Clean blocked muffler & spark arrestor no blowtorch?

[rogerf]

Hallo folks,

I need to clean out a blocked two stroke/cycle muffler and spark arrestor on a string trimmer. My blowtorch is in storage due to moving home, so I can't use it.

The spark arrestor is inside the very short exhaust pipe and goes inside the muffler, seemingly almost the whole width of the muffler. I can't see a way to remove it without destroying it. There are no separate parts that seem to separate from the muffler.

I've got the muffler soaking overnight in a parts washer (kerosene), and if that doesn't work to clear the blockage I plan to try a hot caustic soda soak.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? (I thought of putting it in the barbecue, but that met with some resistance )

Looking forward to some ideas,

Cheers,
Roger

[KE4AVB]

Kinda to know what it is on but I have seen clogged mufflers other a couple Homelite blowers but had mufflers that were disassemble for cleaning.

Wouldn't be on a Stihl trimmer would it? I have removing the screens on the Stihl units here as they are prong to clogging and the conditions here don't warrant the arrestors. Had one customer coming every month to get them unclogged.

On the BBQ idea might try using just a few Briquets surrounding the removed spark arrestor to get hot enough to burn off the carbon. I use something similar to clean my iron skillets but it a larger pile of red hot coals from wood fire.

[bgsengine]

as KE4 said from your description it sounds like a Stihl - if it has a hex around the "short exhaust pipe" they can be unscrewed to remove (spark plug wrench) and Ive been able to burn off carbon by taking it outside, a small bowl of gas and soak the screen with carbon in the gas then set it out on the sidewalk 9far away from the bowl of gas) and light it up and let it burn away (pick up with pliers after the flames die down, and blow gently on it to keep the burning carbon glowing red as it burns away) - Not a very safe thing to do (especially if you have a moustache) but it can get the job done in a pinch

Or, if you have a good Zippo, you can light that and roast the screen in the flames (butane lighters overheat and melt if you keep them burning too long)

[rogerf]

Hallo bgs and KEV4AVB,

Thank you for your helpful replies. No it's not a Sthil, it's a brand no longer with us called Talon, I believe they were bought out by Husqvarna for their spring assisted starting mechanism. (Don't really know, just what I heard, but the same name is used by Husqvarna now for their system.) They produced some good quality tools at reasonable prices.

I'll see what happens when I get the muffler out of the overnight soaking. If it's not clear I'll try to screw or knock off the raised end on the very short exhaust pipe, and then next some petrol (gas)

Looking forward to getting it running well again, hopefully without any blisters or scars

Cheers,
Roger

[rogerf]

Hallo folks,

With some help and force was able to remove the end of the exhaust pipe and spark arrestor. Got hold of a borrowed butane torch to burn off the carbon and oil. The cleaned up spark arrestor was tapped back into place with a small hammer.

When started there was a LOT of smoke as the gunk left in the muffler and possibly old oil from the crankcase burned off. I gave it a blast to be sure to get rid of the old gunk. It now runs well and with minimum smoke in the exhaust, and I've got no scars or blisters from it.

Cheers,
Roger.

PS
Don't waste your time soaking a blocked muffler or spark arrestor in kerosene - doesn't do anything much at all.

[KE4AVB]

Kinda looks like Talon Tools is still in business with a head office in South Africa; of course, this may not be the same company. Here I know a couple companies went out of business and new companies started manufacturing and selling very similar equipment. Very confusing when working on them as the old companies parts are nearly non existence.

I found this website in Australia for them.
http://www.talontools.com.au/

[rogerf]

Hi KE4ABV

That used to be their website, it kept going for a few years after the takeover, then there was a reference to your local Husqvarna dealer.

Now the link is dead if you try from Australia due to DNS look up failure, it might work from other countries such as USA or Canada, but somehow I doubt it. It's a shame the website has gone. It was useful giving part numbers of common parts by machine type and model number.


Cheers,
Roger

[KE4AVB]

Oh well that makes sense. There was one website here that did to me on my webmail programs for TB.

I did find a site that has a few of the Talon manuals just to page down to Talons:
https://www.allmowerspares.com.au/part-listings-product-catalogues.html

I also found a few models on the Talon South Africa website that include IPLs.
http://talontools.co.za/products/

[rogerf]

Hi KE4AV,

I've used All Mower Spares a few times for parts. They gave me good service and reasonable prices. Good to know that they've got some manuals and IPL's on their website now. They said they were going to try to do that a couple of years ago when the website started up. I understand they're aiming to be the "go to" place for smaller users of parts.

Didn't remember about the South African Talon until you mentioned it. Not sure if they are the same machines as were here, if they are the same it's a bit odd that they still have a separate existence after the parent company was taken over.

Cheers,
Roger