Beware of "pro-mix 2-cycle"

[UncleTad]

Hi Guys,

I had a old Homelite Super XL which had seized. Fortunately I had a spare piston and cylinder for this saw. I was running "Pro-Mix 2-cycle" from Lowes since I had run out of my Stihl pre mix and needed to cut a cord of wood for my shop heater. This premix say's there is only one formula for all ratios, so I took their advice and mixed it like the bottle said, 2.6Oz per gallon of fuel.

The saw was old and I had put many hours on it cutting firewood so I figured it was just a fluke that it had seized. I put a new piston and cylinder into it and got it tuned again. Ran the same gas with 1.5 Oz more oil added into it (4.1Oz total), I also richened up the screws on the saw just to make sure. About an hour into cutting wood the saw seized again! I grabbed my Stihl MS440 and fired it up, it had Stihl pre-mix still in it, but once that ran out I ran the same mix as the Homelite saw and noticed it was running hotter than usual, with gas tank was building up alot of pressure. I shut it down of course and stopped using the "Pro-Mix" in it since i was not going to burn up my best saw.

Not sure if anyone else has ever seen this issue with this pre mix but I figured I should say something. I rebuild small engines for a living so it wasn't that big of a deal for me, but someone else would probably be furious after this incident. I should make them pay for the parts for the Super XL since you can't find them any more = )

Tad

 

[zzvyb6]

I've collected a couple of these saws. I bought my first one about 30 years or so. Still going good. I have 2 others that were garage sale finds ($10). The guy had the chains on backwards.

These are not high oil ratio motors as I recall, so I run the gas to oil ratio pretty low. The smoke doesn't bother me, the air quality in China is not affected and the mosquitoes don't get much of a chance to complain.

 

[UncleTad]

I've collected a couple of these saws. I bought my first one about 30 years or so. Still going good. I have 2 others that were garage sale finds ($10). The guy had the chains on backwards.

These are not high oil ratio motors as I recall, so I run the gas to oil ratio pretty low. The smoke doesn't bother me, the air quality in China is not affected and the mosquitoes don't get much of a chance to complain.

Lol! Guy brought an electric Poulan in to me the other day and said "man, this things is just not cutting good!". He too had the chain on backwards lol! I was trying not to laugh when I looked at it but boy was it hard to keep a straight face. Poor guy was running the saw to death and getting nowhere.........

Wish I could find another Super XL for parts, it sure was a good saw. My Stihl's and Husqvarna's are nice saws, but I used the Super XL for cutting dirty wood, stumps and such.

 

[crazyal]

Somewhere around I got either a XL-12 or super XL, can't remember which. I was using it as back up just in case I got my bar pinched. It needs a new chain so it's sitting in a corner somewhere, probably near the old stihl and partner.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I never believe in a one size fits all product. I have seen this type of oil but always passed on it. Glad I do now.

By the way, I run bar oil in my saws, not used motor oil...:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Chris

 

[UncleTad]

I never believe in a one size fits all product. I have seen this type of oil but always passed on it. Glad I do now.

By the way, I run bar oil in my saws, not used motor oil...:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Chris

Good plan I normally only use quality pre-mix in all my equipment, but in this case I was in a hurry on the way out of town to cut wood, the shop was 25 miles away. But now I know never to use this type of product, or at least this brand

Tad

 

[HiTechTed]

If it stated 40:1 = that entire bottle in a gallon of gas then that would make sense. I don't see how it could work for all ratios unless you adjust the amount of oil per gallon...

 

[Gary Fowler]

I used the pro-mix in my old Troybuilt leaf blower and never had a problem in 15 years. I finally thru it away rather than replace all the fuel hoses as it was leaking everywhere. Engine still ran and started on the first couple of pulls. The pro mix is not a one bottle for all mixes in that you do have to adjust the oil ratio depending on what ratio your motor requires. THere is a side panel that tells you how much to put per gallon for each ratio. Maybe the OP was using the wrong ratio, however if as he said he rebuilds small engines, he should know how to read the directions on the 2 cycle oil mix.

 

[shade tree welder]

... The guy had the chains on backwards.

Lol! Guy brought an electric Poulan in to me the other day and said "man, this things is just not cutting good!". He too had the chain on backwards lol! I was trying not to laugh when I looked at it but boy was it hard to keep a straight face. Poor guy was running the saw to death and getting nowhere.........

Wish I could find another Super XL for parts, it sure was a good saw. My Stihl's and Husqvarna's are nice saws, but I used the Super XL for cutting dirty wood, stumps and such.

I have yet to see anyone put a chain on a saw backwards but I have seen a few put bandsaw blades on backwards... :confused2: :confused2: :confused2:

By the way, I run bar oil in my saws, not used motor oil...:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I heard that used motor for bar lube works just fine... :confused3:

 

[UncleTad]

I used the pro-mix in my old Troybuilt leaf blower and never had a problem in 15 years. I finally thru it away rather than replace all the fuel hoses as it was leaking everywhere. Engine still ran and started on the first couple of pulls. The pro mix is not a one bottle for all mixes in that you do have to adjust the oil ratio depending on what ratio your motor requires. THere is a side panel that tells you how much to put per gallon for each ratio. Maybe the OP was using the wrong ratio, however if as he said he rebuilds small engines, he should know how to read the directions on the 2 cycle oil mix.

Thanks Gary. This particular bottle of "Pro-Mix" Say's "Safely Replaces all mix ratios" 50:1 down to 16:1 uses the same mix.

Say's "Mix a 2.6 Oz chamber of oil to one gallon of gasoline" "Use this ratio for 50:1, 40:1, 32:1, and 16:1 ratios"

There is no chart on the side, nor are there any other instructions than the above mention. I included a picture of the bottle if you can read it. I would have preffered a chart with richer ratios than having a seized saw (twice)

Tad

 

[clemsonfor]

Thanks Gary. This particular bottle of "Pro-Mix" Say's "Safely Replaces all mix ratios" 50:1 down to 16:1 uses the same mix.

Say's "Mix a 2.6 Oz chamber of oil to one gallon of gasoline" "Use this ratio for 50:1, 40:1, 32:1, and 16:1 ratios"

There is no chart on the side, nor are there any other instructions than the above mention. I included a picture of the bottle if you can read it. I would have preffered a chart with richer ratios than having a seized saw (twice)

Tad

well does your homelit run on 50:1

i would not change the oil ratio on an old saw unless a manufacture said to

 

[UncleTad]

well does your homelit run on 50:1

i would not change the oil ratio on an old saw unless a manufacture said to

No. I believe it is 32:1 or 40:1. But either way according to the bottle you use the same mix for any of the ratios. I.E. 2.6 Oz of oil per gallon for 50:1, and 2.6 Oz of oil per gallon for 32:1. If it would have said 40:1 was 5 Oz instead of 2.6 Oz per gallon then I would have used that ratio, but it doesnt say that. It say's "Safely replaces all mix ratios" which means 2.6 Oz of oil per gallon regardless of the mix you want. Seems counter-intuitive but that's what the bottle say's.

Although I did richen it up by almost twice just to be sure, and still had problems.

 

[HiTechTed]

I won't be touching that crap. If I can't see a clear mix ratio on the container I'm moving on...

 

[Haywire]

The thing about the old saws requiring lots of oil in the mix is a reflection of the quality of the oil at the time. I believe they just used straight 30wt. Comparing today's oil to oil from 1965 is apples and oranges. I'm running Mobil1 Racing 2T in my saws until I run out (they discontinued it a couple years ago, 3 quarts remaining) and then I will be switching to Stihl Ultra in the white bottle.

My point is that if you use a good quality name brand oil, 50:1 should be good in any saw whether it's 30 days or 30 years old.

Ian

 

[daman1]

Right years back they used 20-30w at around 16:1 :confused2:,,any way with todays quality name brand oil's 50:1 or more is no problem and the norm usually.

my New STIHL MS 310 requires 89 octane with 50:1 mix,smokes very lightly very good emissions on these new saws. :thumbsup:

 

[Diamondpilot]

The lean mixes are all for the emissions crap, aka tree huggers. Kind of funny talking about tree huggers while we are talking about cutting them down.:licking:

Anyway, its all about emissions. For example, many water ways are outlawing 2 stroke engines on boats due to emissions. Same thing with outdoor power equipment. I would rather run a "THICKER" mix than a leaner mix. I will cause much less problems in the long run. Just throw a new $3 spark plug at it every season.

Chris

 

[clemsonfor]

Another thing that some may not know. I say this cause i was reminded by the response i got as well as the guy who has a new MS310.

Anyway i bought a new stihl MS 390 about 5 years ago, maybe 6. anyway when reading the manual, it says when useing stihl 2 cycle oil mix at 50:1. When useing any other oil mis at either 25:1 or double the oil. I gues they realize there is some crap out there. I dont do this personally, and i also dont buy stihl oil, the only time i use stihl is if i get some from my uncle. But i do go to lowes and buy the Huskvarna oil , proably the same place but i fugure that if it says husky on it it must meet some of their restrictions. I dont skimp on it, hey i only mix like 2.5 gallons a year for the saw anyway. And most of the time i mix it at 40:1 anyway just to have a little more in it.

My old johnson outboards i mix at 40:1 as well, but usually use walmart oil, if i dont go to the dealer and get bulk oil out of their barrel for about $5/gallon less than i can buy a gallon of OMC oil at walmart.

 

[Gary Fowler]

According to my Japanese calculator 2.56 ounces of oil in one gallon = 50 to one ratio. Any thing requiring higher than that will be running too lean on the oil. By the way that bottle doesnt look like the Promix bottles that I buy from Wally World, but it appears to be a multi-gallon bottle. I think the ones I buy are around the size for 50 to one because that was what my old leaf blower used per gallon and it worked fine. I too can remember when the 2 cycles used straight 30W non detergent oil and other than fouling the plugs fairly quickly that worked pretty well. In 15years, no make that 20 because I got it in 1990, I never even changed the plug in that old leave blower and all it ever got was a bottle of Walmart special per gallon. Always left fuel in the tank and it never had a carb rebuilt either. On reflection, Maybe I should have paid to have all the hoses and primer pump replaced on that thing rather than buying a new one.

 

[zzvyb6]

My XL and Super2 owners manual states that its 16:1 ("8 oz. oil to 1 gal of gas regardless of the ratio given by the manufacturer of the oil". Page 16).

No "gasohol" either.

 

[schmism]

you do relize that the ratio is oz of fuel to oz of oil.

so 50:1 is 50 oz of gas to 1 oz of oil

same is true for 40:1 32:1 or gasp 16:1

so for a 1 gallon mix

2.6 oz oil for 50:1
4 oz for 32:1
4.3 oz for 30:1
5.2 oz for 25:1
8 oz for 16:1

i take 2cycle oil and mix the number of oz i need to the fuel i have per the actual proportion (aka 32:1) F what the d@mn bottle says. EPA will not be responsible for killing my "good" old 2cycle equipment (although thats exactly what they are trying to do to get them out of service)