Carb Leaking - know where, don't know why

[david02777]

And we both know how it will end and it ain't pretty but greed is a basic human trait.
Without it we would not have outlived the dinosaurs..
A friends son has just finished a degree course in criminalogy.
He was taught that less than 10 % of thiefts happen because thiefs want whatever the item is they are stealing and in most cases that would be food.
The other 90 % gets sold to "honest" people

If you post a few photos those with a wider knowledge than mine might recognize the engine styling.

I think the crime statistics are depressing but I also agree that we all struggle with greed and doing the right thing. (Philosophy of small engine repair?)

Here are some photos. Another poster in another thread said that it's probably the Honda GX390 clone, although this is 420 cc and 15 HP (the Honda is less).

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Scrubcadet10]

The predator 420cc is 13 HP.
Would not surprise me if it's just a number on the sticker

 

[david02777]

The predator 420cc is 13 HP.
Would not surprise me if it's just a number on the sticker

As a full-time professional ignoramus about small engines, I had to look up "Predator 420cc."

Harbor Freight - that really made me laugh. Maybe I can get 20% with a super coupon?

It looks very very close to the one on my DEK chipper, probably the same place.

Thank you for the reference and the laugh!

 

[bertsmobile1]

Stickers on the engine are just that.
A lot of times if you are careful you can peel off several from the same engine with different make & different Hp ratings on all of them.
We get a lot of fake Honda engines down here , usually sold door to door by young people on working holidays.
Under the Honda stickers are always other stickers, usually in an Asian language.
So Mr well respected business man buys a container load of Wee Fool Ewu engines in Thialand, gets them unloaded in a factory rented by the week.
Pays some backpackers to put the Honda stickers on them then gets another bunch of Backpackers to sell them on a commission basis door to door.

When that container load is gone, he vacates that factory and moves his operation to another location

 

[david02777]

Stickers on the engine are just that.
A lot of times if you are careful you can peel off several from the same engine with different make & different Hp ratings on all of them.
We get a lot of fake Honda engines down here , usually sold door to door by young people on working holidays.
Under the Honda stickers are always other stickers, usually in an Asian language.
So Mr well respected business man buys a container load of Wee Fool Ewu engines in Thialand, gets them unloaded in a factory rented by the week.
Pays some backpackers to put the Honda stickers on them then gets another bunch of Backpackers to sell them on a commission basis door to door.

When that container load is gone, he vacates that factory and moves his operation to another location

One of my business relations in Perth does the China/AUS thing with a borderline company that sells some questionable stuff (nothing to do with small engines). It's all a finance play, and I asked him one day if he ever cared about the product. I knew the answer, I just wanted to hear him say it.

The Wee Fool Ewu Engine thing had me laughing. Perfect.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

I repowered a tiller with a predator 212.
Due to finances it's all he could do, $120. Even though for 50 more you can get a Briggs CR.
Predator still starts 1st pull.


I'm surprised Honda let's them get away with copying their engines.
Surely they have patents or rights...?:confused3:

 

[david02777]

I repowered a tiller with a predator 212.
Due to finances it's all he could do, $120. Even though for 50 more you can get a Briggs CR.
Predator still starts 1st pull.


I'm surprised Honda let's them get away with copying their engines.
Surely they have patents or rights...?:confused3:

That's great the predator runs well. I think the issue with Chinese production is QC, they are capable of making things well and once you get the tolerances right (for everything from shipping to mechanical), you have a solid product. But it's been explained to me many, many times by people there that QC is not something that the culture values, whereas in Germany it is.

I've earned a lot of money from IP over the years, but for physical products (compared to copyright), the world is full of factories, governments and customers who will fuel a massive economy on using someone else's design poorly. Don't get me started on Russia . . . .

 

[bertsmobile1]

I repowered a tiller with a predator 212.
Due to finances it's all he could do, $120. Even though for 50 more you can get a Briggs CR.
Predator still starts 1st pull.


I'm surprised Honda let's them get away with copying their engines.
Surely they have patents or rights...?:confused3:

A patient is only as good as the authority that regulates it.
Next the patient laws are aimed at the factory & not the retailer / wholesaler.
This used to be the case but AFAIK the WTO regulations prevent copyright / patient holders persuing the vendor.

The next thing to realize is Chinese companies do not breech patient.
The patient infringement is done by the commissioning purchaser.
Unlike USA factories, Chinese companies do not make a single product till it has been ordered.
They are not sending spies all over the world to steal other peoples ideas & products.
The rest of the world comes to them.
Sleasebag retailers like HF & Wallys send top shelf USA made products to China and get quotes from factories to make "1,000,000 as per sample provided "
or
Reputable companies like B & S or Kohler or Honda set up a factory in order to produce their product cheaper than their competitors.
Now if they were willing to accept 20% less profit they could make the entire engines in house but as the object is to maximumize profit by making the engines as cheap as possible only a small amount is actually made in house.
SO the factory might cast & machine the short block then assemble the engine from bought in parts.
In this case they give Combustion Technology Services the working diagrams for the current carburettor.
Under USA laws, that IP remains the property of B & S / Kohler / Honda / etc so CTS can only make that carb for the company that originally gave them the drawings.
However under Chinese laws once you have asked CTS to make a carb, they can make the same carb for any other company to order, but not make them and sell direct from stock.
This is the IP thieft that president Trump is always rabbiting on about.

The next problem is actually getting a patient case to court & winning without bankrupting yourself in the process.
Trade mark infringments are easy but still cost millions to persue
Honda got rid of H.Onda & Hoda through the courts but failed to win on the trade mark red engines.
So World Lawn can sell an identical looking SP mower, painted silver with a B & S ( Chinese ) engine that has a styling cowling that is an exact copy of the Honda one in the same red colour.
Thus with the 2 product lines side by side it is very hard to tell the real from the copy.