I'll get things started

Thanks Pocono! I finally had the opportunity to start the trimmer. Two pulls and it was running!

But I still can't believe that choke issue. Even the "Starting instructions" on the air cleaner cover only say to press the primer 10x, don't squeeze the throttle and pull.

NO mention of a choke.

Still took a minute before I it was warm enough to run without the choke but I was able to run it until it ran out of string.

Which brings me to my next problem........it seems to use string awfully fast. Any solutions there?

GET A GOAT!

ha ha the goat.... maybe a sheep.........dual purpose

I have tried most all line and found the .95 square edged stuff lasts longest. The constant awareness of the spinning line and the rock edge,fence,pole, ect is also a important issue with longevity

Glad you got the best of it!

On a related topic, i just bought a new lawn mower from a local shop that also does alot of repairs. They told me to make sure I did not use regular gas in the mower as the ethonal will f**k up the carb. They said mid grade and high grade do not contain ethonal.

years ago when the early feed back carbs came out, the ethanol would have a profound effect on some of the rubber components in the fuel system. i.e. GM's mixture control solonoid had a rubber tip that would swell and just devestate the drivability of the cars. Most manufactures started using viton rubber on the critical parts and all was well. I still try to use a fuel that dosnt contain the alcohol in my small engines and outboards. heck they even have a different "Sta-Bil" fuel additive for the newer type fuels.

coalkirk wrote:On a related topic, i just bought a new lawn mower from a local shop that also does alot of repairs. They told me to make sure I did not use regular gas in the mower as the ethonal will f**k up the carb. They said mid grade and high grade do not contain ethonal.

They are lying or misinformed. If you have ethanol in your area, ALL grades have it.

And yes, I just had to R&R the carb on my riding mower because there was some sort of gel in the fuel bowl. Clean, new needle and seat and a float. Plus some new fuel line and a filter for good measure.

A guy I work with has a side business rebuilding outboard motors and says he has all kinds of fuel problems because of the ethanol.

His explanation(and this guy tends to tell stories) is that the ethanol strips all the previous gunk and varnish out of the tank and lines. Whatever the reason, when I went to the repair shop and said "My mower was running crappy so I pulled the fuel bowl..." the guy interrupted me and said "Let me guess, you found a bunch of jelly in the bottom?"

So it's something that IS happening, how you "fix" it, I'm not sure yet.

not all brands have it in. by law it must be displayed on the pump if it does. Having owned two Texaco's I can tell ya there is a tank for regular and a tank for hi test. mid grade is a mixture of each therefore it is in all the grades if it is in any of em.

all the gasoline in all the stations come from one place.... the difference is what enhancement products are in the empty tanker trucks before they fill up and then go and deliver to the station.

Cheveron for example has 300+ gallons of techron in the tank before filling the rest of the 9000 gals, thus thier fuel is better than most. ect...

avoiding the blended fuel for small equiptment is the best "fix" currently for the issue I believe

But you might not be in an area where ethanol is required. RI is categorized as a heavy pollution area at the same level with California.

ALL our gas has it.

But when I visit family in Maine, none of their gas has it.

If you are in a moderate pollution area, you may only get ethanol in the highest volume product.

I was down in Hershey recently and I know they had it in the gas there.

bummer. if its a big issue with your equiptment maybe a trip over the border with several 5 gal containers might be a temp fix.

naturally have dinner at the Nordic Lodge and fill up the lobster addiction .....

Sorry, I think I'd have to drive at least 8 hours in any direction to find fuel with no ethanol. Maybe I'll just stock up on carb rebuild kits.

And I don't need to go to the Nordic, you couldn't get me to eat one of them sea faring cockroaches on a bet!

The Peoples Democratic Republic of Masschusetts has ethanol in all gas, all grades.

And if you believe that 10% is all that's going in, your in for a shock. Ethanol decreases mileage & raises oil company profits. Ever wonder why some days your vehicle feels like it lost 20 horsepower? Or 3 MPG? My Silverado is a Flex-Fuel, so in the tank is a device that monitors alcohol content of the fuel (info is available in the CPU), so a tech can tell whether or not there is gasoline powering the vehicle. I plugged in my scan tool after filling up at Hess & experiencing the above symptoms, & I saw 19.7% ALCOHOL.

No one will ever complain about this because most have no idea.

I've had pretty good luck with my equipment, as far as carb destruction goes, running this crap gas. It seems to cause more problems with older machines, due to that cleaning effect. I stopped using Sta-bil about 8 years ago when it kept fouling the plugs in my CBR600. After removing & cleaning the plugs 4 times, I threw the stuff in the trash. Now I use nothing, but I make sure all my containers are sealed tight & if the equipment is going to be stored during the summer, to keep it in a cooler spot of the barn. If anything has to sit more than 1 year, I'll take it out & run it until warmed up.

This year, I had to clean out the lawn tractors carb (1st time in 4 yrs.). The Harley's carb & the weedwhacker carb had to be cleaned a couple years ago, but no trouble since. No jelly, but looked as if it was in the beginning stages (very thin layer of a diesel-like substance). I buy gas 55 gallons at a time (87 octane too), so I'm using last years fuel. I can tell it has degraded, because the tractor will diesel when you shut it off, & pre-ignite when first started. Still does the job though -- that's all that matters.