Materialist Update

[noahgibbs]

Lawnmower's broken. I don't know much about engine repair and I've checked the basics (gas? check. oil? check. primed? check. spark plug clean? check. electrical safety whatsit closed? check. That's it? D'oh!). So I'm probably getting a new one.

New Palm to replace one that has been broken for some time. My company's product is lovely in many ways, but it's simply not small enough to carry around in my pocket constantly. Lovely for gaming, though.

Have been keeping the house a tad cleaner and my room a tad better organized. That's good.

Need to get myself a new motorcycle now that I can afford to do so, and can physically handle it again. And gear. Good safety gear is key. Have been bike-less too long.

Comments

[bn29.livejournal.com]

What symptoms are you getting on the lawnmower? Does the engine turn over but not catch? Did you check the air filter? Have you tried spraying some carb cleaner in there?

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Haven't checked the air filter. I'm not seeing absolutely any smoke, or hearing a starterlike noise. I'd suspect the spark plug if I knew how to analyze it beyond "yup, looks clean and not obviously burnt out".

[bn29.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... did you check the spark plug cable and it's connection to the plug itself? You might want to get a friend to put a meter between on the cable contact and the plug socket ground while you pull the rope just to see if there's any juice going to the plug. If there is, then I'd try buying a new plug just to try it out before a buying a whole new mower. If not, then you might just need a new plug cable...

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

I checked the connection to the spark plug visually, that it was clean and a solid connection. Looked great, actually. Haven't tried with a voltmeter.

[bn29.livejournal.com]

If there turns out to be power, then I'd try running the plug out in the open air (with the plug plugged into its cable and a strong alligator clip connection from the socket ground to the plug body), just to see if it sparks. If it does, then you might not be getting any fuel into the carb, regardless of the priming. That could mean a clogged fuel line or fuel filter...

Also, this page (http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lmfaq.htm#lmdwiws) might help a bit...

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. Most of that page is stuff I've already tried (at least, the section on FAST), but I'll see what I can figure out about clogged fuel lines or lack of power, which both seem like possibilities here.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Thanks, by the way!

[bn29.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! :)

[xeyda.livejournal.com]

Heh, and then people wonder why I just buy new toys when mine break... *grin*

[bk2w.livejournal.com]

The lawnmower is running fine, it just takes a couple of attempts to get it running. My suspicion is water is getting into the gas tank when it rains. And, surprisingly, water doesn't burn all that well.

So it just takes a lot of priming (to get to good gas) and several starting attempts. Just this morning I got it going after three attempts of six pushes of the primer.

[angelbob.livejournal.com]

Huh. Weird. I gave it a significant multiple of that number, but apparently I wasn't sufficiently persistent.