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

Hello,

  I have seen a lot of posts that say "make sure it has a fuel shutoff valve", "I added a fuel shutoff valve", but am not sure exactly what this is for?  The manual doesn't really mention it.  How should it be used?  Is it solely for if you want to keep gas in your tank during the summer, you turn off the valve when summerizing the machine and let the carb/line run dry?  Or should I be using it every time I use the blower? Sorry for the cluelessness!

Thanks,
Dan

Best practice is to turn it off every time when you are done with the machine.  If you leave it open and there is a leak farther downstream (fuel line to carbureter or the carb itself) you will be lucky to smell it before your garage (hope it isn't an attached garage  lol) goes up in flames.  When you store a machine there should not be gas in the carbureter because it will oxidize and gum up the sensitive parts there.  Some say just to add stabilizer to the gas tank after filling it, turn off the gas valve, and run it until it stops which will leave it with a dry carb and a full tank of stabilized fuel.  I prefer to store it with a dry carb and a dry tank (drain the tank and run it till it stops).  But draining the tank may be diffucult, depending on what machine you have.

Dr_Woof wrote:

 Yep, it's parked 8 feet beneath my bedroom with the cars .  Thanks for the info, I will get in the habit of turning it off.  Does anyone use it every time they use the blower?  Let it run out of gas every time? Or is it worse for the machine to run out of gas than it is to sit with gas in the carb for a few weeks?

Thanks,
Dan

You dont have to run it dry every time you use it.  Just turn the gas valve off when you are done and it is  parked below your bed.  Running it dry is for long term storage - when winter is done and you put it away till next winter.

I use the fuel shut off valve every time I use the snowblower.  As an example on my Simplicity 860E, I turn on the fuel valve before starting and I turn off the fuel valve after I have shut down the 860E.  I do not run the carburetor dry except when storing the 860E at the end of the snow season.  There is no need to run the carburetor dry between uses since the cold temperatures will minimize any fuel degradation.

The most important time is when you are transporting the blower say trailer/back of truck seems alot of fuel seeps in the carb floods it and sometimes makes in impossible to start and this translates into a 100.00 visit to the dealer. Happened numerous times on my 4-wheelers.

daniel! it's a goodpractice to shut it off everytime and you don't have to run it dry until you put it away for long term storage. when you turn it off and let it run out of gas as it starts to die put the choke on all the way and pump the primer  to get every drop out of the carb .  be aware when you turn the gas back on for the first time after storage that the float bowl gasket or bottom gasket around the jet if it has one could leak abit until the dry gaskets swell up again. also read my post"the easiest fix i ever had" i posted a couple days ago. it could save you some  unneccesary aggrevation. one tip is to use  a little sea foam  for storage and top off the tank with fresh gas before the first start .