LOL Walk into an engine shop with a 2-cycle anything and see what happens. Here's a hint, "we don't work on those, throw it away and buy a new one" is what you get. Others say right on their website "NO LONGER SERVICE BLOWERS OR STRING TRIMMERS". I've never found any shop anywhere near me that will work on 2 cycle engines. I had two different very problematic chainsaws over the years and after searching high and low, I gave up.
But this trimmer is a different situation. Its a good brand and a good machine that, aside from this problem, runs great and always has. It's certainly worth fixing. Especially if it's just a matter of taking off the air box and adjusting a screw. I don't think the problem is that the carb itself has gone bad. And I base that on the fact that it's had the exact same problem since it was brand new, and it's never gotten any worse.
Goes like this
I charge $ 72/hr (Aus)
To just pressure test the fuel tank , carb & crankcase to check got air leaks is 45 minutes ( $ 54 )
If the diaphragms are cactus there is another 1/2 hour + parts so we are now over $ 100
Then there is carb adjustments easy another 1/2 so we are getting close to $ 200
After that it is do my trimming around the workshop, I like to run a full tank through it because I want it to fail here not after the customer took it home
Add to that time ( not billed for ) to do exactly what Star said , try to find out what kit was needed and tuning sequences as some of them are rediculously complicated .
Now in the same 3+ hours I could have done a full service on a ride on for around $ 500 or played silly buggers with this trimmer for $ 200, assuming that of course I have the required parts in stock and they don't have to be ordered in .
And funny enough earlier this season I did 122LD which the 128 Replaced , probably spent the entire day on it, got it running beautifully & sent it back.
Two weeks later it was back in the shop , was sure the customer had been fiddling with it as the carb setting were way out ( I record them in my diary , the factory recommendations & what they ended up bing )
So I readjusted it , ran 2 tanks through it and a fortnight it was back again with the carb way out of adjustment .
Then I twigged that the needles were too easy to turn
Tried a new set, still too loose so it was a dab of Lock Tite, adjust the carb again, leave it a day then test again ( got 750 yards of fence line done if nothing else )
That was 3 months ago & customer is happy with it , but with 2 lots of free warranty work there would have been better than 20 hours for $ 200, I would make double that working at McDonalds flipping burgers .
That is why shops are reluctant to work on them , because we loose money
Ryobi trimmers start at $ 50 NEW
Husqvarna & Stihl start around $ 100
Hondas @ $ 450 I will fix all day and the bulk of my commercial customers use Honda or Honda powered trimmers
