legbuh
Silver Member
Hello!
Last year I purchased new a Stihl FS56 RC stright trimmer. Worked great for the last couple months I used it. Probably ran 2 tanks through it total.
For winter storage I did what I always do, fill up with fresh fuel mix, add some sea foam and let it run for a few minutes to get the treatment into the carb. This has worked for for countless other Stihl products I have, both new and old.
This spring I went to use it and it would start, but not easily. These are supposed to be "easy start". With the choke on it wouldn't even do anything. Once I had the choke off and pulsed the primer a few times it started to come to life. IT would run for a few seconds, then die. Then a few more seconds, then die. Once it was a little warm it started easier. But, choke didn't help at all.
Once running when you tried to open the throttle it would gag and die. Sounds like maybe not getting enough fuel. I can feather the throttle open to about half way to get it working enough to get some trimming done, but that's about it. Irritating as I've had many Stihl products and they've always been excellent.
so I thought there's probably 2 jets... the low speed one is fine, the high speed one is plugged.
I took the carb off and cleaned it out really well. I tried adjusting the H screw richer but it didn't seem to make any difference. (This model has the small 4mm hex type adjusters that they obviously don't want you to mess with). I honestly couldn't tell by looking at this Chinese carb where the jets work except for one little piece that when I blew compressed air through the fuel line it would open up.
I called the dealer thinking maybe this will be warranty work. I got the whole rundown of "your gas is bad, the carb is plugged and if we worked on it we'd open it up and I bet the carb is full of junk and that's not covered under warranty." He went through the whole thing of gas is only good for 30 days and it's probably already bad from the station. He stated stabilizers don't work but he had a Stihl product they sold that is good for 2 years and is gas/mix and stabilizer. So, sea foam or stabil are junk, but Stihl makes something that works... that's when I know he was blowing smoke.
He then said they'd start by just replacing the carb as it's about $30. I could do that. No reason to pay someone $25 for that... So, here are my questions:
1. Does anyone know the part number for the carb for the FS56RC? I know it's a zama, but I couldn't find the part number on it when I had the carb out. I can find them for the FS55 but not sure if they're the same. Hard to find a parts diagram for this trimmer online. It's like Stihl doesn't want you working on your own stuff any more. lol
2. Does anyone have any other ideas of why 6 months of storage it would go from running like new (because it is new) to having issues at WOT?
3. Does anyone have a diagram of one of these zama chines carbs so I maybe can figure out what to clean a little better?
3. Any other comments are welcome.
Thanks! I hope I explained this well enough.
Last year I purchased new a Stihl FS56 RC stright trimmer. Worked great for the last couple months I used it. Probably ran 2 tanks through it total.
For winter storage I did what I always do, fill up with fresh fuel mix, add some sea foam and let it run for a few minutes to get the treatment into the carb. This has worked for for countless other Stihl products I have, both new and old.
This spring I went to use it and it would start, but not easily. These are supposed to be "easy start". With the choke on it wouldn't even do anything. Once I had the choke off and pulsed the primer a few times it started to come to life. IT would run for a few seconds, then die. Then a few more seconds, then die. Once it was a little warm it started easier. But, choke didn't help at all.
Once running when you tried to open the throttle it would gag and die. Sounds like maybe not getting enough fuel. I can feather the throttle open to about half way to get it working enough to get some trimming done, but that's about it. Irritating as I've had many Stihl products and they've always been excellent.
so I thought there's probably 2 jets... the low speed one is fine, the high speed one is plugged.
I took the carb off and cleaned it out really well. I tried adjusting the H screw richer but it didn't seem to make any difference. (This model has the small 4mm hex type adjusters that they obviously don't want you to mess with). I honestly couldn't tell by looking at this Chinese carb where the jets work except for one little piece that when I blew compressed air through the fuel line it would open up.
I called the dealer thinking maybe this will be warranty work. I got the whole rundown of "your gas is bad, the carb is plugged and if we worked on it we'd open it up and I bet the carb is full of junk and that's not covered under warranty." He went through the whole thing of gas is only good for 30 days and it's probably already bad from the station. He stated stabilizers don't work but he had a Stihl product they sold that is good for 2 years and is gas/mix and stabilizer. So, sea foam or stabil are junk, but Stihl makes something that works... that's when I know he was blowing smoke.
He then said they'd start by just replacing the carb as it's about $30. I could do that. No reason to pay someone $25 for that... So, here are my questions:
1. Does anyone know the part number for the carb for the FS56RC? I know it's a zama, but I couldn't find the part number on it when I had the carb out. I can find them for the FS55 but not sure if they're the same. Hard to find a parts diagram for this trimmer online. It's like Stihl doesn't want you working on your own stuff any more. lol
2. Does anyone have any other ideas of why 6 months of storage it would go from running like new (because it is new) to having issues at WOT?
3. Does anyone have a diagram of one of these zama chines carbs so I maybe can figure out what to clean a little better?
3. Any other comments are welcome.
Thanks! I hope I explained this well enough.