"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 08 Oct 2015 09:59:12 +0100, Stephen
wrote:

Hello,

I bought one of these on a whim when it was in a sale a couple of
years ago. I've never used it properly but on the advice of people
here, I would run it with a load every now and again to make sure it
was working. What with moving house etc. it has not been used in a
long time. I found it whilst tidying the garage the other day and
cannot start it.

Is there anything I can try to resurrect it? The oil/petrol mix has
been in there a while, should I pour that out and start again?

You occasionally see suggestions that fuel left to stand
for long periods loses its ability to fire up (not sure whether
that applies to petrol alone, or two-stroke mix, or both).

Both. More strictly the more volatile components can
evaporate away in anything worse than a real jerrycan.

It sometimes happens with garden machinery that's been
left in a shed over winter, and then won't start in the spring.

Particularly in 2 stroke engines that can be pretty marginal
starting wise at times with the worst of them.

The explanation offered is that volatile components
evaporate, resulting in greater difficulty in starting.

Yep.

I've never been very convinced by the explanation,

I have. Particularly when new fuel sees it start fine.

but the fact of poor starting behaviour
using fuel that's stood around, remains.

And there isnt anything else other than gummy
stuff in the carb that would explain that result.

I'd drain out the old fuel, use some freshly made-up mixture and
also flush the fuel line with it, clean the plug outside and in,

I wouldn't bother doing that plug stuff unless it doesn't start
with the fresh fuel.

bring the genny into a warmish place to dry out any condensation
or damp that might have built up in the ignition system over time,

That shouldn't trouble most 2 strokes.

and try again.