GardenKit

Bit like those things that get blown at parties. You know, the ones that start off short and curly then shoot out straight when blown. Usually with a little noise.

Just found a pic of the Stihl one. It does not have a hose, just a solid tube which I guess is of small bore so not adding much to the unswept volume. Reckon you have just got a faulty gauge then Bill. I use a couple of Draper ones now, they seem to outlast all the others. Top tip though. Remove all fuel before testing compression. I did one last year with a brand new Gunson gauge on its second use. The engine flooded and compressed petrol into the gauge which killed it instantly.

Stihl, like other manufacturers do not suggest compression testing as being accurate on two strokes and only suggest compression figures on a 4 stroke. However, I find compression figures a good guide on a 2 stroke as to engine condition. The thing with not having a valve in the end of the hose is that the hose volume is added to the unswept volume, vastly increasing it, so lessening the compression that can be achieved as the volume of the hose is being compressed every time the engine turns and released every time to. The one with the valve traps the pressure and adds to it every rev "pumping it up" until it equalises the compression in the upper cylinder. But I cant quite figure why it should work on a 4t?

Sorry Eddy, not really having a pop at you. My comments were meant to be generalised at the etiquette of dealing, prompted by Spuds quip. Being on both the buying and selling ends of the game every day, brings me up against all sorts and its a bit of a hobby with me to study the etiquette of haggling. To be candid, you may not have expected a price match, but you did ask for one. And you got it, although I am sure in this instance nobody expected you to buy. No hard feelings I hope?

I will only ask for the best price, or a matched price if I intend to do the deal there and then. Its only fair.

I did not know Stihl did a compression tester, so learned something today! Without a Schrader valve it would not work on a 2 stroke engine anyway. The volume of the hose will be added to the swept volume of the cylinder, and thus dilute the reading, which anyway could only be read whilst the engine was being cranked. But the volume of the hose is much higher in relation to the engine size of our small kit than it would be on say, a 4 cyl 2000cc engine where its volume will not affect the reading too much Likewise, the one with the valve will be diluted on the first few pulls, but as the valve will trap the pressure it will build in the hose and gauge until it can be topped up no more, thus reading the compression generated by the piston. Does this make sense?

Its a heck of a lot of money to pay for a mattress, but a good posture when asleep is very important, especially to back sufferers. You can rest assured that a Tempur will not disappoint, and contrary to some reports, it will not 'fall apart'. I have been chatting to Lyn this morning, She says ours is an 'original' type, but also said she does notice the heat, whereas I never do. But apparently we have added some sort of thermal overlay which keeps it a bit cooler. We have only had that for a year or so, but I have never noticed the difference. But I do sleep very soundly. I am sure others can make equally good foam, and I am sure some do. But I know that some are very poor. You pay your money and take your chance.

In my book, if I agree to match a price I expect the order there and then! Don't always get it though, some folk don't understand the rules of bargaining:001_rolleyes:

Burnt windings. Why? No idea!

Never notice any heat.

Sorry Steve, I cannot remember which type, can't find out now cause she's asleep on it and won't take kindly to me turfing her off. I think there was only one sort in those days so I expect it was original. Come to think of it I reckon it was more like 12 years ago we bought it, can't find the receipt. But like I said, it's been perfect and still bounces back to totally flat, no depressions at all.

As Genset says, some say they are hot to sleep on but I have never noticed this.

We bought one about 8years ago. It's a genuine Tempur and I think it's about 9" thick. It's absolutely as good now as when we bought it. It was about £1000 at the time It is by far the comfiest mattress I have ever slept on and is brilliant for my back. We occasionally sleep on an imitation Tempur which is absolute rubbish in comparison. If you suffer with your back Steve, order yours tomorrow. And some Tempur pillows too. But get some help to carry it to the bedroom, it's flaming heavy. You could hurt your back....

A month or so ago i convinced a local gardener to try Aspen. He came in today a bit annoyed that Aspen had killed his machine, a Tanaka long reach hedgecutter. "the aspen must have blocked the carb jets as its lost all power. I have changed back to petrol, but it still does not work. Must be the Aspen blocked the jets" Now, I hear these tales from time to time, as well as seeing threads on here such as "Aspen killed my machine". But in my experience this is not usually the case, and this time was no exception. The machine started but refused to pick up any revs. A hand over the exhaust proved there was no exhaust gas pressure, so I quickly took out the spark arrestor gauze which was totally choked with a damp, oily carbon, overlying a harder dry carbon deposit. This had obviously built up for some time, so I ran the machine without the gauze. Perfect, although a little smoky on the oil rich pump petrol mix. "crikey, has not run that well for months" says the customer. Just goes to prove that everyone just wants something to blame, and if the machine has just started using Aspen then it gets the blame. Totally unfairly. He has now gone back to the Aspen now that faith is restored, and he will see a gradual further improvement as the carbon deposits of the upper cylinder and exhaust very slowly disperse.

So this morning I had one of those calls I hate, a complaint. Apparently a Stiga Park ride on mower that I serviced in December came out yesterday for the first cut of the year, but according to the owner there was a problem with my work. "the blades are not going round, or at least not properly. There is very little noise when I engage the blades, and it does not change when I go forward. The engine note does not drop when i go forward and the grass is not being cut." So I agreed to pay a visit this evening after work, before dark, and beat myself up for the rest of the afternoon, whilst wondering what I could have done wrong. I hate making mistakes. When I arrived he was waiting by the gate with the machine. I quickly checked all 3 belts in the drive line, all OK. So I drove it on to the lawn and engaged the blades. He was right, they were quiet. I moved forwards, and he was right again, no grass being cut and no change in engine noise. So I pressed down the electic height of cut adjuster and lowered the deck from the 100mm height it was set at. Seeing the grass was only about 80mm long, I set it at around 50 mm and drove off, nicely cutting the grass, with a reassuring change in the note of the engine as the governor became effective. Relief for me, red face for him, and genuine apologies for calling me out on a fools errand. All's well that ends well.

If the British public had the same level of Aspen awareness as the Arbtalk community now has, our sales would rocket

Its worth checking the crank bearings. If the flywheel has touched the ignition module it may be because of bearing wear. Move the flywheel round so that the magnets are not attracting before testing for play.

For some reason I seem to like the Aspen idea:thumbup1: Although Aspen may well improve the issue due to its slightly lower vapour pressure, I feel it would be as well to identify the cause first and effect a cure. The saw should run fine on petrol, it always used to and has only changed on the last fill up. I really would just take the simple action of changing the fuel first. There really are problems with bad batches of petrol, even when 'fresh'. I know of one machine at least, that just would not start on a fresh fill of fuel, simply changing the fuel to some from a different garage cured it. Cure it first, then run on Aspen:001_smile:

No No No! The FRT is the RED can, it's called Aspen2 FRT, where the 2 stands for 'two stroke' and the FRT just differentiates the new oil ( Full Range Technology) from the previous version. There may be old stock of pre FRT in some dealers who don't sell much, so check the can.

I would personally have no problem with running the 088 on Aspen FRT, just as it comes in the 2% mix. Today's oils are much better than the ones that were around when your saw was produced. It's the oil that dictates the mix, not the engine. FRT is the very latest oil spec from Aspen and is more than adequate for its purpose.

It may be an idea to get some different fuel anyway, seeing as this problem only started on this mix. It is not unheard of for a filling station to get a duff load of fuel.

The tank vent lets air IN to the tank to replace used fuel. It will not let pressure out. If the saw is working hard the fuel will heat up and, along with the vibrations it will vaporise, causing the pressure build up. It has been mild today, but if you are using fresh fuel it will be winter grade and therefore vaporise much too readily. Even more so if it's a high ethanol content fuel from a supermarket. Another cause can be a weak spring on the inlet needle in the carb. If it's seating below 5 psi it can lead to this problem. Firstly, just change your fuel for some good stuff if you are currently using Tesco, then if that does not work overhaul the carb. Make sure you are on 'summer' setting of the carb heating valve too, and make sure your cooling fins are clean.

It's been renamed:biggrin:

Something a little different today. The machine is mostly used on the batteries so the Honda is seldom started. It has suffered from the ravages of stale E5 fuel which had soaked up water. The carb bowl was full of phase seperated fuel, as was the bottom of the tank. A carb clean in the US cleaner sorted it out, and it was soon running well. The electric start was not working but the cause soon became clear. And to cap it all the fuel tank sprung a leak after it was flushed and refilled. The rubber seal on the outlet pipe had perished while the water was in the tank, yet was able to seal against the thicker water but leaked immediately the tank was filled with petrol. Running on Aspen from now on will allow this engine to sit for months with no problems.

The strimmer line fed through the fuel pipe gives the pliers something to grip on. Keep a good grip and you can push the hose into a tight hole with a bit of lube. You can also grab hold of the strimmer line on the other side of the hole and pull it as long as you keep it pinched with the pliers. It helps in some situations.