Two strokes can be a right pig to start and you have to get to know your particular engine... With mine, a Ryobi of nearly 10 years old I find the following a resonably reliable way fo starting it from cold.
1) Make sure it has fuel, at least half a tank.
2) Set the choke to full.
3) Set the run/stop switch to run.
4) Hold the throttle fully open.
5) Pull hard and fast.
6) Repeat pulls, if it doesn't so *any* sign of life after about 3 or 4 pulls give it a few more primes.
7) The moment it makes *any* attempt to fire set the choke to 1/2.
8) Keep pulling...
9) Mine will normally run (badly) on about the third pull after setting the choke to 1/2.
10) Keep the throttle fully open until it's settled down.
11) Slowly release the throttle it may idle or it may die.
12) Set the choke to none and restart.
I've had my Ryobi RBC-30SESA Brush Cutter with Hedge cutter for one week. I've had problems starting it but it's my fault. There is a lever that can be set to start or run. This lever must be set to start when starting - once started it changes automatically to run. Yep :-( next time I try to start it the lever is still on run :-( Once I realise my mistake and reset the lever to start it usually starts with 3/4 pulls on the cord.
Thought I'd overdone things by getting a Brush Cutter. Tried the strimmer attachment and thought it would have been all I needed - until tonight -
*no* way - big nettles and all sorts. The strimmer just tangled itself up. Went back to the Brush Cutter - perfect - no problems :-)
I think I'm happy with the Ryobi. I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks when I've cleared my (big) garden :-)
Well so far I have actually found mine easier to start than I was lead to believe by what I read in advance. Perhaps I have just been lucky[1].
My starting procedure (from cold):
1) Turn choke on, leave the throttle alone.
2) Push clear plastic priming tit 4 times - allowing it to refill with fuel after each push.
3) Turn switch to on.
4) Give two or three pulls on the string - it will fire on the second or third pull.
5) leave it idling with the choke on for ten seconds, Then squeeze the throttle to max - this disengages the choke. The engine should now rev and return to idle.
From warm it seems to start with just a pull and no need for priming, choke or throttle.
[1] One area I have deviated slightly from the recommendations is that I am running mine on super unleaded - this was not intentional, but the can of fuel I happened to have at hand was one I filled up the same time as my car. Never having tried it on regular unleaded I have no idea if this makes it any easier to start. FWIW I am using the red coloured Stihl 2 stroke oil.
Some 2=-strokes have a bulb you press to get fuel from te tahk into the carb.Press it till it feels full.
On one machine I had a blocked 'clunk' - possibly due to tank being left empty, when oil in fule dstays in clunk after fuel has evaporated. Solution was to remove clunk and reverse blow it after washing in fuel mixture.
Thanks all for the replies. The process I've been going through (following the instructions and fairly similar to all your recommendations) is:
- press plastic bulb up to somewhere between 4-7 times
- choke on full
- throttle on full
- pull hard 3-4 times
- as soon as it tries to fire put choke on half
- pull again.
Now at this point, when completely cold and following this procedure for the first time it will often fire up, and then stall a few seconds later (me getting the throttle on full the whole time - if I let off it dies immediately). When I try and start it again, either with the choke half or off, it then shows no life again.
I think the main problems are
- this unit is a pig to start anyway
- this being my first 2 stroke engine I don't have the knack yet.
Any other words of advice? I may spend a bit more time on it this weekend, and if I still don't get the knack replace it with something else. Those weeds aren't getting any smaller ...
Where did that stage go? You notice I mention repriming in 6) and I distinctly remember typing something like "Press the prime button the requisite number of times"! Oh well...
Mr Rumm's comment about letting the bulb refill between presses is valid.
Yes take it back to the supplier and ask them to look at it / service it. Often a new plug correctly gapped works wonders.
FWIW - i've got a brace of Stihl trimmers and strimmers- and they all will fire after 2 pulls from cold on choke, (primed and throttle set to Start) then 1/2 choke and two pulls it's away. When warm, one pull no choke everytime.
2 strokes can be finnicky but there is no excuse for it not to start easily especially as its practically new!!
Depending on how much it ran with the throttle held open I'll either give it a couple of primes(*) and try again at half choke or go back to full choke and primes. The former when it ran for say >5 to 10s before dieing, the later it it hardly ran at all.
Combination I suspect, IMHO all two strokes are pig from cold. As I said you need to get know your engine. Mine was a bit difficult the other week but that was the first start after just being left about Oct Nov last year and on the half tank of "old" petrol.
(*) I prime on the basis that it squirts a bit of fuel into the venturi of the carb but TBH I'm not sure it does on this engine. It certainly does on my B&S 4 stroke though but that has no choke.
No fuel. I suspcet you hjave a blocked fuel line or maybe main jet.
See if you can isolate the fuel line and take it off the carb and blow back down it to the tank and see bubbles.
The othert thig tyo check is the choke. I had a 4 stroke briggs servced..valves re-ground in etc..it became an utter pig to sart though eventually it would,
One day the pull cord broke from all that strain,and I dismantled it to fit a new one..and noticed the choke lever wasn't applying the choke due to being badly set up.
3 sceod with a screwdriver made it start good as new..
Given that this is a brand new item (I had it about a week) and it doesn't start easily or as described in the instructions, I'm sending it back to Screwfix.
I'll head out to the sheds/garden centres tomorrow for a replacement. If anyone can recommend anywhere good in the Oswestry or Welshpool areas, do let me know!
If you want to enjoy going to a truly old-fashioned ironmongers which sells all sorts (nails by the pound through to tractors), there's always Bunners in Montgomery. Undoubtedly they will have some decent brushcutters, etc. (I assume they are still going - haven't been for a few years now.)
Not a recommendation as such, but there's always in Newtown. (Used to be the cheap shop many years ago.)
There's also the agricultural merchants (name escapes me) on the industrial estate round the back of the railway station in Welshpool. (I know "station" is far too grand a name for that!)
I've a couple of Ryobis, both the 25cc and the 30cc. They're both easy to start cold, very easy when hot, and a right sod when barely warm.
You seem to need to have to learn your particular machine's behaviour. Some web bloggage says the 25cc is better than the 30, some say then
30 better than the 25. I've used two 25s (same day, same petrol) and they were individually different.
The big thing is petrol. _MUST_ be fresh, especially these days. Be careful using a mixing bottle, especially a big one. Don't mix more petrol than you're going to use in the next day or two. "Putting it away for later" always means a month later in hindsight, then it's troublesome. Dispose of waste petrol by diluting it into a car tank, don't be tempted to bonfire it!
The primer bulb is nicely done. It's small, so the "8 pumps from cold" can be reduced to 4 or fewer when re-starting. However you do need to wait for it to fill again after releasing it.
If you're having trouble, check that the choke is set right. There are three positions, but the centre position doesn't have a detent and tends to spring back to "open" when pulling the starter.
Mostly I have no trouble starting it (choked), but it cuts when I first open the throttle. The trick is to open very gradually, and not to open it fully if the choke is shut unless it's really cold. If you have to, warm it up under load by strimming a bit on the choke alone.
There is no link betwixt throttle and choke on my Ryobi strimmer but maybe more modern ones do. Follow up just to clarify that different engines have different arrangements. B-)
I might try starting mine sans full throttle next time and see how it goes. I have always used full throttle in the past and it's been OK.
Mine Used to start easily , now 2 years old has no spark after a winters rest and I think needs a new coil which my dealer tells me he is unable to source, any ideas ???
Not sure if this helps but I also purchased the Ryobi Strimmer with Hedge Trimmer from Screwfix. I have had exactly the same problems starting it after following all instructions to the letter i.e. getting the correct mix of petrol/oil, priming the carb, starting with full choke etc.. As a reasonably experienced classic car enthusiast, the problem seemed to be fuel or lack of it.
After a month of disillusionment (and hiding it in the back of the shed) I tried it again yesterday but no avail. I called Screwfix who, without question offered me a refund or a replacement. I took a replacement and it was delivered today.
This started without problem. I proceeded to cut my hedge (very effectively) and for 10 - 15 minutes I was in heaven. Then it cut out and I would not start no matter what.
After much cursing etc.. I now think I've twigged the problem. Whilst hedge trimming, the device is often "upside down". If you tip it up the other way and run it for a while in "strimmer" mode it is happy again!
Crazy or simple? Not sure yet but this approach allowed me to finish my hedge...
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.