Gem99ultra
Elite Member
My Husqvarna 128LD weed trimmer has been such a good old faithful tool... It's obviously my go-tool weed trimmer. Although it's 8 years old now, and has cut probably acres and acres of weeds, it has been a reliable trimmer.
My SO just won a brand new 128LD at the local True Value Customer Appreciation Day door prize. Nice gift and exactly identical to my 8 year old 128LD. But, I just tucked that one away without even adding gasoline and cranking it up to go into service if/when my 8 year old trimmer dies - which it surely will in the near future. After all, who ever heard of a trimmer lasting even 8 years?
However - the last time I used my old 8 year-old 128LD, it didn't want to idle. It would run wide-open just fine, but it would go dead when letting off the throttle. So, I knew it was time for a tune-up. After reading recently about the mufflers on Stihl tools plugging up, I decided to clean my Husqvarna muffler also.
Pulling the plastic covers off was a no-brainer. Three screws and you're there. Getting the muffler out proved to be more of a challenge though. As true to Murphy's law, one of the four screws refused to release. Not wanting to make a 'project' out of getting that last screw out to thoroughly clean the muffler, I just sprayed carb cleaner in through the outlet, then blew it clean with my air hose. After all, from what I could see, it didn't look all that dirty anyway.
To complete the tune-up I cleaned the fuel filter, air filter, replaced the Champion RCJ8Y spark plug, then greased the shaft head. Cranked it, and dang it! Still wouldn't idle. Pulled the air cleaner cover exposing the carburetor, and whew!!! how filty. Sprayed it down with carb cleaner and tweaked the low speed air bleed and VIOLA!!! Purred like a kitten.
The moral of this story is that you/we don't HAVE to put up with small power tools that run crappy. Thirty minutes of maintenance every once in a while makes a world of difference in a pleasurable chore or a pain in the rear.
One thing that I have learned recently is to replace the spark plug with EXACTLY the same as the original. Even a millimeter difference in length will make a difference in the way they run, or in worse case, a hole punched through a piston. Don't let the parts guy tell you that Brand X is 'the same thing'; they are usually not exactly the same thing.
My SO just won a brand new 128LD at the local True Value Customer Appreciation Day door prize. Nice gift and exactly identical to my 8 year old 128LD. But, I just tucked that one away without even adding gasoline and cranking it up to go into service if/when my 8 year old trimmer dies - which it surely will in the near future. After all, who ever heard of a trimmer lasting even 8 years?
However - the last time I used my old 8 year-old 128LD, it didn't want to idle. It would run wide-open just fine, but it would go dead when letting off the throttle. So, I knew it was time for a tune-up. After reading recently about the mufflers on Stihl tools plugging up, I decided to clean my Husqvarna muffler also.
Pulling the plastic covers off was a no-brainer. Three screws and you're there. Getting the muffler out proved to be more of a challenge though. As true to Murphy's law, one of the four screws refused to release. Not wanting to make a 'project' out of getting that last screw out to thoroughly clean the muffler, I just sprayed carb cleaner in through the outlet, then blew it clean with my air hose. After all, from what I could see, it didn't look all that dirty anyway.
To complete the tune-up I cleaned the fuel filter, air filter, replaced the Champion RCJ8Y spark plug, then greased the shaft head. Cranked it, and dang it! Still wouldn't idle. Pulled the air cleaner cover exposing the carburetor, and whew!!! how filty. Sprayed it down with carb cleaner and tweaked the low speed air bleed and VIOLA!!! Purred like a kitten.
The moral of this story is that you/we don't HAVE to put up with small power tools that run crappy. Thirty minutes of maintenance every once in a while makes a world of difference in a pleasurable chore or a pain in the rear.
One thing that I have learned recently is to replace the spark plug with EXACTLY the same as the original. Even a millimeter difference in length will make a difference in the way they run, or in worse case, a hole punched through a piston. Don't let the parts guy tell you that Brand X is 'the same thing'; they are usually not exactly the same thing.
