There is a fact that before giving your lawnmower a rest season. Or before it turns to winter. You should remove all the gasoline. Therefore, you should know how to drain gas from a lawn mower.
There are some reasons for you to miss the maintenance. Perhaps you don’t care about the issue. Or perhaps you don’t know how to drain the gas. Whatever it is. This article will be a useful one for you. We will teach you a course for freshers. The steps are simple, and everyone can do these.
Why should you drain gas from a lawnmower?
Removing all the gasoline before storage is the recommendation of the manufacturer. You can see that, if you do not drain out the gas in the winter, it is difficult to start the engine again in the spring.
Graining the gasoline out is a good habit. And there are some reasons to stimulate the work:
1. The left gasoline quality reduced
After the winter, the entire gas deposits sink to the bottom of the tank. Therefore, the quality of the gas liquid itself is reduced. The liquid is less combustible.
2. The carburetor can be damaged
Besides, in the spring, when you start the engine again. The poor-quality gas will go through the motor, the filter, and the carburetor. In some cases, the flow of fuel that is full of deposits can stop the engine altogether suddenly.
Maybe you like this: How to clean carburetor on a Troy Bilt lawn mower?
3. The lifespan of the lawnmower can be shortened
If you haven’t used the gasoline in 30 days, it is stale. At that time, the fuel was very poor-quality. The debris from it gives some effect to the piston and carburetor. In addition, the entire parts can be affected because of hard work.
Further reading: Why does a lawn mower live such a hard life? How to extend its lifespan?
Drain gas from lawnmower with a siphon: How to do it?
A siphon is an effective tool for the lawnmower which doesn’t have a fuel line. It helps remove the retained gasoline by suction.
Step 1: Add some stabilizer
The stabilizer is added to the fuel tank to prevent the fuel from breaking into deposits. It helps the fuel burn effectively.
The mechanics suggest that you should run the fuel added stabilizer for about 5 minutes. The stabilizer will run through the line, the filter, and the carburetor.
This step can help you protect the engine from gummy deposits. Moreover, in the spring, it will be easy for you to start the engine again.
Step 2: Have some preparation
After running the engine, you should wait a minute. Don’t do anything until the engine cools down.
Let’s find a suitable place to start the preparation process. It should be:
- A flat surface where there aren’t any ups and downs.
- The ground is clean.
You should also have some safety treatments:
- Engage the brake of the lawnmower.
- LOCK all the moving parts.
- Disconnect the spark plug and the ignition wire.
- Set the blade lever in the LOCK position.
If you have a lifting machine, you can use it to lift your lawnmower. The fuel will run out thanks to gravity. Therefore, the fuel tank must be in a position that is higher than the container.
Step 3: Drain the gasoline with your siphon
The siphon is known as the fastest and the most efficient. There are two types of siphon: The automatic siphon and the manual one. Whatever the type it is, the guidelines are the same.
A siphon pump has two parts. They are the tubing and the pump. The pump creates a suction that leads the flow of the liquid. Then all of the remaining fuel will be drained out thanks to gravity.
Be careful when you put the tubing end into the tank. The siphon tubing has two ends with different purposes. The brass end will help you drain the gas out.
Step 4: Check the filter
After removing all the fuel, let’s take some minutes to maintain the filter. Look at the filter, if the filter is dirty or full of debris, you should clean it. This keeps the engine working smoothly.
How to drain gas from a lawnmower without a siphon?
Without a siphon, you can do the work. However, it will take time. Go through the article, you can have an effective method with simple stools.
The necessary tools:
- A drain pan is used for collecting gasoline.
- Two plastic tubes are used to create the liquid flow. One of them is long enough to reach the gas tank.
- Some towels are used for cleaning up.
Step 1: Cut the power of the spark plug
It’s dangerous if the lawnmower suddenly moves when your hands are inside the machine. The first thing to do is disconnect the spark plug and the ignition wire. With this step, you can make sure that the engine won’t start without intention.
Step 2: Set the things in ready condition
The two tubes are the subtitle to the siphon in the first method. Let’s follow the instructions and place the things in the right place:
- Put the drain container on the ground and under the gasoline tank. The container must be lower than the bottom of the tank. Therefore, you can drain out all of the gas.
- Put the longer tube into the gas tank. Feed it as deep as possible. It is a good one if the tube reaches the base of the tank.
- Place the shorter tube into the tank and side-by-side the longer one. Notice that the tube doesn’t touch the fuel.
- Seal the fuel cap.
This will help create pressure to push the fuel out.
Step 3: Drain the gas out
To create pressure, you blow on the opening of the short tube.
Step 4: Burn all the fuel
Then you run the engine to burn the remaining fuel if any.
Related post: 5 Practical tips for gas lawn mower maintenance
Final thoughts
Draining fuel in the winter is one of the maintenance recommendations. This article shows you how to drain gas from a lawn mower with a siphon and without the siphon. Each method has its own pros and cons. Let’s choose one that is suitable for you.