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Liquid dynomite is my new name for starter fluid or brake cleaner spray. Im a backyard mower mechanic and work on friends and family+ riding mowers. I do this for a profit but less than repair shop cost. This year so far I have replaced double head gaskets on 6 mowers already. Each time I tell them and everyone I know not to spray liquid dynomite into carbs to start but noone pays any attention untill it happens to them. A little gas in carb works just as well and wont blow a gasket. If this doesnt work then something is wrong anyway. Soo thats my little rant for today. Hope there is at least one person out there that this helps.

I bought a mower from a guy that told me it got water in it and froze and busted the head on it. The head was cracked you could see it. I took the head off and the cylinder and head was clean no rust from water getting in and freezing and busting the head. The next time I saw him I ask him how much starting fluid he sprayed in the engine he said I didn't spray much in it. Not much just enough to bust the head. That is why I tell people to never ever spray starting fluid in a small engine. I use gum out carb cleaner. Works and will not blow the head off the mower.

IF you could trust people then propane gas is the best thing to use to start a petrol engine
But considering what comes through the front gate I would be lothed to suggest it.
At the BSA factory new engines were "hot run tested " and this consisted of putting am air propane hose over the carb bell mouth and firing up the dry engine for a few seconds
Stats OK to fit in frame , did not start then off to mechanical rectification

I hate to say this but homeowners are drowning when it comes to their knowledge of small engines or the fact any engine.

I have used probably a few dozen cans of starting fluid over the years in the shop. Never had a problem or broke or blew up anything. I did remove all the hair on my right arm once trying to seat a tire bead. That prompred the purchase of an air blast bead seater.

most starting fluids are ether. It is highly explosive - meaning it doesn't burn, it explodes. You do not want to use much in a gasoline engine or it can ruin things.

So what is the difference between burning & exploding ?

Put anything flammable in a air tight container and will explode. Not so much in the open...
And I've also used starter fluid many times with no bad issues. Though I never tried shooting a whole can in and see what's happens..

I guess i will just keep livin' on the edge.

I use that cheap carb cleaner from Walmart. ??? Tech. Never had an issue. I honestly don't spray a lot, unless I'm trying to keep something running.

missed the point.
Nothing burns by exploding
Everything burns from the ignition source to the outer edge
The speed of flame propogation varies but nothing spontaneously combusts completely if air is the oxadizing agent .
The smaller the molecule the faster the reaction , remember that from high school chemistry ?
So Either will burn a lot faster than petrol
A lot of diesel model aircraft engines run on either .

I rarely use starting fluid, usually use brake parts cleaner...
I also wonder about claims of SF "blowing up" engines when Project Farm ran a Quantum on it for like an hour...

Scrubcadet10 said:

I rarely use starting fluid, usually use brake parts cleaner...
I also wonder about claims of SF "blowing up" engines when Project Farm ran a Quantum on it for like an hour...

Click to expand...

I seen that one too. Couldn't do it..

I have seen a 60's 327 chevy blow the air cleaner off and a huge fireball blow out the carb (not my work) but then the engine was fine and they got it started. I have heard stories abiut car engines, and lawn mower engines literally blowing up but i have never seen one or a video of one. May be a different story on diesels. Lots of tractors have ether boosters to help get them started

Personally if a gasoline engine will not start on it intended fuel something is wrong. I don't even have a can of starter any where in my shop.

Now diesels are another story when it is cold. Even then they can get hooked on it.

I use it all the time. Customer brings in a push mower and says it won't start.
I remove the spark plug and use a gap spark tester and pull rope and check for spark. If it has spark i put in a new plug and remove air cleaner and give it a quick shot of starting fluid and pull the rope. If it fires off you know it is a fuel/carb issue. If it doesn't fire off time to check compression.

When i was younger , one could get 20% nitro fuel (liquid dynamite ) for the little RC gas engines and there were some places that would sell 35% nitro fuel. Hard to find real nitroglycerin fuel these days.

I did a lot of control line flying many years ago. We used nitromethane fuel. Never heard of nitroglycerin fuel.

Anyone who works on ICE engines should understand the question explode VS burn. When your car engine goes knock knock knock with cheap gas, it is exploding in the cylinder. It can knock holes in a piston and it quickly destroys piston rings. When an ICE engine runs correctly the fuel is burning. The flame starts at the spark plug and the flame front moves thru the cylinder. That is why the timing is a bit in advance of TDC. It takes that time for the flame to burn. A gasoline engine is not engineered to withstand explosions like a diesel engine is. Fuel in a diesel engine is compressed until it is hot enough to self ignite in an explosion. A diesel always runs at wide open throttle, the amount of fuel injected varies the power.

Again.
It is not exploding
It is burning too early so the fuel air is expanding against the action of the piston rising
There is no explosion

Once the burn starts with ether, the rising pressure and heat set the rest off. That is why it is used as a starting spray for diesels. IMHO it was captured by marketing departments whose goal is to sell as many cans as they can, and people with small mowers etc who don't want to go thru the trouble of making sure their small engines are properly tuned. When I have an engine that I think is starved for fuel. i squirt a little gasoline in the carb using something like this: