is 50:1 enough oil?

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I decided to tear down and decarbon one of my good trimmers that I have owned since new. It was broken in on echo 50:1 synthetic canned fuel, and then I personally pump in 0.990 gallon (just to be safe) of ethanol free and dump the 2.6oz container into it. I even rinse the bottle to get every bit of it out.

There are some vertical scratches in the cylinder and piston skirt. I wonder why? I am noticing on all used two stroke engines the cylinders have high wear. Do we need to go back to 32:1 or 40:1?
 
I run mine at 32:1. I pulled apart enough 2 stroke engines that were run at 50:1 to convince me 32:1 was the way to go.
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Landscapers who run machines hard do the same around here.
 
my 21 year old Echo 2601 has run on either 50-1 or 75/100:1 Amsoil since birth. Ran it commercially for 8 years and the last 13 have been an easy life as my homeowner model. I think that I pulled the muffler off once or twice in its life to clean the carbon. Other than that it hasn't complained except for needing a new china carb. The power is still close to what it was when new. Run whatever makes you sleep better, but 50:1 will give it a long life.

All of the same can be said about my Stihl br400 blower.
 
This is just an opinion but i think some engines are built better than others.. there used to be thought that the 300hr rated ones were better than the 50

For instance the Echo SRM225 and Husqvarna 223 used to be 300hr...but now they are 50hr.

To answer your question- 50:1 is fine, 40:1 is great, 32:1 is great but borderline overkill.. when it comes to wear/longevity

I run JASO FD at 40:1 and sometimes at 32:1 and am confident that something other than the engine will give me an issue for many years.

Scratches- possibly something got by the air filter..
 
32:1 allows me to run 87 E 10 and 4.99/ qt Valvoline universal mix oil. Seein' oil drip out of the mufflers on the wackers and the Mantis lets me know stuff is oiled. I use an empty Tru-Fuel can and 1oz of oil. I get about 3 yrs per qt of oil. Decades of doing this with my Stihl saw, tells me it is a way to keep a small engine happy. TCW3 is great for the little air cools at 32:1 for OPE. Hobby use guys run up to 100:1 but life suffers
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Yes, 50:1 is perfectly fine, when a good oil is used. Running a different oil ratio like 40:1 or 32:1 won't make cheaper built equipment last any longer.

Lately I've been noticing that customers running richer oil mixes have had issues with spark arrestors clogging and causing no starts. Newer equipment especially with cat convertors are very sensitive to using the correct oil mix ratio. Don't over think it, use a quality 2-stroke oil mixed at the manufacturer's recommended ratio and go on with life. I've actually never seen a 2-stroke machine that was worn out from not using enough oil, only from no oil at all, a mechanical issue (looking at you Stihl and your Chinese junk bearings), or from factors outside the engine itself (trimmer head sloppy and loose, etc).
 
I am also a 40:1 proponent. I like to see some residual oil in the crankcase when I take the crankshaft out. I have one piece of equipment that I run Blendzall Racing Castor exclusively in (a blower) and the rest of my equipment gets a diet of whatever I grab from my excessive stock of oils. I have Torco GP-7, Yamalube 2S, Opti-2, Amsoil Saber, Redline no-smoke, Husqvarna XP, Quaker State multi-purpose, and I think a couple of others.

I have had my eye on a bottle of Klotz R-50 over at Summit Racing so it'll be tried this summer at some point. I just love the sound of a sweet little 2-stroke humming along at 8,000 RPM.
 
32 to 1 for my string trimmer and blower they are 20 years old the Exhaust ports are clean in all and the spark plugs are origin alI used mostly a universal 2 stroke oil that was $14.00 per gallon bulk tank price . Since I moved I have use VP syn oil I .I ave never used a fuel stabilizer and they start first or second pull in the spring. I use about 5 gallons of the 32 to 1 gas mix per year .
 
vertical scratching is dirt entry...which also means the rod and main bearings have seen some level of damage..
i run 40:1 myself, its more about being jetted correctly than oil ratio in lawn stuff like this...but i wouldnt go with less oil than 50:1.
 
Originally Posted by FowVay
I am also a 40:1 proponent. I like to see some residual oil in the crankcase when I take the crankshaft out. I have one piece of equipment that I run Blendzall Racing Castor exclusively in (a blower) and the rest of my equipment gets a diet of whatever I grab from my excessive stock of oils. I have Torco GP-7, Yamalube 2S, Opti-2, Amsoil Saber, Redline no-smoke, Husqvarna XP, Quaker State multi-purpose, and I think a couple of others.

I have had my eye on a bottle of Klotz R-50 over at Summit Racing so it'll be tried this summer at some point. I just love the sound of a sweet little 2-stroke humming along at 8,000 RPM.

How do you like the Torco oil? It is the only oil I run in my stuff.
 
I run 40:1 in everything. I'm just a homeowner but I have all Stihl stuff and good bit of ground to maintain. I buy a 6 pack of the stihl oil when I buy the machine because they double the warranty, but I don't use it. I use the VP oil as it has better specs. I'm able to get non ethanol at my local marina.
 
As I always say on BITOG, look at what the guys are running who do this for a living.
In this case, is anybody on here running chainsaws and/or trimmers 60 hrs a week?
 
Its possible that the scratches are from burnt oil/carbon buildup around the ports. Keep in mind adding more oil then specified OEM changes the fuel mixture slightly. From factory they are set lean for emissions and run HOT so adding oil make the lean condition worse.Once you set oil ratio get a special tool for setting mixture off Amazon. Heat up the engine and adjust the mix while the motor is actually doing work for good power and cooler running. If it is running cool it wont need as much oil to stay happy.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by FowVay
I am also a 40:1 proponent. I like to see some residual oil in the crankcase when I take the crankshaft out. I have one piece of equipment that I run Blendzall Racing Castor exclusively in (a blower) and the rest of my equipment gets a diet of whatever I grab from my excessive stock of oils. I have Torco GP-7, Yamalube 2S, Opti-2, Amsoil Saber, Redline no-smoke, Husqvarna XP, Quaker State multi-purpose, and I think a couple of others.

I have had my eye on a bottle of Klotz R-50 over at Summit Racing so it'll be tried this summer at some point. I just love the sound of a sweet little 2-stroke humming along at 8,000 RPM.

How do you like the Torco oil? It is the only oil I run in my stuff.


Torco GP7 is incredible and I love it. It mixes well, wets the bottom end as well as anything I've seen, burns clean as can be and is quite possibly the best I've ever used. I started using the GP7 when I was doing a comparison between it and Mobil MX2T. It is gold plated with regard to price but if you want the best you're going to pay.
 
VPracing C9 with VPracing synthetic oil 40:1 in everything and anything I own from 1K dollar saws to 200 dollar blowers everything run clean and flawless. Brought my own fuel to Stihl dealer for initial start up and setup on a pro 261c you get some looks from the dealer when you don't run the OEM oil I said no we'll be using this best laugh is when he says it smells like we're at the race track.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Yes, 50:1 is perfectly fine, when a good oil is used. Running a different oil ratio like 40:1 or 32:1 won't make cheaper built equipment last any longer.


Yes it will, you're essentially negating the benefits of the "good" oil by running it leaner. There is no question that it will last longer, even the cheapest built equipment will, and probably benefit a lot more than commercial engines if we want to try to generalize that much.

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Lately I've been noticing that customers running richer oil mixes have had issues with spark arrestors clogging and causing no starts. Newer equipment especially with cat convertors are very sensitive to using the correct oil mix ratio.


This is true. Richer oil does clog the exhaust path more, but this can be cleaned out and you still have less wear internally so the equipment is worth cleaning out. The fact is, the leaner oil mix was only implemented to save on emissions at the expense of engine life.

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Don't over think it, use a quality 2-stroke oil mixed at the manufacturer's recommended ratio and go on with life.


Or don't overthink it and use the proven 32:1 cheap oil or 40:1 HQ synthetic mix ratio and go on with life and your equipment goes on with life longer too.

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I've actually never seen a 2-stroke machine that was worn out from not using enough oil, only from no oil at all, a mechanical issue (looking at you Stihl and your Chinese junk bearings), or from factors outside the engine itself (trimmer head sloppy and loose, etc).


That's very strange because they all wear out eventually, wear caused by lubrication issues. The bearings wear out, introduce wobble, and the flywheel starts rubbing the ignition coil. If you catch it early, coil just fails from overheating. Put new coil on, can't get gap right because of the wobble either making contact one half of a revolution and/or gap too large on the other side, then you notice the wobble.
 
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