Buyer Beware

[Onan18]

I had a Husqvarna string trimmer come in a little while back, customer has bought (not from me) and installed a new carb and could not get it to run right. He brought it in and I found out that the ignition module was faulty. Replaced it and the unit would run but would not hold a tune. After trying everything else I came to the conclusion that the new carb was defective. Replaced it with a new one from my inventory and it runs perfect. Upon examination of the old carb I find out that it is a cheap knockoff. A quick eBay search reveals that the knockoffs are ~$10.00 plus shipping, the OEM is $24.00 on the shelf.



They are a Wiley bunch, notice the casting says C10 vs. C1Q



No other markings whatsoever.

Just an FYI, be careful when you buy AM no name parts.


@Spike60 have you seen one of these yet?

 

[Stump Shot]

It's hard to tell what knock off is best some are generic ZAMA's, others with running issues, I find can be eliminated by changing the inlet lever spring. Some would be better off in a ball point pen than a carburetor. Why all the hard work of getting the casting and machine work right and then stick a spring in from a 57 Buick Roadmaster? I'll never know probably. Some have had luck cutting the springs down to reduce the pop off pressure. While this isn't to hard for the enthusiast to do, as it just takes time, for a dealer it makes no sense to mess with these, unless there is no other alternative available. As time will be wasted that could have been used to fix another machine. That's my take on it for what it is worth.

 

[Stump Shot]

I would also mention that the carburetors coming out of South America have been wonderful as far as quality is concerned and prices are close to their Chinese counterparts. All this being said, there still ain't nothin' like the real thing. If you don't like to gamble on wasted time/money buy the original to your equipment. It's going to work. If your the tinkerer type, than might be the gamble is worth it to you.

 

[Spike60]

Haven't seen that one yet Joe. Be sure and make him pay for the extra time spent figuring out that carb. I hate taking in stuff that has been started by a customer cause you never really no what he did or changed on it. Governor springs in the wrong holes on mowers is a common one. One goof wrecked a Kawi 18 in an old Exmark by setting the coils wrong and ripped the magnet off the flywheel. The "NLA" from Kawi flywheel.

 

[Onan18]

Haven't seen that one yet Joe. Be sure and make him pay for the extra time spent figuring out that carb. I hate taking in stuff that has been started by a customer cause you never really no what he did or changed on it. Governor springs in the wrong holes on mowers is a common one. One goof wrecked a Kawi 18 in an old Exmark by setting the coils wrong and ripped the magnet off the flywheel. The "NLA" from Kawi flywheel.

We have a phrase for that down here "Customer Mechanic. "

 

[67L36Driver]

I'm going to start charging extra for removing the gobs of duct tape from client 'repairs'.[emoji21]

 

[Wagnerwerks]

I'm going to start charging extra for removing the gobs of duct tape from client 'repairs'.[emoji21]

You should. That gets old fast.