2 Cycle help

Echo 2 cycle weed eater was working fine until I used the pre mix can gas from Lowes. It ran for a minute and quit. Then 30 seconds and quit. I popped in a new spark plug hoping it was the cause and it ran for a minute and quit. It worked perfectly until I used that pre-mix is this a coincidence or does that stuff cause this. Advice?

 

How long ago was it running fine on your own mix?

 

Premix is better than pump gas. Not the problem. Sounds like a fuel filter or some other blockage in the fuel system. The ethanol in pump gas is the worst thing for small engines. I NEVER use it.

 

I've never used it, but it's probably just coincidence.

Just gonna need to do some troubleshooting. Verify fuel is flowing. Verify spark plug is sparking. Verify air intake isn't clogged/restricted. Then go from there.

 

How long since it's last use (like has it sat all winter) and last season did you run e10 from your local station or make the effort to find e0 to make your mix from?

The majority of no start or short run I've seen on Echo's was from the use of e10 and letting it sit for a few weeks.

IF you run the device every day, you 'can' sneak by with e10. If you let it sit a week or two at a time like for regular homeowners use, you're on the ragged edge.

If you let it sit over the winter w/o exercising it, it often needs a new carb kit. Shop will hit you pretty hard for that.

Moral. Any small engine, should be fed e0 to lower your risk.

Next time I'm in Lowe's I'll look for premixed gas. It's hard to imagine that a box store could carry fuel on the shelf and meet fire code.

 

I use the pre-mix synthetic fuel from Lowe's all the time with no issues.

 

Late to the party here but...
Usually when a 2 cycle fires up and runs 30 seconds and dies it is starving for fuel. Carb can't keep up with usage. Most often it's the diaphragm has hardened and usually from using ethanol. It could be from debris of some sort blocking a carb port. You can disassemble the carb, do it on a nice clean cloth so you don't lose any parts, and spray all the ports out with carb cleaner. You can youtube just about any brand 2 cycle for guidance. If it is the carb diaphragm then you can usually get a kit off Amazon for around $10 and rebuild it easily. Dirty air filter will make it run rich. Bottom line, don't ever use ethanol in a 2 cycle because it'll harden the diaphragm and fuel lines till they crack. And I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would buy premix fuel.

 

Because you don’t have to mix it. It contains no ethanol and stays stable for 2 years after the seal is broken. A good brand is expensive so if you use a lot it doesn’t make sense but if your like me and you use maybe a gallon or two a season it doesn’t make sense not to use it.