On Mon, Jul 25, 2005 at 10:17:44AM -0400, Gerald Brazil wrote:
>
> I have 3 tools with 2 cycle engines. Each one requires a different mix
> ratio. The other day I went to the hardware store to buy come 2 cycle
> oil and I was complaining to the clerk about having to have 3 different
> gas cans laying around. He picked up a tube of stuff that he claimed was
> a "universal".....just put one tube in a gallon of gas and put it in any
> 2 cycle engine......sounds to good to be true.....
>
> Does anybody on the list know if this stuff is safe to use or does it
> void warrantees. (like if my tools were still in the warrantee period !
> )
I run synthetic two-stroke oil in all my
two-stroke power tools. It lubricates better than the
cheap dinosaur-based stuff sold at the hardware store.
I use the same Redline synthetic oil that I run in my
off-road motorcycles. Besides being a better oil, it
makes the exaust smell better. The stuff I use is a step
down in price from their top of the line racing synthetic
and it's formulated for low deposits.
I also don't always follow the manufacturers recommendations
on oil mix ratios. Basically, the higher the specific power output
(per cc), the more oil you need. So a low power engine used for
observed trials can run 80:1, while a highly tuned road race engine
that makes 5x the power per cc needs 20:1 of the highest quality
synthetic. Since chainsaws and the like are fairly low power
engines (compared to the road race engine) they don't need
a lot of oil. But they run at full throttle most of the time, so
a bit more oil is called for.
The upshot is, I run all my two-stroke power tools on
good synthetic mixed at 50:1.
Eric
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