I have a 2003 Echo SRM-210 with i-start addon purchased mostly on brand reputation, recommendation from a small engine repair shop and my desire to get something serviceable, not disposable, and of high quality that would last a very long time.
I have about 2000 sq ft of grass and fairly low complexity trimming requirements. Each lawn mow cycle probably sees 5-10 minutes of trimmer usage. This means what, 1-2 hours per year since 2003? I usually only go through 1.0-1.5 trimmer tanks of fuel mixture in a year. For "yard" fuel I have premium (91 or 92 AKI) fuel from one of Shell, Sunoco or Esso with Stabil added at the time of purchase. I use this in mower, power washer, and spare for the car in a pinch (hence premium). To this I mix Echo Powerblend 50:1 as per directions in as small a quantity as I can for the season.
Last winter I disassembled most of the unit and cleaned/lubricated where ever I could, checked/cleaned/gapped the plug, spark arrestor, carb, etc... The air filter is clean. When not in use during the summer season the unit hangs from a hook in my garage, motor down. In my situation this is safer than motor up simply due to the weight distribution and keeping the bulk of the item lower to reduce the risk of being knocked off of the wall. Sometimes some oil is found on the engine but not predictably in one spot - it's conceiveable that something is leaking, or the carb is getting an inappropriate amount of fuel/oil in this position. I don't seem to lose an appreciable amount from the tank or get any dripping. Hanging the other way might help, and perhaps something is gumming up causing my problems. I'm open to suggestions.
Since shortly after break in it's cold start and running properties have been poor. It almost never gets FULLY warmed up with the size of my yard, but when it is it runs quite well.
After priming 4-5 times beyond seeing proper fuel flow through the lines it takes a number of pulls to start trying to run, and almost always stalls at least once after it does start running. It's sometimes unpredictable how the choke works - sometimes stalling more with it, sometimes more without. When started, it misses a lot (shaking) and four strokes quite a bit from idle to half throttle. Often, if you pull the throttle trigger you hear the extra intake noise of the throttle opening, but the engine doesn't really respond and continues at idle speed.
As it warms, it gets better throttle response, although still tends to miss occasionally and four-stroke noticeably. I rarely use it wide open, usually more like half to three quarters. No smoke is visible in the exhaust, the exhaust is not wet. My two stroke experience is limited to 0.12ci RC car nitromethane engines, but my experience tells me that it's probably just running rich but there are no adjustments, the choke clears out of the way properly and the air filter is fine (I've run it with it off completely just as a test). If it had any needle adjustments I probably would have leaned it out.
I bought from a small engine shop even though Home Depot has the model. When I consulted them on the phone while it was under warranty they wanted me to pay for a complete tune up and wanted to keep the unit far too long (weeks) during grass-grows-like-weeds season. (So much for 'better service') I was hoping that my full cleaning and overhaul would help, but it hasn't completely. Brand new fresh fuel doesn't magically fix it either.
I generally maintain my power equipment and cars fanatically well. This trimmer doesn't see enough hours, in my opinion, and it's tough to do it better with only the one two stroke device in the stable and it sees so little use. I want to treat it better, and to fresher fuel, but I simply can't get rid of it fast enough. I'm planning to try another plug, just in case.
Related: After reading here a bit I'm considering mixing my oil 40:1 Echo for this season. Unless, of course, too much oil is somehow causing my problems by gooping things up.
Tips?
Thanks,
Craig.
I have about 2000 sq ft of grass and fairly low complexity trimming requirements. Each lawn mow cycle probably sees 5-10 minutes of trimmer usage. This means what, 1-2 hours per year since 2003? I usually only go through 1.0-1.5 trimmer tanks of fuel mixture in a year. For "yard" fuel I have premium (91 or 92 AKI) fuel from one of Shell, Sunoco or Esso with Stabil added at the time of purchase. I use this in mower, power washer, and spare for the car in a pinch (hence premium). To this I mix Echo Powerblend 50:1 as per directions in as small a quantity as I can for the season.
Last winter I disassembled most of the unit and cleaned/lubricated where ever I could, checked/cleaned/gapped the plug, spark arrestor, carb, etc... The air filter is clean. When not in use during the summer season the unit hangs from a hook in my garage, motor down. In my situation this is safer than motor up simply due to the weight distribution and keeping the bulk of the item lower to reduce the risk of being knocked off of the wall. Sometimes some oil is found on the engine but not predictably in one spot - it's conceiveable that something is leaking, or the carb is getting an inappropriate amount of fuel/oil in this position. I don't seem to lose an appreciable amount from the tank or get any dripping. Hanging the other way might help, and perhaps something is gumming up causing my problems. I'm open to suggestions.
Since shortly after break in it's cold start and running properties have been poor. It almost never gets FULLY warmed up with the size of my yard, but when it is it runs quite well.
After priming 4-5 times beyond seeing proper fuel flow through the lines it takes a number of pulls to start trying to run, and almost always stalls at least once after it does start running. It's sometimes unpredictable how the choke works - sometimes stalling more with it, sometimes more without. When started, it misses a lot (shaking) and four strokes quite a bit from idle to half throttle. Often, if you pull the throttle trigger you hear the extra intake noise of the throttle opening, but the engine doesn't really respond and continues at idle speed.
As it warms, it gets better throttle response, although still tends to miss occasionally and four-stroke noticeably. I rarely use it wide open, usually more like half to three quarters. No smoke is visible in the exhaust, the exhaust is not wet. My two stroke experience is limited to 0.12ci RC car nitromethane engines, but my experience tells me that it's probably just running rich but there are no adjustments, the choke clears out of the way properly and the air filter is fine (I've run it with it off completely just as a test). If it had any needle adjustments I probably would have leaned it out.
I bought from a small engine shop even though Home Depot has the model. When I consulted them on the phone while it was under warranty they wanted me to pay for a complete tune up and wanted to keep the unit far too long (weeks) during grass-grows-like-weeds season. (So much for 'better service') I was hoping that my full cleaning and overhaul would help, but it hasn't completely. Brand new fresh fuel doesn't magically fix it either.
I generally maintain my power equipment and cars fanatically well. This trimmer doesn't see enough hours, in my opinion, and it's tough to do it better with only the one two stroke device in the stable and it sees so little use. I want to treat it better, and to fresher fuel, but I simply can't get rid of it fast enough. I'm planning to try another plug, just in case.
Related: After reading here a bit I'm considering mixing my oil 40:1 Echo for this season. Unless, of course, too much oil is somehow causing my problems by gooping things up.
Tips?
Thanks,
Craig.
