ohiofarmer 3,265 #1 Posted February 5 i don't know about you guys, but string trimmers are a dime a dozen. Ten bucks at a yard sale. they might start , but seldom run correctly. that is usually due to a metering valve/gasket thing having stiffness in the rubber. Chickanic is a no nonsense straight to the point small engine person who recently shared about some of the old guys bringing in string trimmers and chain saws that were years old needing a little love with something or other that the owner stated. "it was my Dad's ''. Hasn't run for years. what was surprising is that dad had taken the gas out , but replaced it with oil. a quick rinse out and new gas /oil mix and she fired right up. After seeing this a few times, she now recommends that we quit doing additives to chain saws and string trimmer and instead keep those rubber carburetor bits preserved with oil. I discussed this with my brother and he said that he has been keeping his stuff happy for years by using empty gas tanks and adding fogging oil to the cylinder, carb, and gas tank at season's end and adding it to chain saws at every use. It's really pretty easy to do and is probably as good or better than the regular end of season stuff . BTW. string trimmer evaluation is doing just that to a garage sale find. i fog the carb with CAS penetrating oil, right through the carb with the spark plug out. Then a whiff of lacquer thinner carb spray. when she fires, and they usually do, take the muffler off to inspect the engine bore, replace the rotten lines feeding the carb and they are usually good to go. buy your replacement carb rubber parts and rebuild them and they are like new. Discount Marine from Michigan has the older stuff for the old saws and trimmers 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ri702bill 8,311 #2 Posted February 5 Ethanol gas and 2 stroke equipment do not play well together. so, a story of what I saw a few years back. I went to an Outdoor Power dealer to buy a used 2 wheel trailer he had for sale. I had a bit of time to kill while he was looking for both the registration & title for it. No luck - no deal.... I spotted two 55 gallon barrels FULL of ZAMA 2 stroke carburetors - I asked what was up with that. He said that most folks do not drain them (but they drain themselves). Come spring, they put the gas/oil mix in and it runs out of the exhaust. The ethanol had eaten up the red sealant on the welch plug - NOT fixable at the time. Barrels full of carbs with the plugs that had fallen out - no compatable sealer available at that time. NEW replacement carbs did come with a green sealant that was compatible - but not available to the public. Figure that any yard sale 2 strokes will need at least a new carb & fuel lines...... 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ohiofarmer 3,265 #3 Posted February 6 Also the fact that a new carb at least a couple of years ago was maybe 17 dollars and it makes sense to just replace them.. Even on my Echo, the Walbro was made in Hong Kong and the parts guys said they have no kits that they will guarantee to work, so chuck the thing and replace it. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 11,994 #4 Posted February 6 My Stihl just got a new carb. 30 years old. Some idiot tried the canned fuel in a pinch one day. DO NOT USE THAT GARBAGE IN A CAN!!!!!! Not even once! But she's back to running now. Lesson learned! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
