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Post by vankjeff on May 21, 2019 20:52:03 GMT -5
Your throttle linkage may be bent, or the trigger is rubbing on the case. You would just have to study where its hanging up if you want that corrected. I know, it's weird. This blower has never been hauled around in the back of a truck or anything like that. It's been mostly just used in a shop to sweep floors at a little over idle speed or a tiny bit of use at home blowing my sidewalk & driveway after mowing But I've almost always had a lawn service do my lawn so after I sold my Van-K Wheels business in 2004, it's just sat unused. I've pretty much decided to just live with it, especially now that I figured out the easy trick of just pulling the trigger a little towards the back to get it to go back to Idle speed. I might look at it a little or shoot a bit of WD-40 at the back of the trigger.
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Post by onlyhomelites on May 21, 2019 23:19:37 GMT -5
I'll get some hose headed your way asap. Glad she's otherwise running well!
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Post by vankjeff on May 22, 2019 0:56:30 GMT -5
I'll get some hose headed your way asap. Glad she's otherwise running well! Thanks!! Should I just use both hoses full length? If so, I don't know why, when or how the ones in mine were ever shortened.
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Post by onlyhomelites on May 22, 2019 21:29:16 GMT -5
According to the IPL, both hoses should be 8" long. I send an extra ~1/2" because of the angle cut tips that make installation easier.
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Post by vankjeff on May 22, 2019 22:51:20 GMT -5
According to the IPL, both hoses should be 8" long. I send an extra ~1/2" because of the angle cut tips that make installation easier. Thanks. I got the USPS shipment notification email today. I have a few questions that could help me make sure that I put the new fuel lines on properly along with messing with the hanging throttle: 1. I'd said that I might try a little WD-40 on the throttle trigger pivot bolt to see it that would free it up but I don't seem to have any & I don't hardly do anything mechanical anymore so I'd rather not go buy some. Maybe I have another spray lube that I can use a few drops of or maybe I could use a drop of some thin oil & not even a spray? 2. Which fuel line does the filter go on, the one that's connected up by primer bulb or by the mixture screws? I put it back together the way it had been but I’m concerned that at sometime in the past, one of my employees might have done some work on the blower in my shop that they never told me about & they could have put it together wrong. Maybe that's why both fuel lines had been clipped a little too? 3. Does any short piece of the fuel line go on the inlet end of fuel filter to act as the fuel pickup & if so, how much? Right now I've just got it how I found it, which is that the end of the filter hangs into the lowest part of the tank and the filter itself works as the fuel pickup. 4. Is it OK to dip the hose end briefly in warm water to soften it so that it can be pushed on over the barbs easier or is that bad or unnecessary? I just forced it on this past time and it went on OK but it did seem like it only went over 1 barb and then it just touched the 2nd barb. 5. Is there a video of replacing the fuel lines that I could see to help me do it right and do it the easiest way?
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Post by onlyhomelites on May 23, 2019 7:25:50 GMT -5
I have a few questions that could help me make sure that I put the new fuel lines on properly along with messing with the hanging throttle: 1. I'd said that I might try a little WD-40 on the throttle trigger pivot bolt to see it that would free it up but I don't seem to have any & I don't hardly do anything mechanical anymore so I'd rather not go buy some. Maybe I have another spray lube that I can use a few drops of or maybe I could use a drop of some thin oil & not even a spray?2. Which fuel line does the filter go on, the one that's connected up by primer bulb or by the mixture screws? I put it back together the way it had been but I’m concerned that at sometime in the past, one of my employees might have done some work on the blower in my shop that they never told me about & they could have put it together wrong. Maybe that's why both fuel lines had been clipped a little too? 3. Does any short piece of the fuel line go on the inlet end of fuel filter to act as the fuel pickup & if so, how much? Right now I've just got it how I found it, which is that the end of the filter hangs into the lowest part of the tank and the filter itself works as the fuel pickup. 4. Is it OK to dip the hose end briefly in warm water to soften it so that it can be pushed on over the barbs easier or is that bad or unnecessary? I just forced it on this past time and it went on OK but it did seem like it only went over 1 barb and then it just touched the 2nd barb. 5. Is there a video of replacing the fuel lines that I could see to help me do it right and do it the easiest way? - Any automotive type oil should work, just don't go overboard
- The fuel pickup filter goes on the hose down by the mixture screws. You can't reverse them and have it run for more than a few seconds. Stick with the way you have it.
- The filter is the only fuel pickup. You want to feed as much hose into the tank as you can without kinking it up above.
- Warm water won't hurt the hose for installation, but you sure don't want any water left inside that will mix with your fuel. I'd skip that and go with a drop of oil on the fuel barb...works great.
- No videos that I know of...I've never actually had one of these blowers come through my garage.
Check out the official image from an online IPL; your blower uses the style tank shown at the top. Attachments:
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Post by vankjeff on May 27, 2019 14:07:50 GMT -5
Thanks for this info. The fuel lines got here so I'll do it soon. I seem to remember a short black piece of hose (1/2" long?) on the filter when I got it. My memory is that it had oddly been on the outlet side of the filter where the fuel line needed to go so I had pulled it off so that I could slide on the fuel line that feeds the carb. Should I have left it on and maybe it was on the wrong end or maybe I was thinking backwards? If I should have left it on & made sure it was on the inlet end of the filter, I could make one with one of the little pieces of that new fuel line that I'd mistakenly clipped off since I did save them for some odd reason. 😉
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Post by rowdy235 on May 27, 2019 16:33:51 GMT -5
Jeff,
the fuel filter should only have one place for a hose to attach. If yours has two, its something I have not previously dealt with. My guess is what happened is that your fuel hose broke off, leaving about 1/2" attached to the filter, and the unit was pulling gas directly from the tank.
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Post by vankjeff on May 29, 2019 2:19:12 GMT -5
Jeff, the fuel filter should only have one place for a hose to attach. If yours has two, its something I have not previously dealt with. My guess is what happened is that your fuel hose broke off, leaving about 1/2" attached to the filter, and the unit was pulling gas directly from the tank. I think that you've misunderstood what I asked or maybe I didn't say it right. What I'd meant is that the new filter had a short piece of black hose on one end (I don't remember if it was on the Inlet or Outlet end). It must have seemed to be the Outlet end since I remember needing to pull it off since that was the end that the fuel line up to the carb went on, or at least that's what I'd decided due to a Fuel Flow indicator arrow on the filter. Since then & as I'm about to replace those 2 pieces of fuel line but I'll just be re-using the new filter that's already in there, I wanted to make sure that I hadn't messed up last week when I put it all together and that I should have left that little piece of hose on the end of that filter and stuck the fuel line that feeds the carb onto the other end of the filter. Surely Leon knows what I'm talking about since he shipped me that filter and probably has some more in stock to look at. So Leon, what's the deal? Did I mess up and was my brain working backwards when I was thinking about fuel flow thru the filter? I'd almost need to assume that as long as I've got the right end of the filter on the hose feeding the carb, the filter itself can just dangle without that little black piece of hose that I took off, even if I should have left it on there since I think I tossed it. If something should really be on there, like to help it pick up fuel when the tank gets down to almost empty, well that doesn't really matter. I can either cut a little piece off one of the lines I take off tomorrow and cut that special design onto it so that it never sits flat against the bottom of the tank and can't suck fuel, or I can just put it back together as it is with the filter being the fuel pickup.
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Post by onlyhomelites on Jun 2, 2019 9:01:12 GMT -5
Jeff, take a look at my previous post from May 23 about three above this one....the picture I attached shows exactly how to install the hoses and answers your questions. I've never seen an in-tank filter with two hoses on it.
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Post by vankjeff on Jun 3, 2019 17:23:44 GMT -5
Jeff, take a look at my previous post from May 23 about three above this one....the picture I attached shows exactly how to install the hoses and answers your questions. I've never seen an in-tank filter with two hoses on it. Thanks everyone for putting up with me and my amateur mechanical awareness on this thing. I thought I'd made good progress today as the blower fired on the 2nd pull and let me tune the carb and mess with the idle speed. But then it shut off and it won't restart. I think that I must have the filter on the wrong fuel line. I'll put info on that below. Man, had I really messed up by cutting both hoses to the lengths that I'd found the old ones to be. Who knows how they ever got that short. Probably when one of my 4 employees at the racing go-kart wheel manufacturing company that I owned for 20 years, Van-K Wheels, (see History on www.vankwheels.com) had taken it upon themselves to work on it and I either was never told or I don't remember. (could be either )
The line that I’d put the filter on was only 5” long after I stuck the filter on it & then snipped it to be how long the one had been that was in there. I didn't know to just run them full length, but now I do. As it was, there was no way it was ever going to use much of the fuel in the tank since it couldn't reach the bottom & in fact it was up near the top. That's since I had it on the wrong spud on the carb, again as it had been from before. No wonder I've had so many problems with this since somewhere in this thread I'd been told by Leon that if you have the filter on the wrong spud's hose on the carb, it will only run for a few minutes. That's what it had done in the past (last year) and what it did today (more on that in a second)
That had been tricky to install but I'd gotten it done and it did run good when the tank was full. It had started starving and that concerned me but I hadn't even wanted to worry about that yet. I just thought that I'd keep the tank full each time I used it & maybe find out the problem later, or maybe not. 😉 I also goofed by describing from memory what I thought the filter had looked like when I'd said I thought it had an Inlet stub & a stub for the Outlet for the hose up to the carb. Just as was said, THE FILTER IS JUST A LITTLE CAN-SHAPED FILTER WITH ONE HOSE BARB. What I do know is that there had been a short piece of black rubber piece slid on like the fuel line does. That was surely just a cap to keep the inside of the filter clean until it is used and after I'd figured out that it needed to be taken off, then those fuel line had slid on easily with a little help. Also, on the STICKING THROTTLE, I think I found the cause. There's a piece of cardboard-like material that's between the carb & the engine to act as a heat-shield. It had been bent down a bit towards the carb and the throttle linkage bar slid along it with just enough friction which you could over-ride with the trigger but it could hold the throttle open against the force of the spring trying to close it and sometimes it would hang open. Maybe vibrations sometimes eased the pressure to let it get back to idle? I snipped a little bit off. (here's some Before & After photos)
I took it apart again today to replace those 2 fuel lines with full length ones that Leon sent me last week. I'd like to say that it's all back together and it runs great, as it did start on the 2nd pull after having had the fuel tank empty and the lines both replaced, but I've still got a problem. Leon said here on May 22nd that: • The fuel pickup filter goes on the hose down by the mixture screws. You can't reverse them and have it run for more than a few seconds. Stick with the way you have it. Well, maybe I've got it backwards and maybe "down by the mixture screws" seems different on a chainsaw the way the carb is put together on those? Anyway, I feel pretty dumb and before I take it apart and swap it, I want to ask, when I put the filter in the line that feeds in next to the Primer Bulb but is in the same level of the carb but yet is on the opposite site than then mixture screws but could probably be assembled either way, is that the wrong place for it? I ask because, as I'd said, it started on the 2nd pull, I tuned both H & L mixtures and messed with the Idle Speed and then it died and at first, I got it to re-fire by choking it when it wouldn't re-fire. But then, I couldn't get it to re-fire at all so I parked it for the night. Then this freaked me out; I was pushing the Primer Bulb and I noticed that it was making fuel go back into the tank in the line that I'd put the filter on. That can't be right, can it? At that point, I quit to ask you here.
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Post by 5terrysupersaws on Jun 3, 2019 17:48:40 GMT -5
Currently the fuel filter is installed incorrectly on the return line, swap it to the other line and retest.
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Post by vankjeff on Jun 4, 2019 21:35:04 GMT -5
Currently the fuel filter is installed incorrectly on the return line, swap it to the other line and retest. Guys, AWESOME!! I simply pulled the carb & swapped the fuel lines so that the filter would be on the inlet line. Started 2nd pull and ran great. I did need to richen both L and H since apparently now with the filter restricting the fuel flow a tad, it needed more. I used it for quite a while doing stuff that didn't need doing and it ran like a champ. Thanks for all the help & patience.
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Post by Pat, retired on Jun 21, 2019 11:42:03 GMT -5
All I am looking for is what gas do I put in Homelite Mighty Lite 26 lb, model number UTO8520A. I was given this blower, and assuming it takes an oil/gas mixture, but want to be sure.
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Post by Clasec on Jun 21, 2019 11:57:52 GMT -5
All I am looking for is what gas do I put in Homelite Mighty Lite 26 lb, model number UTO8520A. I was given this blower, and assuming it takes an oil/gas mixture, but want to be sure. fuel mixture by Clasec, on Flickr
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Post by vankjeff on Aug 4, 2019 1:20:41 GMT -5
I need a little more help on this if I could. The new fuel lines that I was sent to install are both slightly too small on their OD and if I fill the fuel tank more than about 1/2 full, it leaks around both fuel lines right where they enter the tank, even if it is just sitting still in my garage. This is really odd and I hope to find a fix other than by just always keeping the tank only partly full even though I could deal with that if I have to since I use the blower for such a short time every time I mow my tiny yard. So: 1. Is there any other brand of fuel line that is maybe .010” bigger OD that I could use instead? 2. Is there any fuel additive that would swell the fuel line that slightly, either permanently so a 1 time use will work or that I can always add to the fuel? 3. Is it possible that I just got a couple bad pieces that weren't made to spec or that had aged & shrunk? I’d appreciate you guy’s help on this. I know the holes in the tank themselves aren't too big as nobody would ever modify them and there's no way that a snug fitting fuel line could have vibrated enough in it to burnish the hole bigger. It has always sealed just fine during its whole 25+ year life when I used it only at my small business to blow the metal chips from under machines and tables and occasionally clean the dust off the parking lot. I only just recently had to fire my lawncare crew due to financial changes in my life so now I'm mowing it myself after decades of paying for that to be done. BTW, the blower runs great now except when still have a problem with the throttle deciding not to return to idle about ½ the time and only “idling” at about 1/3 to ½ throttle. I’ve tried my best to figure that out & have given up. I'll just live with it. ☹ Here's 2 pictures that show my entire yard, all maybe 3,000 SF of it?
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Post by undee70ss on Aug 4, 2019 8:50:01 GMT -5
What is the OD of the hose that’s on there now?
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Post by vankjeff on Aug 4, 2019 12:24:11 GMT -5
What is the OD of the hose that’s on there now? I don't know but I bet it is supposed to be the right stuff since it is what Leon sent me with a new fuel filter after he rebuilt the carb. I don't have any vernier calipers or anything to measure things accurately with anymore. I trust Leon to send the right stuff, of course. But maybe it is old and shrunk (I doubt it) or I can't even imagine what could be wrong with it. My thought today is that I'd remembered that I think at some point in this thread I'd mentioned that it would quit running and then I'd unscrew the cap and hear it hissing, either that would be sucking or blowing air in or out of the tank. I'd been told to check & clean the vent in the cap which I did and it seemed fine to me but I blew thru the vent in it with my mouth and I even just put it in a container of plain gas to perhaps soak out anything in it. I remember messing with it. So, does the tank build pressure in it as it runs for any reason? I wouldn't think it would. I'd think the vent is to let in air as fuel is drawn out by the engine. I'm lost.
Since it emptied a pretty good portion of the tank of fuel into a stinky puddle in my garage after I used it a few days ago, it would seem as if the tank had been pressurized somehow. I didn't think to look when I discovered a puddle of gas as to if the tank had only been drained down to the place in it where those fuel lines enter it. It was standing straight up on the little tubular stand that it has, I know that. But I just stuck it outside overnight to stop the stink in our garage and the risk of fire from the water heater pilot light too. Then when I looked at it in the morning, there's lot of signs of fuel having leaked around both places in the tank where those fuel lines enter it. And the tank doesn't have any cracks or damage, so that is obviously where all that fuel came out.
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Post by vankjeff on Aug 4, 2019 19:46:02 GMT -5
The blower’s fuel tank level has obviously drained itself, while sitting, down to just the highest fuel line entry hole, although by just grabbing them, both fuel lines can be slid in & out just as easily and I think slightly too easily. But obviously the other one, which is lower, didn't leak or at least it hadn't gotten down to that level, both sitting in my garage for a day and then overnight outside. Neither line slides any easier than the other. I was thinking that maybe that grounding wire could be pulling the top fuel line over a little, just enough to crimp it enough to leak. But it just looks close & it doesn't actually even touch the fuel line. I suppose I should try replacing that fuel line or maybe both of them again? Here's a photo showing how far it leaked down to while sitting for 2 days. It had been way fuller than that and boy did it stink up my garage and even that side of our downstairs.
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Post by jselden78 on Aug 4, 2019 20:02:16 GMT -5
It likely has an O.D. of 3/16”. I find it interesting you have experienced this. Homelite designed numerous saws for the tank to seal in a similar way only with a rubber grommet in the hole that the fuel line runs through. I have several of them and have used the 3/16” O.D. tygon hose with success. However I did have 2 that the 3/16” seemed to shrink on and it would not seal the tank after a few uses. I went to the same size I.D. Hose with a 1/4” O.D. and it sealed the tank with no further problems. It was a little tighter going in but a little dawn solved that.
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