Homeowner's Blog » Tools

Small Engine Repair

Paul — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:49:14 +0000

Most outdoor yard equipment uses some type of gas powered small engine. Generally, these units are reliable and will give good performance. Every once in a while, however, they won’t start.

This year, I went to fire up the trusty rototiller (Yard Machines 21A332A700) to start working on the garden and I spent quite a while pulling on that rope with nothing to show for it. It turns out, there were several problems. These are the basic trouble shooting steps:

Check the fuel. Gas goes bad after a while, bad gas will smell funny. If the gas has sat in the tank all winter, drain it out and replace with fresh gas. Check the carburetor, most have a drain bolt on the bottom, drain about 1 tablespoon of gas out. If the unit has a fuel filter, check that too.
Check ignition. Remove the spark plug and check for damage. Check for proper gap. The spark plug should have slightly grey/brown ash on it, that is normal. Black gunk indicates a more serious problem. If several attempts at starting were made, the spark plug should have a slight coating of gas on it and the cylinder should smell like gas. Wait about 5 minutes then ground the spark plug on the engine and pull the starter. You should see/hear the spark. If not, there is an ignition problem.
Remove the air filter and be sure that the choke plate is closed.
After several starting attempts, the carburetor throat should be slightly wet with gas. If not, there is a fuel problem.
If everything looks normal (fuel and ignition okay) then the flywheel key might be bent. This could happen if the engine was stopped after hitting something. In many cases, the fly wheel key can be replaced.

Briggs and Stratton 6.5 HP engine with flywheel cover removed

With the rototiller, I found two problems, no gas and no spark. The gas problem was due to a clogged carburetor port. I took apart the carburetor and blew out all the ports with 35 PSI compressed air to make sure that no other junk was stuck in there.

Briggs and Stratton 6.5 HP engine ignition coil

The ignition problems were due to a mouse nest under the fly wheel cover. The mice chewed through the insulation on the kill wire. I tried to re-insulate the wire, but there was still no spark. I replaced the entire ignition coil. Briggs and Stratton has a good web site where one get know how and order parts directly.

I also installed a new, properly gapped spark plug. Total cost of repair, about $40.00.

Tool Review: Ridgid DP1550 Drill Press

Paul — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:04:29 +0000

I have been doing quite a bit of metal fabrication lately, prototyping my ideas, working on projects and what not. About 3 months ago, it became apparent that I needed a drill press. I searched high and low for a used 12 to 16 inch floor drill press at a reasonable cost. One would think, with all the talk of recession and what not, somebody would want to be parting with some excess equipment. And they were, but for nowhere near the price that I was expecting.

Ridgid DP1550 15 inch drill press

After the holiday, I finally broke down and bought a one new from the Home Depot. The Ridgid DP1550 drill press cost $300.00 plus tax, which is less than half of a used Delta or Rockwell drill press on Ebay or Craig’s List. Further, it is new! I have several Ridgid tools and always found them to be solid reliable units. I would not want to use this machine in a manufacturing plant, or other heavy use application, but for my purposes, it is perfect. Also, it is a medium sized floor unit, with a good sized hand truck, one person can easily move it.

It took about an hour to put together. I have used it for two projects so far, both relatively easy. I can say that the drill press made the template set up easy and repetitive drilling accurate (better repeatability), thus saving time and making a better prototype. It has a pulley/belt drive system that allows different drill speeds to be generated. It has a 1/2 HP motor, so it should drill through just about anything that will fit under it. I also found a chain for the chuck key to keep in from wondering away. I have a habit of putting those things in my pocket, then spending a half an hour looking for it later on.

I have it set on the lowest speed right now because I am mostly drilling aluminum angle and flat bar. When machining aluminum, it is best to use lower speeds and tools designed to work with that type metal. Aluminum has a tendency to clump to a cutting surface. A little bit of penetrating oil, such as WD-40 on the cutting surface helps prevent this.

All in all, this is an inexpensive, medium sized drill press. It has done everything I have needed it to do with ease. I would recommend it to someone looking for a home shop drill press.

New Cub Cadet CC4175 String Trimmer

Paul — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:41:31 +0000

Happy Birthday to me! With my Home Depot gift certificate from Aunt Barbra and Uncle Jim, I purchased a new string trimmer to replace the old one which met its demise earlier this spring. She’s a bute! There are several nice things about this unit; first, it has a 4 cycle engine. No more mixing oil and gas and hoping that I don’t foul a spark plug. Plus, it always seems that each tool, e.g. chain saw, string trimmer, hedge trimmer, used a different fuel to oil ratio, making life difficult. Second, it has several different attachment head accessories that can be bought, so not only is it a string trimmer, it can be a pole chain saw, hedge trimmer, brush cutter, mini rototiller, edger and so on.

There were two units to choose from, the less expensive, less versatile curved shaft unit, or the straight shaft unit. I like the straight shaft units better because it seems to be a better design; less friction, less wear and tear on the power transfer cable, etc. Perhaps I am just imagining it, but it seems to be much more sturdy that the old Pouland string trimmer.

Since it has a 4 cycle engine, it requires crank case oil and there are all sorts of warnings and stickers to that effect. Guessing they may have had problems with that in the past. Anyway, a 3.04 ounce bottle of SAE 30 HD motor oil is provided. I am going to keep the little bottle to measure out oil changes when needed in the future. I also noted that it is about 1 to 2 pounds heavier than the old string trimmer. It seems to have more power than the old unit, and no smoky exhaust to breath while trimming up the yard.

Some assembly required.

I am looking forward to finishing up the trimming over the weekend.

Tool Review: Bosch 1194AVSRK Hammer Drill

Paul — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:22:24 +0000

When drilling into concrete a hammer drill or rotary hammer is a must. An ordinary drill with a masonry bit will just spin and spin and spin until your arm gets too tired to hold the drill up, then you’ll have to stop and drink a glass of water or something. A Hammer drill is not only drill, they have a miniature jack hammer built in, so they drill through concrete and cement like it is white pine. Hammer drills are also nice because you can switch between an ordinary drill (without the hammer function) or a hammer drill with the flip of a switch which gives it added functionality as it can be used like a regular drill when required.

I have owned this unit for about 6 years now and it has held up well under use. It seems a little stiff to turn by hand, but then again, perhaps that is normal. It is geared pretty low and has plenty of torque.

The Bosch 1194AVSRK drill is a 1/2 inch standard (keyed) chuck drill. It has plenty of power for all jobs and makes quick work of any masonry drilling up to 1/2 inch sized bits. For larger sized masonry holes, there are a few choices. Bosch makes several SDS drills which use special SDS masonry core drills. These work like conventional hole saws, only they are made for masonry work. Or, you can do what I did last summer when I installed the new well pump, I used a hammer and chisel to knock a 2 inch hole in the side of the cinder block foundation. Unfortunately for me, somebody filled the cinder block cells with what looked like 4000 PSI concrete and it took some doing to get the hole all the way through the wall.

Anyway, having the hammer drill around makes light work any masonry drilling needed.

The right tool for the job

Paul — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:41:20 +0000

Jay has a good story about soldering (or resoldering) a pipe on his boiler. It seems that there was one little elbow, on the water return side of the boiler, which was leaking. Jay, always the conscientious homeowner, decided to resolder the leaking joint. So far, so good. He drained all the water out of his hydronic heating system. Mind you, the temperatures around here have been running between 5-10 degrees F outside at night around here, so this needed to be a fast job. Then he broke out his small propane torch and spend the next hour or so trying to heat the joint to get it apart, then solder it back together. When he told me the story yesterday, I said “Propane, oh no, no, no. My friend, what you need is MAPP gas and a turbo torch.”

What you need when you are soldering is heat, lots of heat, fast. The only way to get a good solder joint is to heat it up and apply most of the solder after you remove the torch. It should flow through the joint and stay melted for several seconds. I did a good post about soldering pipes, and as an added bonus, here is a youtube video:

And, here is a link to a pipe soldering video from ask the builder.com.Back to Jay, over lunch time, we went the very convenient Home Depot and picked up a Bernzomatic
TS4000T trigger start touch and a cylinder of MAPP gas.Results: Jay came into my office this morning and said, “It was unbelievable, I held the (new TS4000T) torch on there for like, 10 seconds, and (sucking noise) the solder just went right in!”It is all about having the right tool for the job.

Tool Review: Makita 6213D 3/8 12 volt Cordless Drill

Paul — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 11:54:49 +0000

I got this drill set as a Christmas present about ten years ago. It has been a good unit, before I purchased my 18 volt cordless, I used it almost exclusively as my primary drill. There are a few things that it did not do well, such as drilling through concrete, and other heavy work better left to a corded drill.

It kicked around in the back of my work truck for a while, I used it to put up the drywall in my house, etc. It is comfortable to work with, not too heavy for overhead work, has good torque for starting hard to turn screws. It came with two batteries and a charger, which is pretty much standard these days for cordless equipment.

I have had two problems with it, first after about six years, the original charger stopped working. At first I thought that the batteries were dead, so I purchased new batteries. When that did not fix the problem (battery life was about 3 minutes) I purchased a new charger and that took care of it. I was able to find the batteries and charger at Home Depot. Now I have four batteries, which is good for long projects where batteries can run down quickly. I find with heavy use, a battery charge lasts about 15 to 20 minutes.

The second problem I had was with the speed selector. On the top of the drill there are two settings; I and II. The switch got loose so that it would slip between the I and the II and that would cause the key-less chuck to go dead. I took the drill apart and tightened a few things up and it has not happened since then. I think if it were a real problem, I could get another switch from Makita.
Overall it has been a good drill, reliable, durable with enough power to do medium duty work. It appears that this model is no longer made by Makita, however, there are several newer Makita models to choose from.

Tool Review: Bosch 1587AVS Jig Saw

Paul — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 18:52:43 +0000

I have owned this saw for about 5 years now. It did all of the rough in work in the bathroom and kitchen, I have used it to do light cutting while making furniture, and for light duty work where the DeWalt reciprocating saw would not fit. I used it to cut out the kitchen counter top to install the sink and the stove. It is a good general saw, but I have some issues with it

Bosch 1587 AVS jig saw

First of all, the quick change blade mechanism can be kind of troublesome. If the blade is fully extended, it needs to be pushed up somewhat so that the blade can be extracted. Next, the foot, or cutting surface has been bent upward on the right side. This happened fairly recently when the saw was dropped from about 2 feet high. I would think foot would be a little stronger than that.I may try to straighten it out a little bit, but with aluminum, you risk breaking the part off if you try to bend it back.

Bosch jig saw, bent foot

Otherwise, it has been a good saw. Like all of my tools, it has had quite a bit of use. I used it on the job, cutting laminate counter tops to install consoles, and I have also used it to cut metal rack pieces. I like to put things through there paces, as you can see. The saw came with the white metal carrying case and several different blades. Overall, I would give this a rating of 4/5.

Overall, I like Bosch tools, they are durable and work as advertised.

Tool Review: Ridgid 18 Volt Cordless Drill, R84001

Paul — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 17:43:36 +0000

The other work horse in the stable, my Ridgid cordless drill. I actually have two cordless drills, a 12V Makita and this one. The 12 Volt Makita is a good all around drill, works for every day use, hanging pictures, putting together kids toys and so on. The Ridgid cordless drill does the heavy lifting, drilling through sill plates, joists, and girders to run electric and plumbing lines. I used it to screw together the grape trellis over the patio last summer. That is made out of Black locust, a very dense heavy wood, so it takes a fair amount of torque to get a 6 inch screw through that.

The Ridgid drill comes with a charger and two batteries. The charger charges a battery in about 30 minutes or so. I found that if I was doing a lot of drilling, I could easily run a battery down in about 15 minutes, so it may be worth while to buy an extra battery or two, if you plan on doing heavy installation work.
It has a key less chuck which works well, if you tighten it up snug, it does not come loose. The torque settings are easy to use also. It is a little more heavy than other cordless drills, but it is easier to deal with than a corded drill, so the convenience factor is high.

This drill is about 3 years old or so, it has had a fair amount of abuse, been dropped off a ladder a few times etc. I don’t remember what I paid for it, I think I need to start keeping receipts or something. I can say that it has saved me many many hours of time by replacing my 1/2 inch corded drill on most of my projects. If you need a good heavy duty cordless drill, this is a good tool to consider.

Unfortunately, this drill appears to be obsolete. A newer model is the Ridged 840011 which is a 1/2 inch drill. For more information on Ridgid tools, visit Ridged.com

Tool Review: DeWalt reciprocating saw, DW304

Paul — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:47:41 +0000

I thought I would do a review of some of my hand tools and power tools. I will start with the work horse, my DeWalt DW304 reciprocating saw.

De Walt DW 304 reciprocating saw

I bought this about 12 years ago and it has taken a beating. I have used it for most of my demolition work, removing walls, sawing through studs, pipes, nails and in some cases unused electrical wires. I have also used it for work related activities, once sawing a 20 KW RCA FM transmitter in half to remove it because it would not fit through the door. I have sawed a 1/4 inch thick steal plate in half with this. I have used it to cut fence posts, trim tree limbs, cut rusty bolts away, etc, etc.

It has been dropped, kicked and once had a 450 pound transformer fall over on top of it. I would call this one tough unit. I forget what I paid for it, but it did not seem like much at the time. I can say I have more than received my money’s worth from this tool.

Tools

Paul — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:22:37 +0000

Over the years I have managed to collect a fair amount of tools. One night while cleaning up the workbench, I managed to end up with most of my tools on the bench. I did a little more arranging and took this picture:

This is a list of tools present on the bench:

Dayton Bench Grinder
Ryobi RT101 routing table w/ Ryobi R161 router
Black and Decker 7600 router
Bostitch Finish air nailer
Campbell Hausfeld 4 gallon air compressor
Bosch 1587 Jig Saw
Bosch 601-194 hammer drill
Makita 6213D 12 volt cordless drill
Ridgid 10 inch miter saw
Dewalt DW304 reciprocating saw
Bosch 3365 planner
Skilsaw 5150 circular saw
Makita Bo 4552 orbital sander
Black and Decker 7448 finish sander

I suppose I can always use a few more things, like a belt sander, a hand held grinder, a right angle drill, to name a few. Eventually, I would like to get a MIG welder and perhaps a drill press and metal lathe. But that is some time in the future when I set up my metal fabrication shop.

Not shown in that picture are the hand tools like sockets, box wrenches, screw drivers, etc. The hand tools are Sears Craftsman because they have a lifetime warranty. I have taken a broken socket into Sears and had it replaced no questions asked. I have a full set of standard and metric tools kept in separate toolboxes so similar sized tools don