Good idea to "dry out" gas engine tool carbs after use?

[e9999]

One thing I've done for a long time is to empty the tanks of my gas engine tools like chainsaws, weedwackers etc after use. I empty the tank and then also fire up the engine and let it until it dies out from lack of gas. My thought was that this would prevent the formation of deposits in carb that might happen if the gas were instead left in the tool for long periods of time (as much as several months maybe over the winter). Also prevent having stale gas in the carb bowl which may make it more difficult to start later on.
Now tonight, while putting a new starter string on one of my saws and looking at it, I was thinking that maybe this is not a such good idea after all if the diaphragms and seals etc are left to dry out in the carb. Maybe they'd lose their elasticity etc?

So waddaya think? Dry out carb or not?

 

[KLF]

I think that you will find lots of answers, mostly based on opinion, sorta like the "synthetic vs dyno oil" debate.

I only empty things out like that when I'm doing long term storage, like over the winter for the saw, trimmer, lawnmower, etc, and over the summer for the snowblower. It would be a huge pain to empty the tank in the snowblower after each storm, but I always shut the gas off and let it run till it dies after every use.

I try not to let the gas in my generator & cans get more than about 90 days old, even with Stabil. Once it gets that old, I dump them into one of the cars, then I go refill them with fresh gas. I fire it up every month as a test. Like the snowblower, I always empty the carb before I put it away.

 

[D'Animal]

With todays fuel, it is a good idea to run the hand held equipment dry. The diaphragms may dry out but the oil residue from the fuel mix left behind helps prevent the needle from sticking.

As KLF mentioned, it it difficult to run a walk behind or stationary piece of equipment dry each time you use it. Just turn the fuel off at the tank or inline and run the unit until the carb is out of fuel.

 

[sparkplug]

If you are gunna dry out the carb you should also drain the bowl.

 

[e9999]

If you are gunna dry out the carb you should also drain the bowl.

interesting. I had assumed that if I'd run the carb dry as in the engine stops, that would mean that the bowl is now empty or at least as empty as the suction device will allow.