OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Edgers Two Stroke Edgers tempremental weedeater edger

Ok guys, i managed to score a weedeater edger (ge 21).

After changing both fuel lines and the primer bulb (brittle poo) i gave the edger a run.

1st of all, the choke seems ok (after 2-3 pulls you get the brisk kickover), but, the edger itsself wont run unless i half squeeze the throttle and pull on the starter, sometimes i need to prime it to hell to get ti to run, I took apart the carby and gave it a soak in petrol, blew most of the cavities with carby cleaner but it did not seem to make a difference.

Once running (and squeezing the throttle) it goes well, but as soon as i start backing off the throttle the edger will just die. And a restart will take a while (more priming and pulling).

does anyone know whats going on? (i simply blame the cheap edger and think thats about as good as they get but im not sure)

There are carby adjusting screws (blue and brown/red) which are limited to 2/3 of a turn, turning them made little difference.


BTW, just to clarify, the thinner fuel line goes to the bottom inlet (six o clock) and the thick line goes to the 4 o clock position?

First, it is normal to set the throttle control something like one quarter open to start that kind of engine (el cheapo bent shaft whipper snipper) - they often have a throttle stop for the starting position. Second, they usually run miserably until they warm up - it isn't difficult to keep them going provided you leave them in the starting throttle position and let them scream, but it's best not to load them for a couple of minutes. Third, even after warm-up, unless you have it set to idle pretty fast, it won't idle. Fourth, it cools off very quickly: you will need the choke to restart just five minutes or so after shutting it down after a hard run.

That is the way it has always been with my Craftsman if it has a new spark plug - otherwise it is a lot worse. I don't really agree that the mixture adjustments don't make a difference, but you have to run for a while after each adjustment before conditions stabilise. Have you adjusted the idle speed? If you set it to idle sufficiently fast you should be able to get it to run with the throttle at idle, the problem is that if you drop the throttle suddenly from high speed, it stalls before conditions re-stabilise to allow it to run on the slow-running jet. (Forget that stuff about idling it at a speed that allows the centrifugal clutch to disengage, that is an opium dream.)

I think the main reason for the fairly poor running of my Craftsman is that the carburetor (Walbro WA series) is way too large for a 16 cc engine. I'm not familiar with your machine.

That's a good point drjbeam - it could easily apply to my old Craftsman as well. I bought it for $20 on ebay, after it had been unused for a couple of years, so the fuel pump diaphragm may not be in great shape. I got it running without much trouble, but the other whipper snippers I see people using are less finicky than mine. However I read a Ryobi manual recently, and it described the way mine runs as what you should expect.

grumpy, what you describe is basically what i have, a POS edger. ill change the carby diaphragm but it seemed quite soft when i had a look.

BTW the carby is a walbro as well...

Johno, please let us know whether replacing the diaphragm makes it work better. I'm assuming you have replaced the spark plug - doing that brightened mine up somewhat. The engine runs quite well at full scream, but does poorly otherwise. I think a smaller carburetor might make it into a decent machine - at 16 cc it really is a tiny engine, and seems to give maximum speed and power with the throttle set to the start position, which is less than a quarter open.

ok, i have replaced the diaphragm and i must admit it did help a fair bit. The edger does not cut out once throttle is released and does seem to respond to being tuned now as well!

The only thing i am having trouble with atm is actually getting it to start up, does anyone know of an official startup procedure for this edger?
i manage to start it by:
1. priming half dozen times
2. turning over to full choke and pull the starter few times till edger burps
3. turn it over to half choke and half throttle and pull another half dozen times,
4. going back to choke (caus it never fully engages)
5. finally, after fiddling for a while i give up
6. 5 mins later i pull away like a mad man on full throttle and no choke and it comes to life!

Johno123,

Did you replace the fuel filter in the tank as well as the screen in the carby.

In addition to what Bruce said, have you checked the fuel tank cap vent?
You are following the traditional start-up process through step 3. However after that it sounds a bit random - you don't know if it is too rich or too lean, and you are floundering around.

If nothing is wrong, it should start at step 3, but mine needs the choke at about 80% rather than half, and the throttle in starting position which is about a quarter. (Both these adjustments are probably required because the carburetor is way too big.) It sounds as if you are flooding it at step 4, then going (correctly) through a clearing procedure to start a flooded engine.

ok, fuel cap vent cleared, fuel filter replaced and now it actually runs without heaving the bejesus out of it!


thanks for the help fellas!

You are welcome Johno, I'll close this thread.