Do it yourself

Repairs went well-knock on wood. The plumbing supply house next town over had everything I needed. Upon inspection, the nozzle and the electrodes were too far crusted with gunk and carbon to be salvageable, so I just replaced them. Nozzle supposed to be replaced yearly anyway. The electrodes were fussy, and have to be placed in just the right spot in relation to the nozzle for optimal performance-kinda like getting just the right gap on spark plugs. A generous spray of carb cleaner and a wire brush to get everything spic and span and all went back in and nestled exactly where it should be. I didn't, however, have the right size socket for the oil filter, and my knees didn't feel like going upstairs and into the garage to get the socket set. Will have to wait until tomorrow. $30 in parts saved me a $200 service call.

For the last several years I've gotten more and more irritated at fussiness required of small gasoline engines around the home. I have a 30 year old lawn mower that work turn over. I have a chain saw that, even after a service and tune up burns oil and is smoking from places that shouldn't be smoking. Even the snowblower needs a new fuel line. So, tired of the aggravation, I decided to upgrade. I didn't want corded electric-too lazy to drag an extension cord around the homestead. SO I recently purchased gently used battery operated lawn mower, battery operated chain saw, battery operated leaf blower and I already had a battery operated grass trimmer/brush cutter. Coupled with my recent upgrade of my cordless tools-drill. driver, impact wrench, and a few saws, I;ll be improving the homestead-inside and out-in style! Problem is, the various tools all have different form factor batteries, which means a few power strips to keep all the charges running. But, a small price to pay to never have to tear down and troubleshoot a finicky carburetor ever again...

Quote: GenoDRPh

For the last several years I've gotten more and more irritated at fussiness required of small gasoline engines around the home. I have a 30 year old lawn mower that work turn over. I have a chain saw that, even after a service and tune up burns oil and is smoking from places that shouldn't be smoking. Even the snowblower needs a new fuel line. So, tired of the aggravation, I decided to upgrade. I didn't want corded electric-too lazy to drag an extension cord around the homestead. SO I recently purchased gently used battery operated lawn mower, battery operated chain saw, battery operated leaf blower and I already had a battery operated grass trimmer/brush cutter. Coupled with my recent upgrade of my cordless tools-drill. driver, impact wrench, and a few saws, I;ll be improving the homestead-inside and out-in style! Problem is, the various tools all have different form factor batteries, which means a few power strips to keep all the charges running. But, a small price to pay to never have to tear down and troubleshoot a finicky carburetor ever again...

You reminded me that I really need to organize my charging station situation. It's just a scattered hodgepodge of gear. I've never had an electric mower and don't need anything new at the moment, but I was looking at an electric "Roomba" type mower. I'd be afraid to let it go by itself without watching it though.

I imagine most of your small engines are 2-strokes? If they're older they may not be finely machine as newer engines. Or if it's like a Harbor Freight deal or similar I wouldn't expect it to last as long. Two strokes smoke anyway with that oil in the gas.

Also, I don't know what happens to the mixture over time. If sitting around maybe the mixture is messed up over time, and it might cause excessive wear?

Quote: rxwine

You reminded me that I really need to organize my charging station situation. It's just a scattered hodgepodge of gear. I've never had an electric mower and don't need anything new at the moment, but I was looking at an electric "Roomba" type mower. I'd be afraid to let it go by itself without watching it though.

I imagine most of your small engines are 2-strokes? If they're older they may not be finely machine as newer engines. Or if it's like a Harbor Freight deal or similar I wouldn't expect it to last as long. Two strokes smoke anyway with that oil in the gas.

Also, I don't know what happens to the mixture over time. If sitting around maybe the mixture is messed up over time, and it might cause excessive wear?

No HF power tools for me. 4 stroke mower-30 years old and didn't owe me anything. Didn't feel like giving it an overhaul. Gave it away free on FB marketplace. 2 stroke trimmer plus powerhead. Tough to start and heavy. Kept in reserve, but don't anticipate I'll need it. 4 stroke snowblower. Carb always gummed up each year. 2 stroke chain saw. SOmething wrong with the bar oil lubrication system and smoke coming from places that should not be smoking. Gas engines are soooo 20th century. For my smallish yard and lawn, battery powered works just fine.

Cleared out a space for all the chargers, with 2 power strips delivering juice to all of them.

Quote: GenoDRPh

For the last several years I've gotten more and more irritated at fussiness required of small gasoline engines around the home. I have a 30 year old lawn mower that work turn over. I have a chain saw that, even after a service and tune up burns oil and is smoking from places that shouldn't be smoking. Even the snowblower needs a new fuel line. So, tired of the aggravation, I decided to upgrade. I didn't want corded electric-too lazy to drag an extension cord around the homestead. SO I recently purchased gently used battery operated lawn mower, battery operated chain saw, battery operated leaf blower and I already had a battery operated grass trimmer/brush cutter. Coupled with my recent upgrade of my cordless tools-drill. driver, impact wrench, and a few saws, I;ll be improving the homestead-inside and out-in style! Problem is, the various tools all have different form factor batteries, which means a few power strips to keep all the charges running. But, a small price to pay to never have to tear down and troubleshoot a finicky carburetor ever again...

I recently bought a hedge trimmer of the same make and model as my leaf blower an weed whacker, sadly it uses a different battery than the others. I bought it because I assumed it would be the same battery that I could interchange with the others.