Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My buddy has an echo pb210e blower. it was running great and then just died. he put on a brand new carb this spring and it was running top notch then in the middle of blowing it just died. . he asked me to check it out for him so i said ok. it is getting pleanty of gas. the spark is a blue small spark. i figured it was electronic so i started to take it apart looking for the culprit. i found it has a coil and a cdi module. the module is $93 and the coil is $63 i told my buddy and he said to keep it or junk it as he is going to purchase a new one. any tips on how to tell which one might be bad ? its not worth replacing both parts but if i can figure which one is bad it might be worth repairing. also any tips on where i can get the parts cheaper ? thanks

thanks for the advice.  as for the carb adjustment screws, what is the starting point?  when i first tried to crank it, nothing happened so i started turning and turning.  it still would not crank so i pulled the plug and found it was dry.  when i looked in the tank, the fuel line was turned up and not in the fuel (shoulda checked that first).  now the damage is done as far as the adjustment screws.  i now need a starting point.  should i seat the screws and back out 2 turns or what?  in the mean time, i'll take your advice and check what you suggested.  thanks again!

1 1/4  to 1 1/2   turns out is the starting point..

Friiy

Someone wrote that the correct rebuild kit is the  K10WAT.  In fact, it is the K20WAT.  The carburetor is a WT-409A.  If you check the listings of various parts sellers. you will see that the WT-409 requires a K20WAT rebuild kit.  I purchased a K10WAT and found that the gaskets and diaphragm were correct but that the supplied needle was way to big.

Now, a few questions:

The carb is stamped with the model number WT409A and also the number 814 elsewhere on the body.  I can find listings for WT409 but not WT409A.  Anywone know what the "A"  means?

There are orange plastic screw or screw caps for the high and low speed adjustments.  Are these caps?  Can they be removed?

My problem is that the machine will not run slowly and even when running fast tends to stall as if it ran out of gas.  I rebuilt the carb but nothing change. 

Check your throttle cable/linkage to ensure it's not partially applied.  I have a Stil brush cutter that was doing the same thing.  Running at operating speed as soon as it was started.  I traced the problem back to the throttle cable being twisted and opening the carb slide.  Also check to ensure your choke is completely dis-engaging.  That could cause initial higher engine speed then once warmed up, the choke will stall the engine.  Also look for water debris in your fuel tank & filter.  It could be causing the hight speed stalling.   

I know your frustration,   if you go to the Echo website ande look up the pb-210e model unless you use the serial number of the unit you may get the wrong carb part numbers,  The pb-210 and the pb-210e and the final model pb-210ep ( I think?) were made from early 1980s till 2007 June.

Every one of the carbs used for nearly 30 years was the WAT carb line...  there were "california emission"  (CARB act) pb-210ep's that were made for the last six months of 2007 that use that junk other carb. with the needle anti-tamper caps/ limit.  The first time I saw those on the blowers I thought someone had swapped it off a old junk ryobie or something.   99.95% of all echo blowers still running (pb-210 family ) use the WAT  carb.

If you plan on keeping the blower, change the carb. or order one of the newer junk kits and  keep it on hand .   Few shops  stock it, and anytime the blower does not run right...   the carb needs to be taken apart...( ether to adjust the needle or clean) just because the adjustment on the needles is so limited..

Check your fuel lines for small cracks, replace your fuel filter, look at your intake rubber boot for cracks (between carb/air cleaner housing), if no luck,  try to adjust your needle lever higher   (to allow longer needle open time on the metering diaphram and give you a richer mixture).

My mistake... there are some goofey units out in the feild with the weird carb.  you sould always check to see if your unit is one of the strange ones before you order parts.

Good luck

Friiy

Friiy wrote: 5) IT is never the coil or the igniter, the magneto cdi system on echo and other small products are bullet proof ( they don't work hard enough to fail).

Not quite true. I had no spark on my pb-210e that I’ve had since 1987. Talked to my local dealer who told me it was definitely the CDI or the coil. He suggested replacing both. (The CDI wasn’t made for a while, but Echo has recently started stocking them again.)

Fortunately, I still had the original receipt and both were covered under the original "lifetime warranty". Amazing in this day and age! I replaced both in about 20 minutes. Now starts and runs as if brand new.

      I don't believe that coils will "never fail",   I sold roughly 125 echo   pb-210 and the Pb-210e  a year for about 8 years qas a dealer..  (They were the most loved item by theives,  and if you ran them over with a truck they were done)....   I can not remember EVER having a warranty with a Echo pb-210 coil.  I have seen chafe the wire to the kill switch and ground out the coil, or break the inside guts of the switch to do the same... 

  I had maybe 10 to 15 echo's (blowers) in the shop at a time for repair in the shop,   I only kept one coil in stock for repair,  and only a used  for trouble shooting.   I would change coils for mech damage only, ie.. dog ate of spark plug wire,  dropped unit and coil is cracked...

I am just saying it is rare....be VERY VERY suspect if someone trys to sell you a coil for a problem..

Good Luck,

Friiy