[Shop-talk] Leaf blower issues...need the elders' advice

[Scott Hall]

I have a Troy Bilt 4-cycle backpack leaf blower, the older version of this
thing:

https://www.troybilt.com/en_US/leaf-blowers/tb4bp-ec-backpack-gas-leaf-blower/41BR4BEG766.html


I need intelligent more experienced folks to advise me before I slip into
insanity.

The past year or so the choke has lost effectiveness--you used to start it
as directed: pump the primer bulb a few times, choke on full. Start. Choke
to 1/2 until warm, then choke full-off.

At first it wouldn't start with choke full-on, I had to start it on
half-choke. Then 1/4-ish.

At the same time, the throttle became more of an an/off switch. It would
bog at anything other than idle. If I open it full, it would die. And it
never achieved full-power.

Note: the choke is an actual choke--a plastic plate slides over the air
intake on the carb.

This sounds like something that needs a carb cleanin', right? So I did.
Took it apart, soaked it in carb cleaner, re-assembled.

I also replaced the fuel intake line and fuel filter--a weird little thing,
looks like a pumice stone on the end of the fuel line.

Worked...better. Not back to new, but better. For a day.

Now it won't start at all.

There's just not that much to this carb. I blew it out with compressed air,
chased the passages I could, etc. There's just not much there...there.

What's making me question my sanity is that this happened on my riding
mower last year too and I similarly cleaned that carb, which was similarly
simple and it absolutely would not run again until I just bought a new carb
and replaced it.

 So here's the question: what am I doing or not doing that I can't clean a
small engine carburetor? Is there some secret air passage on small engine
carbs that I'm not reaching? I tool them completely apart. There were no
idle jets, or enrichment circuits, or...whatever. Just a hunk of metal with
a few small holes. What on earth would make the new one better than the one
that's on there?

I feel like this should be so simple and I'm missing something so basic.
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