[blueturbofly]

new guy seems pretty good, jumped right in and did a carb job on a snowblower, i didnt have to hold his hand.
he finished some leftover work from the previous guy, actually diagnosed the real problem with a drill, not just the other guys '‘ its the trigger’‘ or ’‘it got wet’' bs line…..gearbox was locked up, not a bad trigger…customer was mad….$71 for a trigger, $180 for a gearbox…..so it got salvaged….
he also fixed two framing nailers, he just took his time and installed new parts, made sure the seals were in the right spots….and they worked! the other guy couldnt do that.
he actually knows how to use a multi-meter. he is not scared to bypass switches and what not to diagnose things properly. alot more efficient. no more bashing stuff with a hammer.

lots of snowblowers and leafblowers- the snowbirds cant go south, so now they are getting their stuff serviced….that has been sitting for years…..wow some dirty carbs….
one came in yesterday with the fuel tank rotted off in pieces….

[blueturbofly]

old guy diving a $100,000 + truck drops off a simple push mower, '‘ engine smokes, diagnose and call for estimate’'
oil is low and jet black. pull the cord a few times, didnt sound right. flipped it on its side and verified a bent crank-shaft.
owner was upset we couldnt fix it, then wanted my boss to buy it….um its scrap buddy….the owner left it behind for scrap, cuz the boss told him he owes $35 for looking at it……
another ass-hat with a generator and portable gas air compressor…..dropped of at 4 pm monday….parts guy called him tuesday morning to tell him the battery was n/g, so the guy came by at 8:30 with a battery and complaining that his items were not done yet…..um….your genrator had wiring / switch issues as well as dirty carb and stale fuel and low engine oil
and your gas air compressor had alot of issues as well. wanted a full service, had to remove air fittings to remove/clean carb , bent exhaust parts, bad recoil, blah blah blah…..
some people have NO CLUE what it takes to fix their stuff/ junk
and 6 snowblowers arrived yesterday, as well as 2 more generators…. fun fun

[Walt]

Looks that you have enough to do

[blueturbofly]

i cranked out 5 snowblowers and a gen-set yesterday…..not bad at all. well, actually 4 snowblowers….one is waiting for a choke cable, an old honda snowblower that is in MINT shape- did the tune-up, runs good, but waiting on parts now.

the new co-worker actually knows his stuff, has repaired stuff the last guy said was no good or needed a part when that part was actually good….as in a rigid drill…other guy said motor…..so new guy replaces motor in drill….still doesnt work….he tries to hot-wire motor while attached to switch, smokes the test leads. i mention that maybe the switch is shorting out, he dis-connects one terminal, hot-wires motor and it works.
then he back-probes the switch with a dvom, and finds a direct short in the switch. nice. parts guy orders switch…

and i fought with a '‘poulan’‘ chainsaw….’‘not running, needs tune-up’' when i read that its usually a death sentence for said 2-stroke, esp chainsaws….remove muffler, scoring on piston and cylinder…..it did idle for a few seconds….dump out unknown fuel, replace cracked primer bulb…it would run, but not rev up…remove and clean carb (seen lots of chainsaws with sawdust in carb) but noticed that someone had turned the idle screw all the way in, and both the high and low jets were screwed all the way out…..
after about a half hour of playing with the carb i finally had it running good, but not great….the cylinder does have issues….
we have lots of poulan chainsaws with wrecked engines…same scored piston/ jug….and a new poulan chainsaw is $129….

[Howas1998]

Cordless impact drivers are the best for smooth job and it help in doing fast and accurate

[blueturbofly]

wow get a little snow….well, i had 3′ and couldnt get to work for two days….and the shtf…..i got to work last thursday, and there was a shop overflowing with snowblowers. majority of them had been sitting for 5+ years , full of stale gas, badly plugged carbs- constantly removing and soaking carbs….EVERY SINGLE ONE…one i had to soak and clean 4 times before it would run properly…..why do people leave it to the last minute? we were warned about this storm over a week before it showed up…..
oh well, job security

[blueturbofly]

wow snowblower central…..every size and shape-lots of near new units, ALL with very dirty carbs. i mean soak overnight dirty
most have been sitting for 5 to 7 years….
BUT I PUT FRESH FUEL IN IT…. or I PUT IN A NEW SPARK PLUG, BUT IT STILL WONT START-ITS ONLLY BEEN SITTING FOR 5 YEARS OR SO….. and some clunkers that need a bunch of work, but people dont / wont spend the money
keeps me busy, thats for sure. and the business is deemed '‘essential’' , so i should still have a job….another full covid lockdown started yesterday, this time for 3 weeks…..

[Walt]

Good luck in the lock down

[blueturbofly]

customer brings in a 2-stroke saw, along with a bag of parts for it…. it actually runs excellent ! it was , of course, a dirty carb, plugged with concrete dust….in the fuel system…
ANOTHER HYUNDAI gen-set showed up….guess what? it doesnt run….just like the other two i have been trying to diagnose…..DARN IT, PEOPLE, BUY NAME BRAND GEN-SET! DONT GET SOLD ON GOOFY LITTLE FEATURES, RESEARCH THE RELIABILITY OF THE BRAND !!!
anyways, busy busy busy
fought with one snowblower, took forever to get the choke cable, old honda, but parts still available
could not get it to stay running, fuel getting pushed thru carb into cylinder, cleaned carb twice, tried different spark-plugs, check and adjust valves….then i notice the way the valve cover vent hose was vented to the carb vent, not to the air cleaner housing or atmosphere….hmm
pull carb vent hose out of valve cover hose, unit runs great!

just cuz it looks like it should fit, doesnt mean it belongs there…. i made sure it was hose clamped onto its proper barb, and then zip-tied the hose in a few spots so the owner doesnt screw with it.

and another customer go to: '‘ i put a new spark plug in it, but it still doesnt run’'
or they always fill the fuel tank to the top, and tell me to save their fuel….nope, cant do that, i dont know your fuel, and i need to clean and flush your fuel tank….you just wasted $1.50 in gas filling it up…

and dyed fuel is really hard on fuel systems- i have soaked carbs overnight, and the aluminum is still stained puple in color…

[blueturbofly]

i had a good day yesterday at work….5 snowblowers, an ice auger, and two gen-sets….6 were full carb job/ tune up specials (clean/tune carb, new oil &spark plug, cable/ rod adjustment, general check-over)
but then one comes in, that the owner has '‘played mechanic’‘ on and has really messed it up, custom bent throttle linkages, extra fuel filter- but the one in the tank , from factory, was cut apart and rendered useless….kept getting junk in the carb….AND the inline filter had no guts in it, poked out with a screwdriver….’‘custom’' fuel line holder- that was actually pinching off the fuel supply….
so much for his tune up special, you got billed an extra half hour, plus all new fuel line, AND the proper in-tank/ in line fuel filters….
and then he asked if he should run octane boost in it; its a 5 hp ,16 inch wide rubber paddle single stage snowblower……

i have a larger shovel at home that can move more snow than that thing….