Strikemaster Solo Fuel Lines

Like quite a few others, I have had issues with my fuel line slipping off the primer bulb. I’ve taken it to a Authorized Service Center here locally for 2 reasons. 1. I wanted the issue documented 2. So if the nipple on the bulb were to break, they would be liable and not me on the cost.

We’ve for the most part have been sharing the info on the simple resolve – torque a tiny black (outdoor rated) Ty-Wrap on the hose. For many, this has worked and end of issue. I for one, had it work for the remainder of the season last year…and having to replace the ty-wrap a few times this year. This is in addition to it sliding off and simply sliding it on. Also like many others, I have just been “fixing” it myself and not repeatedly contacting SM about the issue.

I generated another email expressing my frustration with this one and only complaint. I received a VERY prompt response with a full explanation on the issue. Solo has made a huge mistake and over-sight with sending out engines that have the black fuel line that is rated for “summer time” use. The tubing should have been clear and a slightly smaller diameter. I was assured that SM has received the tubing for rectifying the problem and it is available.

If you are having this issue, I would send a polite email off to the Strike master email [email protected] and request the tubing or inquire to where you should take it to be replaced. I want to stress that I was very impressed with the tone of their response and they want to make it right.

Thanks for the heads up. I just bought a lazer pro about a month ago and luckily haven’t had this issue with minimal use. I’ll have to check the color of the hoses to make sure. I wonder if the “newer” machines have the clear/smaller hoses?

I swear if my Pro Lazer wasn’t the fastest auger I’ve even seen I’d have thrown it in the lake by now.

I emailed them and within 20 minutes they had replied and asked for my address to send a new gas line. Talk about great customer service!

I just emailed them and they replied in 2 minutes…crazy.

companies will always have some form of issues what it is a matter of how they handle it that is nice to see

That would be nice to get a response in 20 minutes! I sent an e-mail this morning at 8:50 regarding ongoing issues with my Lazer Mag 2.5 with no response yet. Couldn’t get anyone on the phone either. I’ve been up to H2 Outfitters (they are top notch!) 3 times this year. when Strikemaster does respond they just say to bring it there. Now the bit spins on its own. With that, and i have to hold the throttle wide open for it to pop is not a good combo.

Like riverrat said- when they work, boy there is nothing better. But it’s hard to justify with all the issues I’ve had. Should have never sold my buddy my old tecumseh lazer mag….

I will say one thing- new plug, fresh non-oxy 91, amsoil saber 50:1 and a shot of sea foam = amazing.

I hear ya. I had a Tecumseh lazer mag-awesome! We had a garage fire and I lost it. I then bought a solo lazer mag and have had nothing but trouble. Should have known better when the first one locked up before even using it, had to trade for a different one. Now I have a Honda lite 10″, and i’m hoping I made the right decision buying that. Probably should have went nils. My question is what is the best place to take my lazer to have it worked on? Drock is a little farther than H2outfitters, is it worth driving the extra.

Here is a link to find your nearest service center

http://www.rapala.com/content/strikemaster-about-product-service/strikemaster-find-service-center.html?id=11

Slabchaser- I hope you didn’t think I was being sarcastic when I said H2Outfitters is top notch. They run a nice operation there. If it’s a small carb tweak or replacing the fuel lines they’ll usually do it on the spot and you can leave with your auger.

They know their stuff and don’t mess around. nothing but pleased with their service, if only my auger returned that kinda service…

I haven’t had any experience with h2o but DRock has been a good shop to go to.

Many has talked about the fuel line coming off the primer bulb. Makes me wonder what color is that fuel line. yellowish or clear.

any chance they were closed because of the holiday?

Kent Tau wrote:

I haven’t had any experience with h2o but DRock has been a good shop to go to.

Many has talked about the fuel line coming off the primer bulb. Makes me wonder what color is that fuel line. yellowish or clear.

The defective lines on strikemasters are black and the replacements are clear so I’ve been told. The clear are better suited for winter temps where the black are fitted to small engines used in summer. I know in the case of Eskimos that they use their viper motors on earth augers which are warm weather use. The clear lines on my Eskimo ice auger are clear and always are snug no matter the temp.

My black line came off the primer ball. Zip tied it until I had time to bring it in. H2O instantly said the black lines are basically junk and said they’d replace them. They put on yellow/clear gas lines. No issues since.

Zach- You’re probably right. Realized that when I went to get the mail after work. I want to bring this auger directly to strikemaster this time. H2O has been great at fixing things, but I want to rule out a lemon. 2 new recoils, carb tune, new lines, etc. and it still wouldn’t fire unless I held the throttle down.

Now the bit spins itself… I hope I can go a season without bringing my new auger to a dealer someday- 2 years no dice.

My buddy turned me down when I asked if I could buy my old auger back! Had to try haha

Only reason I thought of it is because my wife was off today and I wasn’t. she tried pretty hard not to rub that in too…

Hmmmmm, interesting. The fuel line I had a problem with was a yellowish/clear line, it kept slipping off. Of the two hoses that plugin right by the primer bulb, the top hose is black and the bottom is yellowish/clear. Can you tell I know nothing about small engines? Probably.

Anyways, it was the bottom hose that was giving me issues, strike master sent me a replacement that was the same color, about the same length, BUT, it as a smaller diameter. It was kind of a pain to get it onto the little nipple thingies, but once I did it, it appears to be on there A LOT better.

I emailed strikemaster as well, and got a replacement fuel line mailed to me. Very impressed with the customer service. The black lines definitely had some shrinking issues, as far as I am concerned the Solo motor is still a great engine. Replacing the lines takes all but a few minutes! Minor issue IMO.

I just emailed them about my 2.5hp lazer mag leaking gas and also that i’m seeing air bubbles in my fuel line. Hopefully see a fix in the mail.

Strikemaster was closed for the holiday yesterday. Wish my company would do the same! I had an e-mail from them at 5:50am today. They said bring it in and they’ll fix whatever is needed while I wait.

Hopefully they’ll go through everything like it was their own so it starts, runs, and holds up like they should.

I’ll post an update once I return from there. You have to appreciate the prompt response!

FishBlood- I would call H2 Outfitters, they’re pretty good about diagnosing things over the phone for quick fixes.

Heck strikemaster had an email back to me by noon today saying a new hose will be in the mail.

My buddy will be getting his auger back from a local mechanic this week; i’ve asked that he ask what was done to fix his. He has the exact same auger; exact same age; and he don’t use his quite as much as i do, but one day a few weeks ago we both met on the ice and both said that our augers leaked in the exact same way LOL. Hoping it is as simple as a new gas line. Thing runs like a top before the air in gas line started occuring (Which is sporatic).

Wanted to follow up with you all with Strikemaster’s service. Wow are they great. E-mail is best and they’re pretty quick to respond.

My pops was nice enough to bring it there for me since I couldnt get off work. They tore into it while he waited. Clutch spring was broke. Replaced that at no cost. Also adjusted the jets since I said it was a tough starter.

It’s still under warranty so this was all done at no charge. 30 minutes and it runs like a top. I’m excited to have it on the ice this weekend to see how it performs tuned correctly.

My gas line and instructions showed up wednesday night…About 30 hours from my email to them
Will throw them on when in SD monday.

Thought I would share my experience on this.

I recently (1/15) bought a Lazer Pro and didn’t have time to use it for a few weeks after purchase. After reading this thread I went out to the garage and found that I too had the black fuel lines. With all the great service being talked about I emailed strikemaster told them my story and got a reply saying that if the fuel lines hadn’t leaked than I should be good to go.

Fast forward a month and a few outings later I’m out on Lake Erie and my auger dies. First instinct was to look at the fuel line and the primer bulb to sure enough find one of the lines had popped off. This continued to happen over the course of the weekend.

I emailed Strikemaster on my way home from Ohio (3/2) to let them know I was a little frustrated that even though I had contacted them in regards to having the notorious black fuel lines on my auger I was assured I should be good to go only to be left with an auger that would die after 10 or so holes.

To their (Strikemaster) credit, I had a prompt email response and the new fuel lines were at my door Wednesday (3/4). That’s customer service after the sale that is hard to beat!

I recently learned that loyalty to StrikeMaster with 3 augers with issues within 2 years doesn’t pay off. With the last auger new out of the box just a few weeks ago on the ice barely cut. I did the loyalty thing and not take it to the store yet to the authorized repair center. Lets just say the outcome was very surprising. Luckily it was only the 3 week since I’ve own it and only took it out once, the store manager said he will refund my money as I shouldn’t have to deal with my augers that way.
I am no longer a strikemaster customer and will look towards other ootions.

^^^^^
Huh?
English much?
You should try and be a little more vague.

My Honda strike lite has been great. I just saw that rapala is recalling all of the lithium lazers sold in the last year for a bad on/off switch. It was in the star tribune I believe.

Kent Tau wrote:

I recently learned that loyalty to StrikeMaster with 3 augers with issues within 2 years doesn’t pay off. With the last auger new out of the box just a few weeks ago on the ice barely cut. I did the loyalty thing and not take it to the store yet to the authorized repair center. Lets just say the outcome was very surprising. Luckily it was only the 3 week since I’ve own it and only took it out once, the store manager said he will refund my money as I shouldn’t have to deal with my augers that way.
I am no longer a strikemaster customer and will look towards other ootions.

Alright I’ll bite.

I’m curious as to what issues you have had with all of your augers. Based on your explanation of the last auger you purchased, anything that had gone wrong with it should have been taken care of under warranty unless the damage was caused by some kind of abuse by the user. There are many things that can go wrong with an auger so I’m not doubting your claim of something being wrong with all of your augers but with your vagueness of what the actual issue was and why the service center you took it too handled it the way they did leaves a lot to question.

I just got a new lazer pro and had it out today. Probably drilled 50 holes. Was a little hard to start at first but got better through the day. At the end of the day I was going to drill a few more holes and drilled 4 and then it died. Wouldn’t start again. Primer bulb wouldn’t fill with gas and I can hear just air pumping through. Found this thread and went out to check hose and all seemy to be snug and I have a black hose and a clear. The one from the primer is clear. Going to stop at h2O tomorrow, don’t want to return it for another bad auger. I get it that things break, but when you pay $400+ it should make through the first day no issues. I’m pissed. This could be the end of me and strikemaster.

Cracked fuel line. Don’t see how that can happen brand new. Disappointed in the out of the box quality.

The one thing I can say strikemaster has going for them is great service reps. The guys at h2outfitters had it done in 10 minutes and warranty paperwork filed. And we talked a little fishing. Super great guys, I highly recommend them.

One thing I have found is the Solo motor is easy to flood. This is the process I use and mine always starts in 3-4 pulls when cold. Switch to On position, depress Blue compression button, Choke to start position, press primer 3-4 times until I see fuel flow through line. Pull recoil, repress Blue compression button and pull recoil. Repeat until motor fires, usually 2-3 pulls, take choke off and pull recoil, started.

If you leave the choke on after the motor fires even a little, you can easily flood it making it difficult to start.

The only issue that I have had was the recoil being sticky, sprayed it out with WD 40 and it has been good since.