SA 200 oddities

[Arc weld]

I figure Shield Arc or other welders might have some insight on some odd things about my SA 200. I hadn't run it since last year but picked up a new battery and cables cause the old battery was shot and the cables were corroded. Should have bought a little longer cables but hooked them up on the battery first and then slid it in and connected them on the machine. Cranked over great but didn't fire. Took 1 plug out and saw some spark so figured that wasn't the problem. Then I took the drain out of the float bowl and it was bone dry so I took the line off at the sediment bowl and tried to blow through it. Nothing, so I plugged my little compressor into my generator and used a blow gun on the fuel line. That blew the gas in the line through and out the drain hole. Then I put the fuel line back on and had gas run out the drain hole. Shut the gas off to put the plug back in and it still didn't start. Then I realized I forgot to turn the gas back on. Turned the gas on and it was running in about 10 seconds. LoL What would be stuck that wouldn't let the gas get to the float bowl, float needle gummed up or something? It was running great but wouldn't slow down but I wasn't too concerned as long as it welded which it did. After using it for a while it started to idle down after a while of no welding and idler seemed to be working again. Is it common for an R57 idler to be stop working and then clear itself up? I don't use the welder very much but it's sure nice to have when you need it.

I got a new (used)dump truck and had to make new mounts for the trunnion mount hoist cylinder. The old mounts were quick change to change from a gravel box to a sander and were way too light. The truck is a former plow truck but just has the gravel box on it now so I didn't need the quick change mounts. The quick change mounts are still available but over $300 a piece. They just bolt on. I got the steel for my brackets from Metal Supermarket for about $50 and they sheared the plates to size which was nice. I salvaged the 3/4" plate with the 1" bolt holes from the old mounts and just welded the new plates and 2" sch. 80 pipe to fit on the trunnion pins. I figure I saved a couple hundred bucks over having the mounts made. The cover on the cylinder with the trunnion mounts had a deep groove in 1 of the pins. I called a shop that sells the cylinders and they said they may have a used cover off a worn out cylinder they could give me. I took the cylinder to them and they didn't have a used cover but did have a new old stock cover with the trunnion mount. A new cover is about $700 but they said they could sell me the NOS cover for $200! That's better than welding up the groove in the old one. They not only installed the new cover but strapped the cylinder onto a little pallet so it wouldn't roll around in my truck. Super deal for $200. You don't find many shops nowadays that go out of their way to help a guy out and save them some money. I thought even 1/2 price would have been good deal for the cover but $200 was a steal.

 

[rustydollar]

The ethanol in your gasoline is hygroscopic todays modern gasoline fuel attracts moisture, the accumulated water reacted with the die cast sediment bowel casting then filled the outlet hole with corrosion.

 

[Shield Arc]

I only run ethanol free gas in my SA-200s. Also in my chainsaws, all small engines. I have a 60-gallon farm tank, I load it up on the truck. The next town south sells ethanol free gas. I also installed shut off valves in the gas lines of my SA-200s. I shut the valve off, let the engine run out of gas, then shut the mag off. I make it a point to run my SA-200s at least once a month. I'll run some 5/32-inch 7018 to get them warmed up real good.

 

[Arc weld]

We don't have much ethanol in the gas here, I think 10% max. Gas looked good in the sediment bowl. I have a shut off on the sediment bowl but it leaked when I shut the fuel off when I first installed it. I got it used off a combine. It may have just been dry from never being shut off but I'll check it again. It shut the gas off yesterday and didn't seem to leak but I'll see what it does after being shut off for a while. I did put some Seafoam type stuff in the gas which seems to help clean up the carb. Welder ran really good which is the most important thing.

 

[dragoneggs]

I only run ethanol free gas in my SA-200s. Also in my chainsaws, all small engines. I have a 60-gallon farm tank, I load it up on the truck. The next town south sells ethanol free gas. I also installed shut off valves in the gas lines of my SA-200s. I shut the valve off, let the engine run out of gas, then shut the mag off. I make it a point to run my SA-200s at least once a month. I'll run some 5/32-inch 7018 to get them warmed up real good.

I hope you treat your wife as good... Very clean!

 

[Arc weld]

Nothing but champagne(SA 200's) and caviar(Vantages's) for Shield Arc. His wife doesn't get left out though. She gets the pleasure of operating the jack hammer.

 

[Shield Arc]

She is a stud, just not big on proper safety equipment!

 

[GLyford]

Sounds to me like a mildly gummed up needle/float. All the gum and other impurities normally dissolved in gas are left behind when a something sits and gas in the carb evaporates away. Once new gas is flowing one of two things happens, it frees up something upstream and clogs up good, or it eventually dissolves out and frees up again and goes back to normal. It's not unusual for something to start and run just long enough to get the gum redissolved and stuck somewhere else.

Not done it on anything the size of your SA, but on most small engine stuff first thing I'll do is pull the carb bowl, float, and needle. Clean the needle and needle bore with carb spray. On a lot of small engines, the actual metering jet is a pinhole in the bowl nut, so I will clean that out too. If doing this as a "field repair" something like a grass stem or pine needle can be enough to poke that out and get you going. And get all the gum out of the bowl and off the float of course. Most of the time you can get all of that done without having to pull the carb.

Edited to add: Between the seafoam dissolving the rest of the gum and the larger gas consumption (getting all the redissolved stuff used up and gone) of the bigger motor in the SA, I suspect you are good to go.