Weedeater nylon string cartridge doesn't feed out

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While I have an electric 13" "Weedeater" trimmer I figured the nylon string cartridges must be somewhat similar to what the gas units use.

After the original cartridge ran out of string after a year or so of service, I put in a replacement cartridge from Walmart that appeared to be a proper fit. It was one of the models they sell and support. Thing is, no matter how many times I've removed and reseated the new cartridge & reset the starting string length, it fails to pay out after the first 6-8." It promptly cuts itself off at the base within a few seconds of use and that's it. Automatic feed as far as I know. The cartridge comes pre-wound and appears properly coiled. It just doesn't want to unwind as the string shortens.

Is there some trick to getting these to pay out perfectly? I'm tempted to just junk it and buy a better unit.
 
Have a look at the eyelet on the out feed, should be smooth and rounded if not with a metal insert. Buying thinner but better trimmer string helps as well. Also don't wait until the line is half gone as by then its fatigued at the eyelet from flexing so much. I bought some good rino-tuff line that works very well in my reloadable gas trimmer head.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Have a look at the eyelet on the out feed, should be smooth and rounded if not with a metal insert. Buying thinner but better trimmer string helps as well. Also don't wait until the line is half gone as by then its fatigued at the eyelet from flexing so much. I bought some good rino-tuff line that works very well in my reloadable gas trimmer head.


Checked the string eyelet and it's a beveled metal insert. Took all the line off and re-wound again. It still has too much tension to feed itself out. I'd be ok with hand feeding it after every use, assuming the line lasts more than a few seconds or minutes. Will give it a shot.

Weedeater Model
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Are you putting the line cartridge on the wrong way?


It appears to only go on one way. There are special arrow tabs on the cartridge seat that have to engage the saw tooth gears at the top and bottom to lock it in. So I don't see any other way to mount it.

Just ran it again and within 3 seconds of cutting grass the line apparently snapped 2-3" out. What I do see is that now the free end of line is completely over-wrapped about 4-5 times locking it from moving. So it's also possible all the looseness in my wrapping was taken up by the spool, shortening the line from 8" to 2". This time I'll try to wrap it very tight and leave 10-12" hanging out.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Did you check YouTube?


Yes, 4 different videos on string wrapping and threading. All of those have you leave the line unclamped once it goes through the eye let. I tried running it again with the line anchored down twice on the spool to prevent it from unwrapping or over-wrapping. Maybe I could get 10-15 min use out of it? It still managed to cut the outer 6" right off the bat. So I ran it for 10 min with a 2-1/2" line getting what I could. The line finally sheared off to 1" and that was it. Checked the spool and both of those anchor points had come undone. The line again over-wrapped itself.

Tried one more time completely re-wrapping the spool from the extreme end. Will try it again next week end. I don't think this unit is supposed to feed out. But, it would be nice if 3/4 of the line didn't break right off the first time you ran into a wall, fence, or tree.
 
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