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Post by vankjeff on Sept 11, 2018 16:15:33 GMT -5
I'm thinking about just adding STA-BIL to my normal pump gas with some 2-cycle oil at 40:1. I looked STA-BIL up and it says it said that it protects engine parts from moisture and even from ethanol so you don't need to drain your tank or worry about fuel in your carb during the winter hurting your lawn equipment. View Attachment
I wouldn't rely on StaBil to protect anything from ethanol. I do run it in every tank just to keep the gas fresh though. Years ago they made a blue colored stabil that was called ethanol treatment. $1200 later rebuilding the entire fuel system on my boat I am not convinced. Thanks but I've tried to find pre-mix fuel at both Amazon & at ACE online and I've only come up with some REALLY EXPENSIVE stuff in quart cans. By that I mean about $15/quart. No way I'm doing that. So what am I doing wrong? Maybe you've seen what my latest plan is on just buying a new 5 gallon can to fill about once a year with ethanol-free gas after I figure out where to get some locally. Then I'll use that gas in my 4-cycle push mower & to make some pre-mix for my blower in the 1-gallon can that I've been using.
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Post by rowdy235 on Sept 11, 2018 18:43:05 GMT -5
$15 a quart is ridiculous. My local ace hardware usually wants ~7 a quart, which is steep, but worth it if you don't use very much.
Sounds like you have a plan! Just don't buy too much as even with sta-bil gas doesn't last forever.
I'm shocked you're looking at that much for a gas can. All my 5 gal cans I've got at Bi-Mart (kind of a diet wal-mart here in the PNW) for around $10-$15. I would look around before paying too much for one. Besides not able to ship there its illegal to fill a kerosene can with gasoline. I have one I use for kerosene and the gas stations around here will not put gas in it. Pry not a big deal in CA w/ self serve.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 11, 2018 20:24:15 GMT -5
$15 a quart is ridiculous. My local ace hardware usually wants ~7 a quart, which is steep, but worth it if you don't use very much. Sounds like you have a plan! Just don't buy too much as even with sta-bil gas doesn't last forever. I'm shocked you're looking at that much for a gas can. All my 5 gal cans I've got at Bi-Mart (kind of a diet wal-mart here in the PNW) for around $10-$15. I would look around before paying too much for one. Besides not able to ship there its illegal to fill a kerosene can with gasoline. I have one I use for kerosene and the gas stations around here will not put gas in it. Pry not a big deal in CA w/ self-serve. It's weird but it seemed like every gas can that I clicked on on the Amazon site would show THIS PRODUCT CAN'T BE DELIVERED IN YOUR AREA and I even tried some that there was no way they didn't meet any California EPA laws. I'll go to a store and see what they have. I remember going thru this crap last summer when I got a lawn mower after deciding to start mowing my own lawn again. That's when I bought that tiny 1 gallon jug for the mower. Boy do I hate the stupid NO SPILL cap that thing has. GRRR Maybe I should just get a 2-1/2 gallon jug for the mower's gas? That might make sense since you say that gas goes bad. As far as CA & self serve stations, aren't all stations everywhere self-serve these days? Heck, before I got that 1-gallon jug, I actually took a 2 liter Coke bottle and a funnel to the local Station a few times & filled it up. The employee is inside selling snacks and gas for cash buyers.
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Post by rowdy235 on Sept 11, 2018 20:34:08 GMT -5
Nope, here in Oregon self-serve is actually illegal, except in rural counties at night. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
A 2.5 gal can may be more suitable. You don't mention the size of your yard or how often you mow (& run the blower) but I know most people will not burn more than a couple gallons a year.
If you have a farm store within driving distance they usually have fairly good deals on gas cans
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 11, 2018 20:46:45 GMT -5
Nope, here in Oregon self-serve is actually illegal, except in rural counties at night. It has its advantages and disadvantages. A 2.5 gal can may be more suitable. You don't mention the size of your yard or how often you mow (& run the blower) but I know most people will not burn more than a couple gallons a year. If you have a farm store within driving distance they usually have fairly good deals on gas cans I remember that about your goofy state not having self-serve stations when others were all adding them back in the early or mid 90s but I'd thought that you surely would have them by now. I also remember seeing weird little places out in parking lots back then that were selling coffee. They looked like converted Fotomats. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FotomatMy yard is tiny. It takes me 15 minutes or less to mow with a push mower. I mow almost every Friday all year long since I'm in southern California where winter never comes.
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Post by rowdy235 on Sept 11, 2018 21:18:30 GMT -5
I would think a 2 gallon can would suit your needs fine, but since you don't gave a winter, 5 gallons may be more convenient
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 11, 2018 23:31:40 GMT -5
I'm getting this 2-1/2 gallon can for $28 from walmart.com and I'll add a little bottle of STA-BIL to the order.
My yard is pretty tiny but there aren't any farm supply places near us that I know of. I do live near Disneyland and Angel stadium but they don't carry gas can souvenirs that I know of.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 1:01:21 GMT -5
Pay the premium and get ethanol free gas, it will be cheaper than repairing the machine repeatedly, and how much do you use in a year? One gallon? Maybe not even. Adjust the high speed screw for max engine rpm, then richen it (back the screw out) a little so the engine roughens slightly. Then turn up the idle speed until the engine will continue to run before adjusting the idle mixture. With the engine running on its own, adjust the idle mixture screw for max speed, reduce the idle speed screw till the engine gets rough. Re-adjust the mixture to smooth out and max speed, reduce the speed screw, repeat till the idle is low but smooth. If the acceleration to high speed is bad, richen the idle mixture a little and try acceleration again, repeat till all is well. High speed should remain good during idle adjustments. I knew I'd seen this info but I haven't done it yet. I'll try it tomorrow. I can't even imagine it idling but it should. Every other engine I've ever had on anything would idle. As you might have seen my the other replies, I'm working on getting some ethanol free gas & Sta-Bil to use.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 1:35:09 GMT -5
I've never seen a fuel hose that was too short to come out the filler. I guess your only option would be to disconnect the line from the carb and remove the entire line, but I have no idea how you'd go about reinstalling it lol. That shortened fuel line might be why it was sucking air before emptying the tank? Maybe at some time long ago, someone shortened it? Anyway, I'll just keep more fuel in the tank since that seems to have been the issue all along. Now I'm on to tuning it up to idle and run good. Thanks everyone here.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 14:05:03 GMT -5
I had to break out my little John Deere push tractor to cut back the growth in the pasture out back of the barn this morning. Then I used this handy old Kubota blower instead of a push broom to blow the weed clippings off the path.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 21:32:28 GMT -5
I'm bummed out right now. I just tried to start this blower so that I could tune the carb & set the idle speed and it fired on the second pull after priming & putting the choke on but then it soon died and no matter what I did, it wouldn't restart. So I had to give up and put it away. It makes no sense. It ran fine 2 days ago.
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Post by rowdy235 on Sept 12, 2018 21:51:25 GMT -5
Bummer!
Given the recent issues with the unit I'd suspect a fuel problem. Perhaps the carb dumped in too much fuel even off choke and flooded it out. That will sure make it a bear to get started again (ask me how I know). Pry a little late but I would pull the plug and see if its wet, if it is I would bet its flooded, or not getting spark, the latter of which can be easily tested.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 22:22:33 GMT -5
Bummer! Given the recent issues with the unit I'd suspect a fuel problem. Perhaps the carb dumped in too much fuel even off choke and flooded it out. That will sure make it a bear to get started again (ask me how I know). Pry a little late but I would pull the plug and see if its wet, if it is I would bet its flooded, or not getting spark, the latter of which can be easily tested. How many times should I pump the primer each time when I'm starting it cold? I think I pumped it 3 or 4 times. Maybe that's too many & I flooded it? But since it fired, wouldn't it just quickly burn up any extra gas and be happy?
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Post by P.E.B.K.A.C. on Sept 12, 2018 22:43:15 GMT -5
Pumping the bulb purges air from the carburetor.Once fuel fills the bulb, excess is returned to the fuel tank. Some units call for pumping the bulb 10 or more times.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 12, 2018 22:55:51 GMT -5
To give a little more info that might be pertinent, I hadn't been running an air filter element the other day when it ran pretty good. So, last night I decided that it should be in there so I washed it with a little SoftSoap and hot water. I rung it out & let it dry before installing it today just before I started it to tune the carb. I had put the filter element up to my mouth both before & after cleaning it and after it was dry and I could blow & suck air thru it easily all 3 times. So I put it in, started it, it ran then died. When I couldn't get it to restart, I pulled out the air filter element thinking that maybe it had gotten saturated with fuel when I'd primed it the first time. But pulling the element didn't make it want to fire at all. I mean, there was NO sound of it firing. I didn't want to wreck the ripcord by continuing to yank on it, since I know that fixing those isn't any fun. So I gave up. That's where I'm at now.
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Post by rowdy235 on Sept 12, 2018 23:08:21 GMT -5
How long did it run?
If it just popped or ran for a couple seconds I still think it sounds like textbook flooding. It can be extremely hard to start a two-stroke after flooding even a couple hours later. Usually all the fuel has to evaporate from the crankcase which obviously takes time. It may help if you pull the plug pull it over by hand a few seconds and then let it sit overnight to dry out.
Your blower and most smaller two stroke engines do not have a primer bulb as such but rather a fuel exchanger to get fuel up to the carburetor. Think of it as basically a manual fuel pump that assist with getting fuel into the carburetor. You could pump it all day and not flood the engine. This is different than what you will find on a larger 4- cycle engine such as you would find on a lawn mower. That is a primer bulb which actually puts fuel into the intake, in some cases replacing a choke for cold starting.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 13, 2018 0:11:32 GMT -5
Pumping the bulb purges air from the carburetor.Once fuel fills the bulb, excess is returned to the fuel tank. Some units call for pumping the bulb 10 or more times. Oh, that's interesting to learn. I'd thought the bulb was squirting fuel into the carb's butterfly area. So, apparently excessive pumping doesn't really cause any problems. Thanks. I'll remember that.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 13, 2018 0:22:42 GMT -5
How long did it run? If it just popped or ran for a couple seconds I still think it sounds like textbook flooding. It can be extremely hard to start a two-stroke after flooding even a couple hours later. Usually all the fuel has to evaporate from the crankcase which obviously takes time. It may help if you pull the plug pull it over by hand a few seconds and then let it sit overnight to dry out. Your blower and most smaller two stroke engines do not have a primer bulb as such but rather a fuel exchanger to get fuel up to the carburetor. Think of it as basically a manual fuel pump that assist with getting fuel into the carburetor. You could pump it all day and not flood the engine. This is different than what you will find on a larger 4- cycle engine such as you would find on a lawn mower. That is a primer bulb which actually puts fuel into the intake, in some cases replacing a choke for cold starting. I'd say it ran long enough for me to rev it a few times. I'll do what you said & pull the plug, pull it over by hand a few times and then let it sit overnight to dry out. Hopefully that will get me back at tuning it up. Thanks you guys. 😎
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 13, 2018 0:57:17 GMT -5
I just pulled the spark plug and it wasn't wet & it looked good. Then I put the wire back on it and laid it up against the head and pulled the ripcord. I saw it spark plenty. So then I pulled the cord slowly a few times to purge the crankcase and I'll let it sit overnight & try starting it tomorrow. I forgot to mention also in all of my replies that before I started it today when it only ran for a few throttle squeezes, I'd richened the High speed mixture a 1/2 turn. I think that's what we'd thought I should be do to keep it from dying after a long run which is what it had done the other day when it had otherwise run perfectly. That plan actually didn't make any sense to me but since you guys know more than me, I thought I should try it.
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Post by vankjeff on Sept 13, 2018 20:58:46 GMT -5
YAZOO!! It just fired up fine after I let it sit overnight with the plug pulled to let the crankcase air out so I set the L mixture to get max idle & then I reset the Idle Speed. I don't even remember the last time this thing would just sit there and idle. But this brings up another point you guys might be able to tell me what's going on. For as long as I can remember, whenever I would release the throttle after using it, about ½ the time it doesn't go all the way down to idle and it just sits there running at a very fast idle or not even an Idle Speed. So I know to just blip the throttle a few times and then it will always drop down to wherever the Idle Speed is set at. What's up in there and is there an easy fix or should I just live with it doing this as I've been doing? I looked at what it might take to get into that PUSH TO STOP knob and it would take a lot of screws and bolts to remove the orange blower housing and other stuff in order to access that knob. Here's a photo of me adjusting the Idle Speed and also one of the knob that lets you set a Running Speed so you don't need to keep squeezing the trigger or that you can use to kill the engine.
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