Echo hand held blower stopped

[Donald]

I have a 2 cycle Echo hand held blower/leaf vacuum. I was using it as a leaf vacuum running at full throttle (locked). It just stopped. I said, OK out of gas. But it still had a half a tank, filled anyway. Not even a pop. Waited a day and still no pop or start. With choke in various positions. Primer bulb is full.

Took off the vacuum part and closed the safety guard cover (I think there is a safety switch there). No pop or start.

Plug is fine

 

[skyactiv]

You check for spark? Bad coil? Check the switch continuity?

 

[supton]

Sudden death? I presume you can feel compression when you pull the cord, so my guess is spark. No idea what the setup is, but I'd pull the plug out, reinsert the wire, hold the plug in one hand and give the cord a firm yank. [PM your address and I'll mail you some beers if you actually do this.] Jokes aside, place the removed plug out, set on the head and give a pull, see if you have spark.

My guess, the kill switch wiring is acting up. I don't know if it grounds out spark to kill spark, or if it enable spark, but either way, probably on the kill switch side. Maybe the magneto up and died, that's always possible.

*

You said it stopped and "locked"? Locked as in locked up? Pull the cord and the motor was frozen, that kind of locked up? But is now free? might be worse than I thought, like no compression... If that was the case I'd check to see if you ran the proper premixed gas, or 4 stroke gas instead.

 

[Warstud]

Buy a new fuel filter

 

[doitmyself]

@supton, He was running it with the throttle in locked, full position.

The diagnostic investigation revolves around : spark, air/fuel, compression, timing - all 4 required for any engine to run properly.

Follow the directions above to check for spark - attached plug pulled out and grounded to cylinder fins, pull and watch for spark. If no, or weak spark, replace plug and/or look for other spark problems. If have spark, next dribble an eyedropper of gas into the cylinder, reinstall plug, pull and see if it fires. If yes, then you have a fuel problem and pursue that (carb, fuel lines, filter, etc.).

Some other common problems are muffler screen carboned up (plugged). Bad magneto. Bad rings/cylinder (compression). Sometimes the carb will loosen at the cylinder mount and allow excess air in.

 

[supton]

@supton, He was running it with the throttle in locked, full position.

Reading comprehension fail on my part, thank you.

 

[Donald]

Sudden death? I presume you can feel compression when you pull the cord, so my guess is spark. No idea what the setup is, but I'd pull the plug out, reinsert the wire, hold the plug in one hand and give the cord a firm yank. [PM your address and I'll mail you some beers if you actually do this.] Jokes aside, place the removed plug out, set on the head and give a pull, see if you have spark.

My guess, the kill switch wiring is acting up. I don't know if it grounds out spark to kill spark, or if it enable spark, but either way, probably on the kill switch side. Maybe the magneto up and died, that's always possible.

*

You said it stopped and "locked"? Locked as in locked up? Pull the cord and the motor was frozen, that kind of locked up? But is now free? might be worse than I thought, like no compression... If that was the case I'd check to see if you ran the proper premixed gas, or 4 stroke gas instead.

When it stopped the throttle was locked on full throttle.

 

[spackard]

Sounds electrical.

 

[97prizm]

I have a 2 cycle Echo hand held blower/leaf vacuum. I was using it as a leaf vacuum running at full throttle (locked). It just stopped. I said, OK out of gas. But it still had a half a tank, filled anyway. Not even a pop. Waited a day and still no pop or start. With choke in various positions. Primer bulb is full.

Took off the vacuum part and closed the safety guard cover (I think there is a safety switch there). No pop or start.

Plug is fine

Fuel filter or spark arrestor screen became too plugged.

 

[TheLawnRanger]

You can still hear it off in the distance.

 

[Escape08]

If you have starting fluid or carburetor cleaner somewhere, on your engine: take out carburetor cover, take out air filter (if it has), open choke position, spray fluid in the hole/chamber. If it starts/runs a bit, you have a carburetor problem

 

[Warlord]

If it was running fine and then just stopped out of the blue without warning I’d suspect either something electrical or some debris got it’s way into the carb and stopped fuel flow. I’d try a new plug first and then start investigating further if that doesn’t fix it.

 

[Chris142]

Fuel line split?

 

[spasm3]

Check for spark, then check fuel lines, bulb for cracks, examine spark plug. Fuel line cracks can make it run lean if they suck air. Check fuel filter in tank. Check muffler screen.

 

[Donald]

The blower has probably 10 hours on it. Looking at the Echo website the product was a 5 year consumer warranty. It's stamped next to serial number that it was manufactured in May 2020. I will let them fix it. Hopefully the May 2020 will work as I do not have the sales slip.

 

[Fordiesel69]

drain the fuel, goto home depot and dump a quarter tank of echo red armor into it so when they pull a fuel sample they do not accuse you of using the wrong fuel mix. Save the receipt.

9 out of 10 times unless you bought the blower from the servicing dealer they will pull this tactic.

 

[nomas]

Try Starting fluid . If it runs at all you just eliminated half of the guesses here .

 

[Donald]

I went to local Echo dealer. He said he only does warranty work on Echo products that he sold a person. Thanks for being helpful.

Called Home Depot where I bought it and they said nationwide they are out of the OPE repair business.

Contacted Echo and they said go to a Echo Signature dealer. Found a large Ace hardware that is an Echo Signature dealer and they said no problems doing a warranty repair. Dropped it off. I am thinking it's a safety switch. I think it has two safety switches to prevent getting your hand inside while it's running. Also has the normal ON/OFF switch.

 

[jeepman3071]

The home depot near me has always been associated with a few local dealers they send equipment to for warranty repair. My bet is either a safety switch or ignition coil.

 

[Donald]

The home depot near me has always been associated with a few local dealers they send equipment to for warranty repair. My bet is either a safety switch or ignition coil.

Is that recent? The Home Depot associate who I talked seem to indicate that it was a nationwide change to no longer work on OPE. So they might have before but no longer.