ToolBox Blog

Tool: Echo SRM-210 Gas Powered Grass Trimmer

What do you get when you whack weeds barefoot? Most likely you’ll get hurt badly, but if you’re lucky you’ll still have all your toes and your feet will just be a little banged up and covered with bits of grass – Never do as I do, nor as I say…

A small animal, perhaps a squirrel or some mice, ate a hole through my Echo Grass Trimmer’s fuel tank over the winter. When I pulled out my SRM-210 this spring it started right up! …And then I noticed gasoline sloshing out and dripping down the back of my leg. Oh no, there’s a large hole in the tank. Not a small pinhole, or a little damaged spot, but a 3/4″ wide-open hole that’s large enough for mice to have crawled inside for a long winter nap. What to do?

I tossed the weed whacker back in the shed and forgot about the problem… sometimes the motivation to order a part by mail can be lacking. Even if, my Echo SRM-210 is a good grass trimmer that has always started right up, works well and is easy to maintain. Unfortunately, I put off buying the part.

Plastic fuel tanks aren’t the kind of parts you should ‘repair’. Only problem is, I need this weed whacker today! Not in 3-days shipping, but right now, this morning, for work – so I’ve repaired a plastic fuel tank and I did a great job of it.

Here’s how I repaired the plastic fuel tank on my Echo SRM-210 Grass Trimmer.

• I removed the tank from the machine, cleaned it thoroughly and examined the damage.
[Plastic fuel tanks are made from a plastic that is not commonly glued. I tried two different epoxies I had on hand and neither bonded. They both leaked. Then it dawned on me... plastic melts.]

• I used a wood burner to melt the plastic a bit to see if I could ‘stretch’ excess over the wound, to little avail. The hole is too big.

• I took an extra gas cap, cut a piece of it to fit over the hole and started to melt it into place. Once secured, I carefully melted around the patch until it fused with the gas tank. In order to insure a seal I then pulled/scraped the hot blade toward the patch, drawing melted fuel tank material to ‘cover’ the patch edges.

It’s SOLID! and there is no way this patch will leak, it’s one and the same (although I’m pretty sure this cap was a different plastic, it wasn’t too far off and is a positive bond.)

 

I’m not recommending you try this anymore than I recommend weed-whacking without proper safety equipment. As I dress for work, despite 85º weather, I don pants, a long-sleeve shirt, socks and boots. I always wear safety glasses when using the grass trimmer.

What am I going to do with this grass trimmer today? I’m making a motorbike trail through some thick New England woods. Should be exciting!

Remember, never do as I say… or do.

 

 

Filed under: Gas Powered Tools, Landscaping | Tagged: Echo, Grass Trimmer, Landscaping