Weed Wacker woes

[Patsdeere]

I have a Ryobi straight shaft trimmer. Have had it probably 10 yrs. Bulb finally cracked, so no problem, put a new one on. Worked fine, but just wasn't what it once was. Did what y'all recommend, get a new carb. Ordered from Amazon. Put in on and running good. However every time I go to use it I have to fiddle with it and I'm tired of that. It might run for a few seconds or maybe just pop off. Think I got a crap carb? The whole thing was only $100 new, so hate to throw another $30 carb at it. If I do, any good places to get one?

It does have new spark plugs, fuel lines and fuel filter.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Cracked bulb might have shed bits that entered old and new carbs . Clean out and new fuel lines and tank filter first .

 

[guido]

Pastdeere,

Check the armature gap, set it @.012.
Check the muffler screen. If clogged, light it up and brush it off.

Empty the fuel mix, and put it fresh fuel mix.

Gap the plug between .025 to . 030. Then go do some weed wacking,

Guido.

 

[Richard G.]

That's why I bought a Ryobi battery one last time.
Quiet and very light weight.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Exactly my feeling, my 40 volt Ryobi lasts a long time on a full battery. Don't have to crank for 10 minutes to get it started either.

 

[Patsdeere]

Yeah, if I only did the yard, then maybe. But I take it to the rentals and it needs a little more beef to get the job done.

 

[T.R.K.]

Does it have a yellow shaft? if so it is Homelite product. They're junk.

The really old silver-shaft Ryobi(s) were pretty good units.

Then MTD got a hold of Ryobi and worked their magic and from then on they were only 2-3 year machines at best. About the time the warranty expired, its time to get another trimmer.

 

[Steve@Advance]

It could be a bad carb. I've run into that with the China replacements, need constant main jet adjustment to keep it running.

Been fighting that on a Stihl pole saw, next move is to buy a carb from Stihl.

 

[Tony in Bama]

Been down that road a couple of times. Seems like most carbs (at least the cheap ones). I've had instances where I had to go to a second replacement and it worked fine.

 

[Tony in Bama]

Multitasking - meant to type that the cheap ones are Chinese. I've tried them on non-critical stuff due to the price and have had okay luck. However, I have gotten bad ones and had to rinse and repeat.

 

[Patsdeere]

Yep. Replaced a silver shaft one after it went crappy. The silver one was fantastic. Never been a fan of the yellow one. Might go Stihl.

 

[mjbrown]

80v kobalt works great so far. Easy to start.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I bought a new carb for around $15 off of either amazon of ebay.
That's when I discovered my 4 stroke engine was a honda. It's a few pounds heavier than a 2 cycle. If you ever use it you will say that's the most powerful weed wacker. The boss doesn't want a battery powered one. She likes the husky-varna. Very easy to start. Very powerful straight shaft, 2 string trimmer.
It's a lifetime trimmer if you change the oil.

 

[ss55]

Fuel lines get old and split too, air get sucked in with the fuel and the engine runs too lean. Ten years out of a set of fuel lines is pretty good, they are due for replacement.

 

[mozark]

Try taking the reed valve out and check the plate that limits how far the reed valve opens, I had a Ryobi and that plate was bent so the reed valve wouldn't close properly.