Originally Posted by
Truckracer
I don't dispute in any way that Mr. Lee knows more about RC engines than I do but that is not the point of my post. Clearly, not everyone knows everything about every subject and in this case I believe Mr. Lee is incorrect in his thinking. Regardless of whether inline fuel filters are used on gassers or not, there is just no logical reason I can make to myself why one would want to nor need to remove the internal screen. It is the absolute last defense the carb has against fuel contamination that could still happen with an inline filter. When the tiny drilled passages of a Walbro carb get crud in them it can be almost impossible to remove the crud without complete disassembly of the carb. A task that most users are not capable of so the carb becomes a throw away item.
I repeat, Mr Lee usually recommends removing the screen when it gets plugged with crud. Why on earth would you want to remove this valuable item even if you add back an inline filter. If anything happens to the filter, you're right back where you started only this time, your carb is plugged where the screen could have protected it. Most lawn equipment / chainsaws that use Walbro carb have inline filters yet they still retain that valuable screen. And ..... that's all I want to say about that and frankly, I'm sorry I ever brought up the subject.
LOL! I agree completely with leaving the screen, as long as it is clean enough to run. I did have on one occasion a problem with an engine that kept running out of fuel at higher than idle rpm's. I did every check and verify I could think of including looking at the screen, note I said look at it. I ended up putting some coloring in the fuel and following it until I found the problem. Well, turns out, after sitting for several months the oil/fuel coating on the screen had dried out and left a nearly invisible plug over the screen. The coloring showed a minute hole on the outer edge that enough fuel was getting through for the idle. That was the weirdest thing I had ever seen in a carb.