Line trimmer repair costs

Uncle Pierre

This is one of those "not sure if this is the best place to post this" times, but seems to be lots of talk here about line trimmers and lawn mowers and the like, so hoping somebody might be able to give me a steer on this.

Am having a problem with a Husqvarna line trimmer, in that it needs a bit of encouragement to start at all, and then when running, it tends to cut out if you first apply full throttle and then let it idle again. And when that happens, it's a right bugger to get it started again.

Left it with the dealer today and the guy says it's probably dirt in it somewhere. Assuming that's the case and it involves checking/cleaning out the carburettor and/or fuel line, what might a ballpark figure be for the bill I get?

Or is there anything else that might the problem? It's a relatively new machine and would still be covered by the 12-month warranty.

_Brian

Over the winter did you leave petrol mix in the tank??

Mix tends to deteriorate with time and gum up the carburettor.

We find that take off the air filter cover and spray the carb cleaner in. Leave for 5 minutes and start the strimmer. The carb cleaner will dissolve the gunk. Operate the throttle when spraying in carb cleaner.

Obviously empty the tank and refill with fresh mix before starting.

Get the carb cleaner in Halfords etc.

Uncle Pierre

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply. It's good advice in general, so sorry to have to say, but it doesn't really apply here.

I only bought the thing in March (just before lockdown), so it's not that there was the same fuel sitting in it for months on end. It's not a problem caused by fuel that was sitting in another container for several months either, as I mix it just two litres at a time, which tends to be no more than about a six-week supply.

The trimmer is just six months old and therefore still under warranty so I was reluctant to go trying things myself, for fear dealer would claim it invalidates the warranty. Also, had looked on Google and Youtube a bit, and all seemed to suggest that trying to clean it would involve taking several bits apart. Wouldn't fancy that at the best of times anyway! But you're saying it can work to just remove the air filter cover and the filter itself, and spray cleaner in behind that? I'd manage that much myself all right!

However, remember that I can't even try that now, because it's already gone back to the dealer. So, back to the original question - anybody know what might be a reasonable ballpark figure for him to charge for sorting it out?

Or considering it's so new and maybe unlikely (I think, though I'm far from an expert!) that it's caused by a bad fuel mix, might the problem be anything else, that might be covered under warranty?

Thanks again for your help.

_Brian

When you say bad fuel mix do you mean incorrect fuel mix.

Removing the air filter cover and spraying carb cleaner in will not invalidate warranty.

To strip and clean a carb using no new parts is 30-45 minutes work, probably charges €30/hr

Uncle Pierre

_Brian wrote: »

When you say bad fuel mix do you mean incorrect fuel mix.

Removing the air filter cover and spraying carb cleaner in will not invalidate warranty.

To strip and clean a carb using no new parts is 30-45 minutes work, probably charges €30/hr

Thanks again.

Didn't mean incorrect fuel mix as I'm very particular about things like measuring it out properly. Meant "bad" more in the sense of a fuel mix that had become bad by picking up dirt somewhere along the line.

As said above, didn't realise you could just spray cleaner in without first distmantling at least part of the carb. Good to know for future reference.

And thanks for the ballpark figure for what it might cost in the end too. Much appreciated.