[Shop-talk] Leaf blower issues...need the elders' advice

[John Innis]

If you need to replace this, you might consider a battery powered model.  I
bought the 60v Dewalt blower last year and I am very happy with it.  I do
not think it is as powerful as the Stihl backpack blower I have used in the
past, but I don't really need it to be either.  It is definitely stronger
than the handheld Ryobi gas powered blower that it replaced.  I only have a
small amount of driveway and sidewalk that I actually blow off, so it suits
my needs just fine.  If you are going to stick with gas, I highly recommend
the Stihl blowers.  They are incredibly powerful and reliable.  I used one
for several years when I was doing grounds maintenance and that thing was
amazing.  Always started easily and would blow hard enough to strip loose
paint off the side of the shed.

On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 8:41 AM Scott Hall <scott.hall.personal at gmail.com>
wrote:

> And to complete this one too:
>
> The leaf blower had bad compression. Either a worn ring, piston, or
> cylinder. I didn't take it apart to find out which because Troy Bilt only
> sells the piston and ring and not the cylinder--if the cylinder is worn,
> it's garbage and the piston is only sold as part of a short
> block--literally you pull the cylinder off the old one and everything else
> is new, apparently.
>
> I might take it apart this winter and see if it's the piston or ring--it
> hurts my heart to just toss that much metal and plastic in the trash--but I
> haven't looked to see if the specs are available online yet to even know
> what they should be.
>
> The takeaway here for future searchers is NOT to buy Troy Bilt,
> apparently. I tried to take it to shops locally to repair it. None of them
> would even look at it and every single one said to buy an Echo. So I'm off
> to buy an Echo this morning. Also disappointed the parts aren't available
> and that it's so worn. On the one hand, I *did* get several years out of
> it. On the other, it had its oil, filters, etc. changed regularly and it
> wasn't used heavily.
>
> On Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 2:33 PM Scott Hall <scott.hall.personal at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I have a Troy Bilt 4-cycle backpack leaf blower, the older version of
>> this thing:
>>
>>
>> https://www.troybilt.com/en_US/leaf-blowers/tb4bp-ec-backpack-gas-leaf-blower/41BR4BEG766.html
>>
>>
>> I need intelligent more experienced folks to advise me before I slip into
>> insanity.
>>
>> The past year or so the choke has lost effectiveness--you used to start
>> it as directed: pump the primer bulb a few times, choke on full. Start.
>> Choke to 1/2 until warm, then choke full-off.
>>
>> At first it wouldn't start with choke full-on, I had to start it on
>> half-choke. Then 1/4-ish.
>>
>> At the same time, the throttle became more of an an/off switch. It would
>> bog at anything other than idle. If I open it full, it would die. And it
>> never achieved full-power.
>>
>> Note: the choke is an actual choke--a plastic plate slides over the air
>> intake on the carb.
>>
>> This sounds like something that needs a carb cleanin', right? So I did.
>> Took it apart, soaked it in carb cleaner, re-assembled.
>>
>> I also replaced the fuel intake line and fuel filter--a weird little
>> thing, looks like a pumice stone on the end of the fuel line.
>>
>> Worked...better. Not back to new, but better. For a day.
>>
>> Now it won't start at all.
>>
>> There's just not that much to this carb. I blew it out with compressed
>> air, chased the passages I could, etc. There's just not much there...there.
>>
>> What's making me question my sanity is that this happened on my riding
>> mower last year too and I similarly cleaned that carb, which was similarly
>> simple and it absolutely would not run again until I just bought a new carb
>> and replaced it.
>>
>>  So here's the question: what am I doing or not doing that I can't clean
>> a small engine carburetor? Is there some secret air passage on small engine
>> carbs that I'm not reaching? I tool them completely apart. There were no
>> idle jets, or enrichment circuits, or...whatever. Just a hunk of metal with
>> a few small holes. What on earth would make the new one better than the one
>> that's on there?
>>
>> I feel like this should be so simple and I'm missing something so basic.
>>
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