Just wanted to get That out of the way first 8-)

You may laugh .. After my question, if you must!

Well, here goes.

I have been using this dinky electric string trimmer for far too long
and wanted to look into the gas engine types.

I always worried about them being too heavy and too hard to start.

Today, I did it, I bought one.

I purchased an Echo (GT-200R) trimmer today.

My problem is that the user manual is really Poor in describing how
this Rapid Loader Head works, how it is loaded (or more correctly ..
Stays loaded).

Reading from the manual:

"Thread new lines through outside holes in housing until ends meet in
center of recess".

I have tried this over and over but the strings/lines just slip out.

I haven't even been able to try and start the trimmer yet because the
strings/lines fall out even if I am just setting the trimmer down
lightly, let alone cranking on the rope thingy.

It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

(See, My subject line was appropriate.
You may laugh now)

Thank You

VB

virginiabelle wrote:
[snip]
It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

[snip]

Yes, most likely: there should be two clamps, one on each side, to hold the
lines in place.

If they are missing the equipment was not assembled properly. If you did the
assembly, oops: look in the box & try again. If you bought it assembled or
had someone assemble it for you at the place of purchase, take it back and
get another.

If someone assembled it for you, that was a low-down dirty trick to pull or
they are really very, very inexperienced at such assemblies.

...

On Jun 11, 1:57 am, "neognomic" u34955@uwe wrote:
virginiabelle wrote:

[snip]It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

[snip]

Yes, most likely: there should be two clamps, one on each side, to hold the
lines in place.

If they are missing the equipment was not assembled properly. If you did the
assembly, oops: look in the box & try again. If you bought it assembled or
had someone assemble it for you at the place of purchase, take it back and
get another.

If someone assembled it for you, that was a low-down dirty trick to pull or
they are really very, very inexperienced at such assemblies.

..
Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:40:13 -0000, virginiabelle
wrote:

On Jun 11, 1:57 am, "neognomic" u34955@uwe wrote:
virginiabelle wrote:

[snip]It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

[snip]

Yes, most likely: there should be two clamps, one on each side, to hold the
lines in place.

If they are missing the equipment was not assembled properly. If you did the
assembly, oops: look in the box & try again. If you bought it assembled or
had someone assemble it for you at the place of purchase, take it back and
get another.

If someone assembled it for you, that was a low-down dirty trick to pull or
they are really very, very inexperienced at such assemblies.

..
Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB


Dont the Echo website show an exploded view of the parts?

On Jun 11, 6:31 am, wrote:
On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:40:13 -0000, virginiabelle





wrote:
On Jun 11, 1:57 am, "neognomic" u34955@uwe wrote:
virginiabelle wrote:

[snip]It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

[snip]

Yes, most likely: there should be two clamps, one on each side, to hold the
lines in place.

If they are missing the equipment was not assembled properly. If you did the
assembly, oops: look in the box & try again. If you bought it assembled or
had someone assemble it for you at the place of purchase, take it back and
get another.

If someone assembled it for you, that was a low-down dirty trick to pull or
they are really very, very inexperienced at such assemblies.

..
Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB

Dont the Echo website show an exploded view of the parts?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi,

If you have a "Bump" head trimmer, then it I think may not need clips.
On my honda trimmer, the nylon cutting cord should be on the spool and
feeds out of the two side holes. There are no clamps. The spool should
lock in the trimmer. BUT when you gently bump the head against the
ground while the trimmer is spinning, the spool should ride up into
the trimmer, and release more trimming cord.

The idea is that you do not have to stop trimming to made more cord
available. Just bump the head.

When you put the spool in with the cord, the spool may unwind maybe 4
inches of cord before it locks. This excess cord is O.K. Once you
start the trimmer, there is a metal blade on your trimmer guard which
will slice off this extra trimmer cord.

Hope this is of some help.

Warmest regards, Mike.

virginiabelle wrote:
[snip]It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]

..
Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB

The echo website has a couple of pics in the pdf manual.
http://www.echo-usa.com/technicalres...sh=1&B1=Submit

...but it is possible that the manual you received does not match the model
you purchased so verify you have the GT-200R with quick load type of head.
- or just return it.

A little advice:
If somebody else returns an item, there was a reason. Always get that info in
advance of such a purchase and be sure their reason won't be your reason.
$crimping on a gas powered trimmer will cause pain later. ( I did that once.
... ) Good gas trimmers are expensive. .
Electric trimmers are good as long as the area is not too spread out and they
are used regularly ... don't give-in to the sales pitches if you really do
not need the extra power. Gas trimmers are heavy, noisy, twice as expensive
to run as they used to be and pollute(Be Green!). All you might need is a
new electric trimmer ...they do wear-out eventually and the first warning is
that you have to beat some poor little piece of grass to death in order to
cut it.

If you really do need the gas power and want to get the price down, do some
garage sales after Father's Day and talk to 'Dad' before you buy it. Dad
will prbly even show you how to operate it. ...

good luck ...

--
Message posted via http://www.homekb.com

I have tried this over and over but the strings/lines just slip out.


The furnished strings should be 0.08", smaller lines may slip out. Take the
unit back and have them show you how its done. You may have a defective head
unit.

Don't put gas in or you may not be able to return it. If you did, be sure to
mix the gas with the 2-cycle oil per instruction or you will damage the
motor. I just heard some pro construction guy put raw gas in a new $1,200
14" cut off saw and fried it pretty good. Happens all the time with 2-cycle
engines.

If you really want a gas powered trimmer do NOT get a 2 cycle engine on it.
A couple of brands, Honda being one, make 4 cycle engines. If you live in
California a 4 cycle engine may be a requirement.

You may not know the difference, and the difference is not apparent to
quickly look at the engine, but it is easy to tell the difference. 2 cycle
engines require a measured mix of gasoline and oil, they are noisy, produce
clouds of blue smoke and are often hard to start. The oil mixed in the gas
requirement is the giveaway for a 2 cycle engine.

4 cycle engines hold a few ounces of engine oil in their crankcase and use
regular gas just like a car. They are quieter but still make noise, do not
smoke and should be easy to start.

"neognomic via HomeKB.com" u34955@uwe wrote in message
news:738a2ec277a6b@uwe...
virginiabelle wrote:
[snip]It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold
these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]

..
Thank You neognomic

Here is the whole story:

Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB

The echo website has a couple of pics in the pdf manual.
http://www.echo-usa.com/technicalres...sh=1&B1=Submit

..but it is possible that the manual you received does not match the model
you purchased so verify you have the GT-200R with quick load type of head.
- or just return it.

A little advice:
If somebody else returns an item, there was a reason. Always get that info
in
advance of such a purchase and be sure their reason won't be your reason.
$crimping on a gas powered trimmer will cause pain later. ( I did that
once.
.. ) Good gas trimmers are expensive. .
Electric trimmers are good as long as the area is not too spread out and
they
are used regularly ... don't give-in to the sales pitches if you really do
not need the extra power. Gas trimmers are heavy, noisy, twice as
expensive
to run as they used to be and pollute(Be Green!). All you might need is a
new electric trimmer ...they do wear-out eventually and the first warning
is
that you have to beat some poor little piece of grass to death in order to
cut it.

If you really do need the gas power and want to get the price down, do
some
garage sales after Father's Day and talk to 'Dad' before you buy it. Dad
will prbly even show you how to operate it. ...

good luck ...

--
Message posted via http://www.homekb.com

On Jun 11, 1:24 am, virginiabelle wrote:
Just wanted to get That out of the way first 8-)

You may laugh .. After my question, if you must!

Well, here goes.

I have been using this dinky electric string trimmer for far too long
and wanted to look into the gas engine types.

I always worried about them being too heavy and too hard to start.

Today, I did it, I bought one.

I purchased an Echo (GT-200R) trimmer today.

My problem is that the user manual is really Poor in describing how
this Rapid Loader Head works, how it is loaded (or more correctly ..
Stays loaded).

Reading from the manual:

"Thread new lines through outside holes in housing until ends meet in
center of recess".

I have tried this over and over but the strings/lines just slip out.

I haven't even been able to try and start the trimmer yet because the
strings/lines fall out even if I am just setting the trimmer down
lightly, let alone cranking on the rope thingy.

It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

There are different thicknesses of replacement strings you can buy. I
have an aftermarket head that loads similar to yours, and the
replacement I bought from HD was too thin.

According to virginiabelle :

"Thread new lines through outside holes in housing until ends meet in
center of recess".

I have tried this over and over but the strings/lines just slip out.

I haven't even been able to try and start the trimmer yet because the
strings/lines fall out even if I am just setting the trimmer down
lightly, let alone cranking on the rope thingy.

It doesn't seem as if there is any type of catch thingy to hold these
strings/lines in after they are inserted?

Am I missing something here?

Either you are, or the tool is ;-)

Sales literature for the rapidloader talk about "patented line
locking mechanism". Which means that there should be _something_.

On my Stihl, it simply has two holes in the reel. You stick the
ends of the line in, and then rotate the reel until you've
wound up enough line. Then put the cap back on and fire it up.

Yours sounds like it should have something a bit more sophisticated.

The picture on page 32 of http://www.echo-usa.com/oot/docs/GT200R_10_080706.pdf
seems to indicate that there are one or two assemblies consisting
of a small spring, pin and "pawl". See item 2 on that parts
diagram. Can you see whether that's present?

You'll want to go to

http://www.echo-usa.com/technicalres...200R&B1=Submit

and ensure you have the right PDF for your unit (check serial #)

One possibility is you got the wrong string size. The diagram
calls for .080 line. Is that what you bought? If you bought something
significantly smaller, the locking mechanism might not engage at all.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:40:13 -0000, virginiabelle
wrote:


Went to Home Depot and they had a couple of these lying on the shelf
with a tag saying 30% off of listed price because of return. Never
used.

I asked the girl about it and she said it was a complete unit except
that I would have to buy the strings.

She pulled the manual from an open plastic bag, (after I asked about
one) that I now suspect must have held those clips!

Maybe there are no clips. None of mine had clips. Go back and look
at a new one in the box. Look at the picture on the box and open the
box if you have to to see what all is needed.

If you've got the engine running, that's the most complicated part.
I'm sure you can fix the string thing.

BTW, terrible name for a thread.

It should have mentioned echo string trimmer, but instead I thought
the question was about puberty or "cycles".

This darn manual doesn't even mention them or show them in a picture.

Heck, the Echo website doesn't say a word about them.

VB