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Re: [Shop-talk] Echo string trimmer

To: pat@hornesystemstx.com
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Echo string trimmer
From: Pat Horne <pat@hornesystemstx.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:42:45 -0500
  Finally got the trimmer running again. Turned out to be the seals on 
the crank leaking. I replaced them and a gasket I tore while looking for 
the problem and it is back in operation. $20 in parts and shipping is a 
lot less than the price of a new trimmer!!

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Peace,
Pat

Thusly spake Pat Horne, On 6/11/2010 5:25 PM:
> Thanks for all the replies. Most of them didn't go to the list though.
>
> I've received replies ranging from "Yup, sounds like ignition" to 
> "definitely Carb". The first thing I am going to check was simply 
> "reed valve" I forgot all about the reed valve on 2 strike engines!
>
> It will probably be Monday before I will be able to get to the engine 
> again, a swarm of bees decided to set up house inside my shop this 
> afternoon! Hopefully they are just the night, then then move out in 
> the morning, but I somehow doubt it. There was a swarm in one of our 
> Oak trees a couple days ago, so they are looking for a place to call 
> home. It is pretty disconcerting to have several thousand bees flying 
> around you when you are trying to work.
>
> Peace,
> Pat
>
> Thusly spake David Scheidt, On 6/11/2010 1:49 PM:
>> On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 1:43 PM, Pat Horne <pat@hornesystemstx.com> 
>> wrote:
>>> A few days ago I was cleaning out a fence line. The string trimmer 
>>> was doing
>>> fine. Then it was as if someone just turned off the switch, it 
>>> slowed from
>>> full speed to stop without any poor running or noise.
>>>
>>> The fuel is fresh, with the correct mixture.
>>>
>>> I gave it a shot of ether to see if it would start, it did not 
>>> respond. To
>>> me, this rules out a fuel problem.
>>>
>>> I replaced the plug, which looked good.
>>>
>>> After a trip to the local lawn equipment shop I was told that 
>>> compression
>>> was low, and that I should just buy a new trimmer. They also said 
>>> that I had
>>> a 4 cylinder spark plug in it, and that they run hotter than the 2 
>>> cycle
>>> plug, possibly burning the piston.
>>>
>>> I didn't think that the compression was any lower than it has been for
>>> years, so I brought it home and pulled the cylinder. The piston 
>>> looks fine
>>> and the rings are not stuck. There is no scoring of the cylinder or 
>>> piston.
>>>
>>> I connected a neon electrical test light from the high tension lead to
>>> ground and got a spark. Connecting the light in series with the plug 
>>> and
>>> lead did not produce any light. I figured that the coil went bad. I 
>>> have a
>>> spare engine from a Mantis tiller that is made by the same company 
>>> as the
>>> Echo, so I mounted up the coil from that engine but got the same 
>>> results.
>>>
>>> The shop said that in their 30 years of being in business they have 
>>> never
>>> seen an ignition coil or flywheel on these engines go bad.
>>>
>>> My money is on the ignition. Anyone else have any guesses?
>>
>> Do you have an inductive spark tester?  (A timing light will work, if
>> you hook it up to another 12v source) Is the HT lead part of the coil,
>> or a seperate part?  I'd bet on that.  But yeah, that smells like an
>> ignition failure.  I've seen the magnets break off the fly wheel.
>> There's also a capacitor in most magnetos.
>>
>> I suspect the reason they've never seen one fail is because people say
>> "hum.  80 dollar tool.  100 dollar shop bill."
>>
>

-- 
Pat Horne, Owner, Horne Systems
(512) 797-7501 Voice            5026 FM 2001
Pat@HorneSystemsTx.com  Lockhart, TX 78644-4443
www.hornesystemstx.com
-- We support Habitat for Humanity - a hand UP, not a hand OUT --
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