aesmith

Rayburn Nouvelle.

Cheers. I've got one of those bottles as well.

Cheers, do you happen to remember what fuel/oil mix they used? The guy I got it from said 25:1 but I think he might have been misreading the mark on tank which is actually 1.25L I put it back together this morning and it seems to run OK now, so I guess that tiny bit of grot must have been the culprit. I think it's had some abuse in the past, the key for the fan was sheared off for example and the bolt through the blade and fan is a bit damaged by someone using the wrong size spanner (partly excusable as it uses a mix of imperial and metric fasteners). It's got the wrong blade as well, sharpened to suit a machine turning the other direction and with a rough edge put on the correct side. The data plate says 3,800 rpm, it was running much slower than that but it's fiddly to adjust so I left it just around 3700 and it certainly hovers better than before. Needs new fuel pipe and there doesn't seem to be any sort of filter so I'll fit an inline filter in the fuel line. If it carries on running OK I might treat it to a new blade as well. Too wet at the moment to actually cut any grass. After fiddling with it running I now absolutely stink of two stroke exhaust. Unfortunately the brute is far too gutsy to consider running on Aspen,

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows about these beasts, it's an oldish Flymo with two stroke JLO branded engine. I can't put an age to it but the deck is plastic which might suggest not really old. It's exactly like this one except mine isn't so clean ... https://youtu.be/Kn0IdqVCgr4 I started having problems last year, sometimes it would falter when running and need to either have the choke flipped on or a jab or two on the tickler before it would pick up. So looking like some sort of fuelling problem. To be honest I kept meaning to investigate, but couldn't work out how to get the carburettor off so I kept putting it off. This year after a period in storage it won't start at all, not even the slightest indication of firing. Plug is sparking nicely, compression more or less as I remember from last year, new fuel but not a peep. Pulling the plug it's suspiciously dry even after a good few pulls. So I've bitten the bullet and taken the carb off, that involves removing the blade and fan, separating the motor from the deck and then unbolting the white "thing" that's bolted onto the underneath of the engine and has the effect of preventing the carburettor from coming off. I've stripped the carb and not really found anything that looks wrong except a small bit of something in what I think is the main jet. The one that screws in from the bottom of the float bowl. That could be the culprit but it really didn't look like it would have completely blocked it. All other jets and passages looked clean and I've blown through everything to make sure. Essentially it's ready to go back together. Anyway given the amount of dismantling needed to reach this stage I thought I'd see what people think before putting it all back together and maybe finding it has to come apart again. Thanks, Tony S

That's right. Couple more points I remember, electrolysis produces hydrogen and oxygen from water, but at the plant the oxygen was simply discharged to the atmosphere, wasted. Also, even without any form of fuel duty and after all the government subsidy the actual fuel cost per mile is significantly higher than petrol or Diesel. And the car costs three times as much in the first place.

Couple of points I picked up on a recent tour of a local hydrogen plant. (1) It's seriously inefficient. They quoted an expectation of reaching 65% efficiency some time in the future, I can't remember what that was conditional on. Maybe running 24/7. You can see all the losses when you see all the plant running, multistage compressors, pumps etc, and a huge cooling plant disposing of the heat generated by compressing to however many hundred bar. (2) The "using excess renewable energy" story is pure fairy tale at the moment. The plant takes hours to get started up so they typically run for 8 or 10 hours. The energy uses is therefore whatever mix is on the grid at that time whether that's renewable, nuclear or pure fossil fuelled.

Most comes from our own trees, but if we have to top up it's £45 per cu m collected, for dried split softwood 250mm lengths. £85 for hardwood. https://www.firewoodbylfs.co.uk/linnorie-firewood-products

Around £25 from Garden Hire Spares.

How often is air or vacuum leak the culprit?

If I'd looked properly at the pictures I'd have seen differences in the fuel pipe - particularly that the corrugations don't extend right to the end. Maybe not so apparent that it's a bit longer either. However without hindsight I might not have guessed that these would make the hose kink and flatten at the carb inlet and therefore completely useless.

Hi, I was wondering, in general, which parts if any people would be happy replacing with third party, and which you'd say definitely stick with genuine Stihl. Also any recommended suppliers. Last time I bought bits I used an Ebay seller by the name of blindstickinsect, also trading as "Mister Solutions" but the seem to have disappeared. I'm writing this after trying a third party fuel pipe, and finding it completely useless. I don't know if I was unlucky with the supplier or whether it was just a bad idea in the first place. On the other hand the impulse hose and the oil pipe on my MS180 both seem perfectly fine. Thanks, Tony S

Is this the two saws on Ebay, "unwanted gift"?

We've just had some cutting done by SSE, well actually by a tree company contracted by them. I think the issue is that they only want to come round every four years or so, so they're going to cut everything back so it won't need attention for four years. Regarding cutting yourself, that depends how close to the wires it's ground. SSE wouldn't want us to cut anything that's within 3m, whereas they are allowed to cut if it's over 0.8m. So for me to cut it myself I need get in a lot earlier.

I think your local Planning Dept should be able to tell you how the land is currently classified, for example in the past there may have been a Change of Use planning permission to change from agricultural land to garden ground.

Shouldn't kiln dried wood be dry right the way through?

I've seen a lot of reference to that 38% figure "38% of UK primary PM emissions come from burning wood and coal in domestic open fires and solid fuel stoves" but I don't think I've ever seen that broken down between wood and coal or stove vs open fires.

Our old McCulloch brush cutter gave three permissible fuel mixes .. (1) McCulloch synthetic oil at 40:1, (2) Other brand synthetic oil and lead free petrol at 40:1, (3) Anything else, 20:1. Not sure what to make of that but it suggests that leaded petrol didn't in fact help with lubrication.

I sweep mine from the top with normal rods and a brush. The debris ends up in the stove and can be removed once the dust settles. None of my house insurers have ever had anything to say about stoves, chimneys or sweeping.

Fair point. I was just going by what was posted earlier, I don't read Norwegian except via Google. Why don't you have a look and see if they have the same advice in Norwegian or other languages?

Surely that's only one and a bit, if Jotul only makes that stipulation in the UK and not in their other markets.

What happened to me was the handle came off while I was working two handed, so instead of the file dropping to the floor I jabbed my wrist onto the tang.

Anyway I have another related question. The existing chain on the saw sorely needs sharpening, but it is currently filed at nearer to 45 degrees. Not sure if I should match that or change to 30 degrees as I go (maybe over a couple of sharpenings). It's a Stihl chain, marked 2 and C on the cutter, 6 on the drive link and 4 on the tie. I can't find what the "C" means. (Edit - just found it means "Comfort").

I wonder how it will relate to multi fuel stoves. To give an example, I think a basic Morso Squirrel would be compliant in a smoke free zone if burning approved smokeless solid fuel, but not if burning wood.

I think there's a difference in that chainsaw sharpening files have quite a short life compared to general purpose metalworking tools where the file is more likely to outlast the handle.

Garden Hire Spares, on their own website rather than Ebay - www.gardenhirespares.co.uk