Question/Problem New Robin 4-cycle trimmer

[yardmonkey]

I just got the Robin BH2500 4-cycle trimmer. My main interest in it was less vibration. I chose the Robin over Honda for the lighter weight. It does seem to have way less vibration than 2-cycle trimmers. Also way quieter. Also much better for the environment.

Have used it twice, once today and once yesterday. I mainly use trimmers for edging and of course also some trimming in yards. After using it for about 20 minutes yesterday with no problems, it started smoking. I thought maybe I had left the cap to the oil chamber a little loose but it didn't seem to be loose. There did seem to be some oil on it. Maybe spills left from filling it the day before. But then the same thing happened today. I noticed that this occurred when holding the trimmer in a particular vertical position. Like when there is a car in the way and you have to hold it a little different to get in there and edge up against the car. Actually happened twice today. At first I seemed to notice it had something to do with the position, so I moved it all around and didn't duplicate it. But then when my truck was in the way, I saw that it happened with this particular vertical position. I'm not sure that I actually noticed any oil on it today though.

Anyway, what does this mean? Anything wrong with it, or just something that goes with the design of the unit? And what are the consequences of this? Is it hurting the engine when this happens? After running it for a minute or so (probably a lot less than a minute) the smoke goes away.

Otherwise, I am happy with the trimmer. Very nice to have so much less noise.

Thanks,
Terry Slade

[cajuncutter]

you may want to look back over your owners manual about different positions. I know 4 cycle engines that have an oil resivor do not like to be turned upside down. I do not know if the weed eater industry has researched this much since a weedeater is used for weed eating and not edging. Enginers may have not taken this practice into consideration. Just a guess..hope it helps....by the way find a murray with a 3 horse briggs and turn it upside down while running and see what happens lol...it will quit in it's tracks

[cajuncutter]

is it comming out of the muffler? this is usually where it comes out on a larger 4 cycle when tilted or up side down

[yardmonkey]

Well I don't see anything in the manual about operating it in any partucular positions. I do find this statement as the only entry under the heading Intended Use of the Machine: "The Brush cutter is only intended for cutting grass, weeds, bushes, undergrowth. It should not be used for any other purpose such as edging or hedge cutting as this may cause injury." When I first saw that I thought that they meant this trimmer should not be used for edging but it actually is referring to the brush cutter, which I guess just means when the included metal brush cutting blade is installed, which would of course not be too safe for edging. I know a lot of people would use an edger for edging but it seems like a lot more people use string trimmers for edging and that the great majority of the hours that trimmers are used is for edging. The manaul for my Shindaiwa T230 actually shows a picture of how to hold the trimmer for trimming and how to hold it for edging, so I guess they get it.

I have read that one advantage of 2-cycle engines is that they can be used in any position. I'm not really turning it upside down, but I guess I have found the magic position that it doesn't like.

Yes, the smoke is coming out of the muffler.

I got this in the mail from a place in Wisconsin. I live in Oklahoma. If I had purchased it locally I would just ask the dealer about it. I don't think Robin is available anywhere around here.

Anyway, I wonder if this is any cause for concern?

Thanks,
Slade