Off Season Storage Guide for your Leaf Blower

As autumn draws to a close and you finish another busy season of cleaning the yard, you need to ensure that you pack everything up correctly. After all, your leaf blower is still a piece of equipment that needs to be properly handled. Needless to say, you need to take the necessary precautions and store your leaf blowers correctly. Failure to do so can create problems down the road.

This article teaches readers everything they need to know about proper off-season storage for leaf blowers.

Materials Needed

Before anything else, it is vital that you prepare all the materials you will need as you. Here is a list of everything you need to have:

• Detergent
• Clean water
• Old towels
• Used motor oil receptacle
• Fresh motor oil
• Spark plug wrench
• Funnel
• Gas can

Draining and Replacing the Oil

For 4-cycle engines, you will need to drain the oil. This is so that the engine crankcase is properly protected and insulated from prolonged exposure to oxygen which can be rather detrimental. As you probably know, 2-cycle leaf blower engines do not have a crankcase as the gas and oil are mixed together.

To do this, you will need to start the engine and let it warm up for a while. This is vital as the heat will make the liquid flow out easier. A 10 to 15-minute interval should be enough for that. Afterwards, you can proceed to drain the oil from the crankcase.

Once that is done, refill it with some fresh engine oil.

Cleaning the Air Filter

Over time and extended use, the small engines of your leaf blower will get clogged with dust. It is vital that you perform preventive maintenance at the end of the season. To do this, simply remove the air filter and give it a good washing. Make sure that you rinse it with a warm water and dish detergent solution.

Draining the Gas Tank

First, you will need to drain the gas tank completely into your gas can. Then, once that is finished, turn on the engine and let the engine run itself dry.  It is vital that readers understand the importance of this step. By draining the engine of fuel, you are essentially preventing any chances of gas evaporating and varnishing the insides of your carburetor.

As any expert would tell you, a carburetor with gas residue in it could lead to severe problems. You may even have a hard time starting the engine altogether.

Remove the Spark Plug

To remove the spark plug, make sure that you have a spark plug wrench. Once that is done, put a bit of oil directly into the spark plug socket. Then, slowly pull on the engine’s starter cord a few times. This should help prevent rust from building up inside as the oil that you just applied over the valves will have been spread.

Once that is done, you can put the spark plug back or replace it, if necessary.

These are the steps that everyone needs to follow in order to ensure the safety of their leaf blowers during the off-season. Make sure that you keep them in mind the next time you put your blower away.