On Oct 16, 9:51*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:54:06 -0400, Jim wrote:

I have had pretty good luck not draining the carburetor. On one piece of
equipment that goes long periods between uses I had never drained the
carburetor until one year I did and the next time I went to use the
machine it wouldn't start. Had to do a little carb work to get it going
again. Coincidence, maybe. But I will never drain a carb again.

My cheap Craftsman 2-stroke weed-whacker is going on 5 years
without draining or Stabil.
The 4-stroke Honda engine Craftsman mower is going on 6 or 7 years I
think, same deal. *They run fine.
I didn't have a plan, just lazy.
Some carbs handle letting the gas sit, some don't.
That's what I think.
I agree it's best not to let them sit "dry," unless you can blow them
out somehow.
If I wasn't lazy I'd use the Stabil, but it looks like I got lucky
with carbs.
Next time I get something new, I'll pick up some Stabil.
Right.

--Vic

On most of my stuff I leave the gas in and seem to get away with it.
I regularly put stabil in all the gas for my small engine stuff. All
year cause I never know when a piece of equipment is going to sit for
while. The boat gets stabil at the end of the year. But I've got a 4
kwatt generator that I run dry when I'm finished with it. If I don't,
the gas evaporates from the bowl and leaves deposits inside the main
jet. Then it will surge until I pull the jet and clean it out with a
jet bit. I will say the generator runs at a high engine speed so it
is probably sucking all the gas out via the main jet. Letting
something run down at idle may not accomplish the same thing if the
idle circuit is higher in the bowl.

I just got a great deal on a chipper/shredder that was practically new
because it wouldn't start. Bad gas.