View Single Post
  #10   Report Post  
Old 22-05-2012, 11:29 PM
bongosrest bongosrest is offline
Registered User
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: May 2012
Posts: 1
Smile

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Weaver View Post
I have a McCulloch strimmer which takes a 40:1 petrol/oil mix.
However, my mixing bottle (which takes 1 litre of petrol and has a
pointed top graduated in different radios) has become 'bloated'

This means that when you fill it to the 1L mark, there is actually
more than 1L in the bottle.

If I then top it up to the 40:1 with oil, I am getting a slightly lean
mix.

So, to counteract this, I have been adding a few extra drops of oil,
but the problem is that I don't know what ratio I am creating this
way.

I imagined that a slightly richer mix would be better than a lean one,
so I have made sure that I mix is on the 'rich' side if anything. I
figured that if it was too lean, then I stand the risk of seizing the
engine and doing real damage. But it is too rich, I would just have
too much oil, resulting in more smoke from the exhaust.

However, I asked my local lawnmower maintainer about this and was told
that it should be spot on 40:1.. To much or too little oil is just as
bad for the engine.

Is this really true? Is it a real problem running a 2-Stroke engine
with too much oil?

Even if too much oil is not ideal, is it so bad that you should throw
away a mix, if you added too much oil by accident?

Can anyone shed any light on this?
ratios mix is not too critical in most two stoke engines in particular your strimmer as allowances are made in the tolerances when manufactured a few ml here and there will not harm the engine so long as your close enough ,there are however a few things to consider too much oil causes smoke and runs the petrol mix lean which will over heat the engine this is not so good for the engine, and too little oil will cause the petrol mix to richen which washes away the little oil thats being left behind no need to say what happens then ,i think you need not worry about the method your using it is allways prudent to err on the more oil than the less oil approach