Stuart
If you want a cordless air compressor, you could also look at Dewalt and Milwaukee and go from there.
Unfortunately, you’re not going to find a cordless jointer.
Jason Ingram
Milwaukee M18 Fuel is the best IMO. buy into that platform if you can they have tons of new innovative tools coming out all the time and the fuel lineup is the best of the best. Also their pack out system is by far hands down the best tool storage system on the market. Their new high output batteries give out plenty of power for all of your fuel brushless tools as well. This time of year you can find a really good deal on a fuel 18 volt combo pack. I started out with the seven tool combo kit last year and got it worked out that it came with four 5 amp batteries. Now I’m up to almost 20 batteries. Also HD has the 4 amp starter kit with the buy that get one tool free for Milwaukee right now for $199. They also have the cordless 18 gauge brad nailer with a free high output 8th amp battery for 279 as well that 18 gauge cordless brad nailer is the best nano I’ve ever used pneumatic or cordless. They also have the absolute best cordless framing nailer on the market as well and it’s also the only one with an extended magazine. Milwaukee is one of the only brands that is not changed his battery platform up for 18 volt or 12 volt which is another plus. Go with Milwaukee M18 fuel. Hell the Milwaukee M12 fuel 12 volt line is good enough that you can do most jobs and must application with it doing carpentry anyways. Their impact driver hammer drill combo set for the M12 fuel with the biggest batteries that they have for that 6 amp or enough to do steel stud framing with day and day out doing production work. Go with Milwaukee trust me you won’t be disappointed.
Lisa
Ok. Thank you so much!!