Last week I inherited a gas powered pressure washer from my father in law. He bought it five years ago, used it once, and it's been sitting in his garage since.

I knew, before I even attempted to start it, that it would not run. I explained to him that the gas would be bad, that it would smell sweet like paint thinner, that the gas would need to be drained, the carburetor emptied, a new spark plug installed, and an oil change too while we're at it. I explained that gasoline goes bad over time, that a fuel stabilizer like Sta-bil should be added to the gasoline of any infrequently used engines. I further explained that before putting away a small engine like that for storage one would be advised to fill the tank with freshly treated gas, run the engine to get fresh gas into the line, then close the fuel line, drain the carb, change the oil, and put a little oil into the spark plug hole before reinstalling the spark plug.

How is all that significant? Because I've never owned anything with a small engine before, and 100% of all the above knowledge was learned from just casually reading threads on Sigforum.

Thanks Sigforum!

you are good absorber of knowledge too.

I can not imagine someone not ever owning a small gas powered engine and then I remembered it's you.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
you are good absorber of knowledge too.

I can not imagine someone not ever owning a small gas powered engine and then I remembered it's you.

Besides doing yardwork as a kid while hanging out at friends houses ("you boys mow the lawn before heading to the arcade") I've always paid for landscaping!

18 years of membership! I was sitting at my computer in a dorm room 18 years ago when I made my first post on Sigforum.

And let me add, it does not matter what the question is, or how arcane the topic may be.

Someone will pop up who is an expert in the field.

As surely as the sun rises in the east, this is true.

And, are you now about to tell us that you pulled the cord on the thing and it started right up?

Ah, no. Pressure washer did indeed exhibit all the signs of bad gas.

I replaced the plug, oil, and gas and it started up with 3 pulls. Honda GCV160 engine, if I recall.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
And let me add, it does not matter what the question is, or how arcane the topic may be.

Someone will pop up who is an expert in the field.

As surely as the sun rises in the east, this is true.

No joke, since I read almost every non-political thread, I've accumulated so much seemingly arcane and random knowledge.

For instance, I now know that there's a hump back whale that once annually comes up to Alaska and basically makes a buffet out of the little salmon hatchlings that would otherwise be released (and, distinctly different than a salmon farm). Also, the economic loss of one of those fish pens is $13 million in future salmon. File that away for random knowledge.

Did you know that all cross head type screws are not the same? That a "Phillips" head screw is a particular pattern, and that each pattern is carefully engineered to cam the proper screwdriver out after a certain amount of torque is exceeded?

Again, random knowledge.