Ryobi is launching a new line of cordless drain augers, including this very large-looking handheld tool.
This new Ryobi 18V cordless auger, PCL457B, features a 35′ cable that can clear clogs in up to 3″ diameter pipe.
Ryobi says their new auger is engineered for performance and can save time, money, and frustration of expensive repairs. It turns tough plumbing jobs into quick, hassle-free fixes.
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2 cable drums are available – 1/4″ (model A122AD3, sold separately) for clearing clogs in showers, bathtubs, and sinks, and 5/16″ (include) for unclogging toilets, floor drains, and main stacks.
The tool-only is priced at $179; you’ll need to source a Ryobi 18V battery and charger separately.
So, that leads me to wonder – who is this for?
This new Ryobi tool brought to mind a discussion I had the other day. A relative mentioned a conversation they had with a facilities maintenance manager at their school district who was praising the Milwaukee drain snake machine they had recently purchased.
Instead of calling plumbers for every clog, they’re now able to handle small problems themselves.
We then turned to talking about Milwaukee vs Ridgid.
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Their argument was that homeowners or clients might prefer to see plumbers using Milwaukee gear, as it’s a professional brand. My argument was that Ridgid remains strongly competitive in this space, in which they’ve been an industry leader for some time – at least as far as I am aware.
We then disagreed about whether homeowners would recognize that Ridgid drain clearing products were separate from their consumer power tools and accessories that are sold exclusively at Home Depot stores.
I then mentioned that even if a client thought Ridgid drain clearing equipment were similarly positioned as Ridgid power tools at Home Depot, they wouldn’t care as long as their lines were clear and the job was satisfactory.
There are many places where the tools being used could skew expectations or perceptions.
Would you hire a contractor for a large job if they show up in an old Corolla with Harbor Freight Bauer tools in the back? A lot of clients are shallow, and the fact of the matter is that the type of equipment you’re rocking can matter to them. This comes up in many different industries.
So, with that conversation fresh in mind, here we have this brand new Ryobi 35′ drain snake with a tool-only price of $179.
I’ve found myself having to unclog a lot of things these past few years, and at greater frequency than I ever would have imagined. Compact drain augers tend to work well.
Are bigger issues, where toilets have to be removed or you need to start working in a cleanout, still considered regular DIY territory?
A lot of plumbers around here work smaller drain clearing jobs but will refer to drain cleaning specialists for most jobs that can’t be done with a smaller snake.
I could potentially see some of them investing in a snake like this one for one-off jobs where a drain cleaning specialist might not be needed.
If a homeowner hires a plumber to troubleshoot a problem, and they bust out this Ryobi tool saying “I’ll give the clog a try first,” rather than referring the client to a drain cleaning specialist who might not be immediately available, they’re going to be grateful. In that type of scenario, the brand name is not going to matter to most clients.
Ridgid and Milwaukee 5/16″ x 35′ cordless drain snakes are a lot more money, and I’d expect those to be professional go-to’s.
$179 for the tool-only Ryobi doesn’t seem like a lot, but this tool also seems more than is needed for typical homeowner-type drain cleaning tasks.
Basically, I’m not sure this suits most homeowner drain cleaning needs, but maybe there are some who do have to remove toilets and troubleshoot their cleanouts on a regular enough basis that this makes sense to buy over smaller models.
I also don’t think it would suit drain cleaning professionals. Aside from branding, performance, and durability considerations, you can get replacement and maintenance parts for professional machines. Will the same be equally true here?
Home Depot exclusives sometimes stay on the market for years, but there are other times when Ryobi models are quickly discontinued or updated.
But I do think this new Ryobi drain auger could land firmly between the two, where it could maybe handle more challenging homeowner fixes or some plumbers’ or pros’ less challenging jobs where they aren’t otherwise well-equipped for bigger drain cleaning work.
Am I wrong? Frankly, I’m not 100% confident in my assessment, with the post title being a genuine question.
Who is this Ryobi Beast of a Cordless Toilet Auger for?
Is it a heavier homeowner drain cleaning tool or maybe lighter pro tool? Could it be both?
It’s launching next month – August 2025 – exclusively at Home Depot stores and HomeDepot.com.
Where’s the Battery?
This question came up in the comments.
I found another product image, with this one showing a user cleaning a drain stack from the roof vent.
It looks like the battery connection is on the right side of the tool.
Rog
A couple questions and a comments:
Where does the battery go?
Are all drain snakes that big??
I don’t care what tool my plumber uses as long as they get the job done correctly.
Bonnie
Drain snakes come in every size you can think of. From little handheld/drill-mounted ones up to big spooled numbers that need their own rolling cart.
fred
We had a variety of tools for drain cleaning. Hand-powered snakes and closet augers might be the first approach. Then we’d move up to machines. When called to a restaurant – we’d always suspect congealed grease as the culprit – and tow along our steam jetting unit. Our mechanical snakes were mostly General Wire Spring and Ridgid (Emerson) brand. We had water jetters from General Wire Spring and our steam jetter was from Spartan.
MM
Looks like the battery should go the bottom of the tool, but it’s curiously absent from the in-use marketing pic.
Stuart
I found a new image and added it at the end of the post. The battery seems to attach via the right side of the tool.
No, not all handheld drain snakes are this big – it’s on the larger side with respect to handheld augers. Even larger are drum machines.
Bonnie
To me this looks like something every apartment super is going to want in the cupboard. Fits an excellent middle ground between the drill-mounted little guys and the big Milwaukee with it’s own packout (I haven’t encountered the 12V version in the wild) while being pretty dang affordable. They’re also not going to be using it all day every day, so a weaker or less durable battery platform isn’t a problem (I have had terrible experience with Ryobi batteries while the tools themselves are great) and they’re never that far from power.
As for judging the contractor; I think everyone is going to do that as it’s simply human nature, the only question is to what extent and compared to what standard. For handy-man type jobs showing up in a beater sedan with a random assortment of tools is basically expected. If I’m calling a licensed plumber out specifically, it’s less that I need them to have the best tools and more that I want to be sure they have what they need on-hand in the truck/van and won’t have to run back to their home or homedepot every five minutes. A beatup old Econoline isn’t going to be a knock against them.
Stuart
Agreed. I think that’s the perfect type of example user, where they might use a plunger and small snake for most jobs and call in a drain company for everything else.
Kilroy
Agreed. My first thought when you asked the question was that this seems like a solid tool for handymen type people who deal with basic drain problems occasionally (and who are obviously already on the Ryobi battery platform).
If you’re doing that kind of work occasionally, this tool pays for itself by saving 1 or 2 plumber calls. If you’re dealing with bad drains regularly, you probably already have (or will soon buy) more advanced and $$$ tools.
Dave
Property manager here, and that sounds about right – years ago I had a different Ryobi snake, similar but smaller and I think with only a 25′ cable. It was handy, but not very durable – at the time my attitude toward rarely-used tools was “if I use it so much I wear it out, I buy the Milwaukee next time.” I switched to an M12 version and aside from a couple cable replacements it’s been working fine for 5-6 years now. If this new version has a self-feed/retract feature, though, I might be interested…
Jared
I think you’re right at least about this not being intended for a drain-cleaning specialist or anyone for whom it’s a regular part of their professional duties. I wouldn’t care if my plumber showed up with one – but would it withstand regular use and make a good impression on other customers?
I can see this getting some advanced DIYer-use though, and professional use where it’s an infrequent problem. Someone in the latter category might not want to pony up for a Milwaukee or Ridgid version when it’s not needed regularly.
Stuart
I think it’s a given that this isn’t aimed at drain cleaning specialists; I don’t believe most Ryobi cordless power tools are designed for daily use.
The point I’m trying to make is that I also don’t see as being purely a homeowner type of tool.
John
SOME Ryobi tools are better than the high end competitors.
Example: me and my bro in law both have the 7 inch hybrid fan (and live in FL). His goes literally everywhere with him and rarely gets turned off, even in winter. 3+ years and still going strong.
I use mine for everything from speeding up paint and plaster drying time to making a breeze in confined spaces. 4+ years and whenever you bump it a cloud of drywall dust puffs off of it
Those fans are like the old Nokia bar phones. Absolutely indestructible.
The 12 inch misting fan is a turd, though.
Wayne R.
There could be a (another?) whole thread about how contractors should “appear”.
That recent thread about the Milwaukee van racking represents, to me, one extreme. And I’ve worked with guys who rocked the “just woke up under a bridge” look and did great work, though sometimes their tools broke.
Hard to reconcile the “Ridgid? Eew, that’s not Milwaukee” kind of thinking, but there are certainly a lot of fundamentally unsupportable opinions out there that are fiercely defended.
Not to be too political, but my wife, from Chicago, puts ketchup on hotdogs.
Stuart
When I took the GREs (grad school entrance exam), one of the essay questions was about whether you can tell much about a society by the appearance of its people.
One of my kids’ best teachers has a lot of tattoos, and one of their worst looks like a model early childhood educator.
Can you tell anything about a worker based on the appearance of their tools and gear? Not really.
Will people form opinions about workers based on the appearance of their tools and gear? Absolutely.
You will find this in all kinds of spaces. In photography and videography, a lot of clients will make judgements based on the type of camera being used.
There are many disconnects between perceptions and reality in the tool world.
I had a call just now about a new product, and I asked about a feature that it doesn’t have, knowing it’s a frequent request. They said that it’s a feature many users tend to overestimate a need for.
Everyone wants a contractor showing up with a van or truck with showroom-level organization. The reality is, this won’t help and could hurt when it comes to getting the job done in a timely manner.
Honestly, I’m not sure if a full discussion would be very productive – these topics tend to get heated.
Wayne R.
If the worker/contractor-selection goal is competent, reliable & efficient, then I think we all want to stay in the center area of the bell curve, right?
Standing out as either elaborate or crusty puts people in the outlier areas, which would negatively affect how they’re regarded.
That’s how I see it, I think.
Chris T Thompson
As a bald headed homeowner who lives with long-haired family members I’ve , unfairly, had to snake out drains a few times. My 1/4″ hand cranked drum snake has done a good job with one exception. I had to hire a professional ( Mr. Rooter ) to clean out the line to the septic. The decades of build up were beyond my ability. The person that showed up had two styles of heavy duty drum snakes with various attachments. One was on wheels. He had other tools and hoses as well. He did a quality job of cleaning the pipes and replacing the clean out cap.
To answer the question; I don’t think the pro would have used the small Ryobi. His equipment seemed more heavy duty. As for me, I might upgrade to a drum snake with a 1/4″ adapter for my drill. I don’t want a $175 snake either.
Scott K
I think I would’ve been judgmental of some brands being used by a pro in the past, but many brands have come a long way and the bar is significantly higher than it once was. If you are skilled enough, the work will show.
We used to have an excellent plumber who didn’t do drain cleaning/clearing. I believe it was because he was busy enough doing work he found more gratifying, but this tool could certainly be an inexpensive way for others to take on additional work without big equipment costs. This is also inexpensive enough for a capable homeowner to buy should the need arise.
Many Ryobi tools seem geared towards pushing homeowners to tackle jobs that used to have a higher barrier (cost) to entry.
Jonathan OAF
I used the Ryobi 1/4″ one in a 160 unit senior living center I used to.work.at. Saved on costs for a relatively cheap “building owned” tool.
Lasted a year and a half until auto feed quit on it. Worked well enough though for its length and called plumber in for any bigger job.
Eric
I doubt we’ll see the pro plumbers or drain clearing specialists using these. But as someone else said these will be snapped up by apartment supers and a lot of other businesses that have maintenance departments. And I’m sure some homeowners will get them too. All it takes is saving one call to a plumber and it will pay for itself.
Johann
Here’s my DIY/homeowner take: This is cheaper than a plumber callout and fits my existing battery ecosystem. If I were confident that this auger would solve my problem, I’d get this to solve the issue myself. And then I’d have a tool for the next time I needed one.
Scotty.
I think several commenters have hit the target. Home owners and maintenance personnel will purchase this when they have a need as it will be cheaper than calling a plumber. Plus you now have a tool for next time.
eddiesky
That is so odd they don’t intentionally show the battery side.
Milwaukee has one but when kitted out, its over $1000 (Has battery and drum, but no snakes… those are $300 for a kit…).
Don’t flush flushable wipes…or put your money into this Ryobi for when you do!
Stuart
Don’t overthink it. Go to any online retailer and search for “cordless drill.” At least 9/10 of the images show the drill chuck pointing left. They rarely show the “name plate” angle of tools.
DH
Interesting, I believe they previously had a model like this that had a 25′ auger and was hybrid. Cant wait to see a review on this one!
Jim Metzger
An issue that most homeowners don’t think about (ask me how I know) is that this type of auger will grind the porcelain finish at the bottom of the toilet. I’ve used augers on sinks (will very often remove the “p” trap” and on tubs. For toilets I usually get by with a proper plunger and good technique, pull up forcefully, push down gently, possibly followed by Pequa drain cleaner.
Stuart
Yes – there are special snakes for toilets and urinals – https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-trapsnake-toilet-auger-system/ .
fred
Quality closet augers have a soft plastic tube at the ben to avoid this.
We had rubber mats (Cobra 10601) that could be inserted to avoid marking the porcelain. Here is another brand:
https://www.amresupply.com/part/AUGERMAT-TOILET-BOWL-PROTECTOR
fred
Since I can no longer find either for sale online – I’m guessing they are no longer popular. Probably easy enough to cut one out of a sheet of rubber or thin rubber floor mat. The downside of using one is that both the auger and mat need to get cleaned after use – and cleaning overflowing/stopped-up toilets is already not an exciting job.
Al-another-Al
Apartment maintenance. I used to be the plunger guy, and had to work for a half-hour before the manager would finally call for a real plumber.
For my own house (and all the relatives and friends nearby) it would have been less than 50/50 chance that 35 feet would do it. Needed a rooter for my own clay pipes at least once or twice a year
If I was invested in the platform, I’d get it. Not sure about spending $240+ for a standalone plus battery and charger.
If I had a couple of quad apartments or Air bnb, then it would make sense.
Will
Yep. Plumber here. There’s no way I’d attempt anything larger than a 2″ line with this. I’d be thoroughly reprimanded for wasting time. My Ridgid K400 with a 3/8″ cable and a spade head is the smallest augur I’d try to use on a sewer line, and only if I was confident the clog wasn’t caused by roots. 35′ is long enough for most sink drains, but very often not for sewer clogs.
Jp
Lighter pro tool. I bet some homeowner will screw something up with it.
Matt_T
I’ve seen plenty of dyier reviews for Ridgid snakes and small sewer machines. So this will definitely fall within some dyiers budgets.
As a pro I don’t see myself buying this. I’ve already got a drill powered Ridgid which works OK. If I spend money on something better I’ll be looking for longer than 35 foot which isn’t enough for some kitchen lines. Also have a Husky “toilet auger” that works really well on tub and shower traps.
Rating a 5/16″ cable for 3″ lines is really optimistic and 35′ is often too short. Though most home sewer lines are 4″ anyways. 3″ is mostly used on trailers. I use Drain King bladders and a steel tape. Works most of the time. Or at least clears the line to where I can use the camera and/or locator.
Andrew
Use tools all day as a carpenter. My main line is Makita but I use Craftsman for tools I do not use often. I dont care if they break I will just get another one, like an SDS. If the plumber uses this infrequently they should save the money. Why judge a person off the color of their tools as long as they get the job done. Tools have come so far. Honestly my Craftsman work just as well as anything else. Maybe not as refined but just fine.
Skylar
The use case is obvious to me- If it successfully clears a clog in a 3″ drain pipe for someone, then this tool would pay for itself with only one use at its current price point. It probably still would if the user had to also buy a battery and charger because they weren’t a Ryobi user already.
Seems like a low-risk, high reward offering by Team Limearita and I fully support it despite not being a user of their tools.
TonyT
I really like these portable drain snakes, and they’ve saved me a lot compared to calling a plumber.
In a previous house, tree roots would continually get into the sewer line. For a few years, I managed to do fine with the basic 1/4″ x 25′ Ryobi, which is pretty impressive.
Then I upgraded to the Milwaukee 2772 https://www.milwaukeetool.com/products/2772b-21xc kit, which at the time was $350 (now it’s $500), which I really like. If I were buying now, it’d be hard to justify the Milwaukee’s price premium, but it does have some advantages, such as using 1/4″ x 50′, 5/16″ x 50′, and 3/8″ x 35′ cables. You can also use non-Milwaukee cables.
I bought a Milwaukee cable that can fit Ridgid attachments, and bought a set of Ridgid attachments, which proved to be very useful.
The Ryobi uses interchangeable drums for different cables, while in the Milwaukee, you run the cable all the out, and then insert the new cable and feed it back in.
Bonnie
I’ve got a little drill-powered one. But the real thing I’m glad I got is a long power jetter. The previous owner of my house was a dog breeder and washer, so there’s King Charles Spaniel hair all over my plumbing and a snake wasn’t doing anything to it.
The plumbing company wanted $3500 to jet the line, I did it with a $10 Craigslist pressure washer and a $50 jetter.
S
I would call this a semi-pro tool. This isn’t for a licensed plumber. This is a tool for the guy that does a little of everything that already is invested into the Ryobi line.
I know of a contractor that uses only Ryobi tools. He has a 3+ year waiting list, and could easily get more work if he wanted. Most of his remodels are on houses that sell in the $800k-3mill range before any work, and haven’t been updated since the ’70’s.
For the most part, very few customers judge the tools used as much as the finished product and the cleanliness to get there. I’ve never heard of customers having issues with my dad’s walmart-sourced hyper tough drill and impact, but then I also know of jobs that were lost because a prior jobs fixture was 1 degree crooked. Or a fluff of attic insulation was missed during cleanup. Or after a rain-soaked day outside, leaving muddy foot prints on the customers driveway…
Bruce
This is a perfect tool for facilities maintenance that has bought into the Ryobi line. Most of my guys have standardized on Ridgid or Dewalt. But I could see a small small maintenance team use something like this before calling for a pro.
itsgalf
Kitchen drains we use K-50 sectional drain cable machine. Bigger clogs are K-1500 sectional drain cable machine.
Bathtub drains and bathroom sinks (usually hair clogs) are done with this type of snake. Majority of them can be done with just a hand snake, although the motor powered ones make it a little faster. I used to do maintenance for 412 apartment units and used a cheap Amazon alphabet brand one for like $50. Worked quite well actually.
Peter
The 3” limit instead of 4” is odd to me but I also do not know a lot of plumbing.
Stuart
I think it has to do with being able to successfully guide the cable. If the cable is too thin, it’s more likely to bend and return in a larger pipe rather than push forward and penetrate the clog.
Peter
Thank you for the info.
Since this is for the residential market where 4” is not uncommon it is an odd choice though.
Especially since this tool seems to be very big anyway.
Kyle
Cables tend to twist up on themselves when given too much space. even if they can’t double back. Running a small cable in a big pipe can cause a terrible tangle in the pipe or birds nest in the drum that can be extremely difficult to remove. What may have been a drain problem can become a drain disaster. Even if it doesn’t get hung up in the drain it will ruin your cable. I don’t think that I’ve *ever* seen a 5/16″ drum cable rated for 3″ pipe. All the pro machines (Ridgid, General Drain Cleaners etc.) come with charts showing the pipe sizes compatible for that size cable. 3/8″ is the smallest size that I’ve seen rated for 3″, and even then that’s pushing it. Depending on what you get into a 3/8″ can be easily overwhelmed (and damaged) in a 3″ pipe. Going through a floor drain trap is the only time you’d want to try that. Handheld units are generally classed as a “sink machines” for a reason. 1/2″ or 5/8″ drum cable is the standard for 3″ pipe. There is a huge difference between a 5/8″ cable and 5/16″ cable. It’s all too easy to catch things in 3″ pipe using 1/2″ cable hard enough to flip the cable in the drum.
Peter
Thank you for the in depth explanation Kyle.
Mike
I got the Ryobi email yesterday, which touted this auger, and two smaller augers. I immediately looked at the middle model down for my own use. The small (lithium) model only has a 3′ snake, that’s barely useful. I had to clean out my bathroom sink over the weekend, and I ran out a good ten feet on the snake. That 25′ snake, and using my many 18V batteries, seems just the ticket, although I haven’t seen pricing yet.
As for a plumber showing up with consumer-model power tools, I’d probably say “Hey, if you run out of batteries, I got you covered.” Seriously, I don’t critique the quality of hammer or pliers workmen use, and if they get the job done, I don’t care what brand tools they’re using. I might even see it as vindication for my own brand choices.
Robert Adkins
We have a drain that gets slowed by kitchen grease about once every 12-14 months for 30 years. I always managed to unstop it with either a bladder or water hose, and it was a nasty, time-consuming, and strenuous mess. I got a snake, and it was 3% less messy, strenuous, and time-consuming. I got a jetter hose for my HF pressure washer, and it’s 90% less strenuous, messy, and time consuming. I almost look forward to the drain stopping up! Anyone need a 50′ HF snake?