A solution to poor quality squeeze bulbs

[MillWeld]

My weed eater has a squeeze bulb for priming the engine. I purchased it in '87 and the bulb replacement has been a regular maintenance item every year because they crack prematurely and their quality has been deteriorating with each purchase. Why can't they make decent quality bulbs?, I asked after I pulled out the last unused one in from a package and found it cracked. I never have to replace rubber gas lines - why not make them out of the same material? :thumbsup:So I did. I purchased thin wall (1/16") gas line, cut a 2" section and replaced the bulb with it. Squeeze it and the engine primes as it should. I made this change late in the season so time will tell if it lasts.

 

[PILOON]

Yeah, and those squeeze bulbs run, like $5.00 but on the net you can get ,like 20 for that price.

That was after I paid $5.00 that I found a Chinese web site that had them real cheap.
Naturally there would have been a month shipping.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'ts maddening. I have a plastic coated wire dish drying basket that's almost sixty years old. It's as perfect as day one. You buy one know and the plastic is cracked in months. Surley, plastic technology has gotten better, not worse. I would gladly pay double for a good plastic thing. You can pay double and get the EXACT same crap! Maddening!

All the fuel lines rotted off a ten year old Stihl saw. I mean, do these people not have a clue about the effects of fuel on certain material? Or they don't care, and BOTH are equally disturbing!

 

[RandyT]

I'ts maddening. I have a plastic coated wire dish drying basket that's almost sixty years old. It's as perfect as day one. You buy one know and the plastic is cracked in months. Surley, plastic technology has gotten better, not worse. I would gladly pay double for a good plastic thing. You can pay double and get the EXACT same crap! Maddening!

All the fuel lines rotted off a ten year old Stihl saw. I mean, do these people not have a clue about the effects of fuel on certain material? Or they don't care, and BOTH are equally disturbing!

The list expectancy is less than 10 years in most cases so they don't need to make parts that last that long when they are going to make the parts obsolete in 10 years anyway.

 

[MillWeld]

Yeah, and those squeeze bulbs run, like $5.00 but on the net you can get ,like 20 for that price.

I did an exhaustive search on the net and they were all about $15 each. Don稚 know where you found your price. I wasn稚 going to pay that for crap. I even considered an electric weedeater before I made my own squeeze bulb - for about 16 cents each.

 

[Industrial Toys]

How can anyone sleep at night knowing they produce or sell JUNK?

 

[MillWeld]

Too many consumables are made poorly so you have to buy more often. It's a good feeling when you can avoid this consumer trap.

PIloon, just to make sure we are talking about similar bulbs, here's mine:
Primer Elbow (Kawasaki Models KT12, KT18, TD24 & TD33) [55-92] for Lawn Equipments | eReplacement Parts

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's why I like AVE and BOLTR (Bored of Lame Tool Reviews) because he is fixated on the materials stuff is made out of.

 

[organ grinder]

I gave up on Stihl a few years ago. Too hard to start, even with Trufuel. The arthritis in my hands made it impossible for me to pull the cord. I bought an Echo GT225 with their version of easy start. It does what Echo claims: Starts easily by releasing (not pulling) the cord. And replacing the cord is simple and straight-forward with precut pieces that I insert. No bumping or the ground or trying to get the head off to wind new cord. I recommended the Echo, hands down.

 

[Cougsfan]

Stop using gas that has ethanol in it and your squeeze bulb life will extend drastically.

 

[TractorGuy]

I bought a Dewalt cordless trimmer a couple years back. Haven't had to replace the squeeze bulb once.

 

[newbury]

Stop using gas that has ethanol in it and your squeeze bulb life will extend drastically.

There are some places (Northern Virginia for example) that it is almost impossible to find gas without ethanol unless you buy in tiny quantities like the TruFuel cans.

 

[Cougsfan]

There are some places (Northern Virginia for example) that it is almost impossible to find gas without ethanol unless you buy in tiny quantities like the TruFuel cans.

That is sad. Small engines don't do well with ethanol. My Echo gas trimmer is around 10 years old and the bulb is still good. It has only had non-ethanol in it all it's life.

 

[Oaktree]

That is sad. Small engines don't do well with ethanol. My Echo gas trimmer is around 10 years old and the bulb is still good. It has only had non-ethanol in it all it's life.

This is BS. Ethanol fuel has been around for how long, 25 years? You'd think small engine manufacturers could figure out how to make engines that accept it by now.

 

[kenmbz]

I have an old crafstsman brushcutter, must be from mid-90s. cleaned out carb twice in last 5 years. replaced one gas line. Most of the reasons it is retired is due to brackets etc. breaking due to age and making it unsafe. Still runs fine after a minor tune up. I have beat this up a lot and run a lot of tanks of ethanol gas through it, with no problems.

Did get a rusty needle valve on my snow blower and replaced carb for $13, but all the fuel lines are original.
Only place for ethanol here would be an airport.

 

[RandyT]

This is BS. Ethanol fuel has been around for how long, 25 years? You'd think small engine manufacturers could figure out how to make engines that accept it by now.

Ethanol fuel has been around for over 40 years, and the problem with small engines is they set too much, and the effects of water in combination with the ethanol is what causes the issues. Landscapers that run their equipment every day can run ethanol and don't see issues.

 

[Cougsfan]

This is BS. Ethanol fuel has been around for how long, 25 years? You'd think small engine manufacturers could figure out how to make engines that accept it by now.

About 93% of the world ethanol usage is in the US and Brazil. The rest of the world uses it very little. Most of the small engines are made in the rest of the world. No small wonder the small engine manufacturers haven't addressed it. They don't have farmers being subsidized for raising corn and they recognize it at non-effective attempt to reduce CO2 emissions. Actually what is really BS is ethanol itself.

 

[5030]

How can anyone sleep at night knowing they produce or sell JUNK?

Why of course they do when it's Chineseum

 

[triptester]

When ordering replacement primer bulbs you must check for ethanol compatibility.

 

[MillWeld]

I do use ethanol-free gas