I have learned, the hard way, over the past 25 years of owning a home. Owning small engine tools are fun, but can be costly. In Houston, we are always having power outages, and we use our Generators, once a year, for extended periods. Over the years the carburetor get plugged up. This is expensive. Same goes for my Chainsaws, Leaf Blowers, Weed Trimmer, Pressure Washer, and Lawn Mower. Even if you take care of everything, the Ethanol gas tears up the Aluminum Carbs. Taking these to small engine repair places, can cost a $100-$250 each time, to clean and get them running. No More Paying These Repair People. Now, with just a few small tools, I replace the Carburetor, with a new one, for between $10-$18, and they come with a new spark plug, air filter, gaskets, fuel lines, priming bulbs. Usually they are extremely easy to put on, and run great, right from the start. Amazon or Ebay, is all the searching you need. If you are less mechanically inclined, YouTube has all kinds of people showing your exact model, and repair, step by step. Doing this has saved me a lot of money, and the need to buy replacement equipment. Good luck. Let me know if this helps.
Mostly its the diaphragm in the carb (causes surging) which loses elasticity. These are pennies and takes 20mins to fix. (In my experience anyway)
Or you could just use Sta-Bil or run them out of gas if you arent going to use them for a while. I also run my power equipment out of gas when Im putting it away for the season and Ive never had a problem with the carb gumming up.
When the pump on my dishwasher went south, the repairman told me it was going to be $250 for travel and an hour on site. If parts were needed, it would have probably doubled. I watched some youtube, ordered a $35 pump and spent a few hours on it. I figured if it didn't work, I would have to spend the money to replace it so I might as well give it a shot. It didn't go as smoothly as it could have the first time through, but wasnt bad. A year later I replaced the other pump and it has been solid for the last 5 years. I know it won't last forever, but am happy with what I got out of it.
I use Stabilizer in all outdoor equipment. Sometimes it just gets plugged. On the larger things, I installed fuel shutoff valves. I shut them off, and run the carb dry. But, sometimes running things dry isnt an option. Like leaf blowers, and weed trimmers, usually 2 stroke stuff. 2 stroke engines arent effected as much by ethanol as 4 stroke engines. At least thats what I've noticed. .. ..
Once the peak usage season has ended I switch to the ethanol free fuel. $6 a quart at the hardware store, but not too bad for mowers, blowers and string trimmers not being heavily used.
Ethanol free fuel is available from the pump in some areas. I used to have a phone app to find them. Less of them now
There's supposed to be some in the Houston area, generally large Buc-cee's plus a couple of others. They just happen to be a bit farther from me than I want to drive to check out.
as a mechanic for 30 odd years i think everyone should have a basic idea how to maintain something mechanical.it just makes sense to me.i have seen some peoples "brake jobs"and such..damn scary.however..thankfully there are some people out there that can provide these services for others..remember the barber,blacksmith? while some charge huge $$ for services to get rich, others also do these things to help others and put food on the table..i am sure there is an internet fix for everything these days..can[t wait for the "fix your pacemaker in three easy steps"kit.. i am grateful i have the skills to repair my own small engines and machinery..as some should't be allowed to operate a screwdriver for safety reasons..my point in all this? it is cool that one can get parts to repair stuff these days..sometimes one couldn't get parts to repair anything unless you knew someone with access..still like that for many items/appliances etc..
I am inherently lazy, but I am fortunate to have found repairmen that are like the ones Brit described above. New cars and said mechanics: Forghedaboudit! $400.00 US for an LED head light assembly.
The saw shop I go to insists that ethanol blended fuel should never be used in lawn equipment including JD riding tractor/mowers and my Stihl 2-cycle FS-250 brushcutter. In BC (Canada) you can still find high octane non-ethanol blended gas. Chevron Premium is the best at 94 octane followed by Shell's top grade premium at 93. Both are ethanol free. The saw shop has a display of engine and carb internals that have been subjected to low octane ethanol fuel vs. "real" fuel. The difference in built up deposits and degradation of seals was clear. I've never used ethanol blends in any of my equipment and as far as my 2-cycle Stihl goes, I use Stihl brand 2-cycle mix oil which has stabilizer in it's formula. The Stihl owner's manual even calls for high octane and warns you to avoid using regular fuel. I run 'em dry at the end of the season before storing them. I've had my FS-250 for well over 10 years (probably 15) and it runs great to this day. John Deere and Stihl are expensive brands and I do everything possible to ensure I don't have to replace them more often than necessary. I even pump about ten litres into the tank of my truck before filling the containers for my lawn equipment to ensure I purge the line of regular ethanol fuel from the last person that filled up their car.