ptwizz Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Never underestimate the awesome power of the shed bodger. BODGE - Bit Of Damn Good Engineering. Historical note - a bodger was a skilled woodturner who would fabricate a pole lathe at the site where wood was being cut and turn semi-finished parts. This process reduced the quantity of would which had to be transported back to the carpenters and left the waste in the woods where it would naturally be recycled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScaredOfHeights Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Hi all, Noticed my rope was a little worn so decided to try the suggested Briggs OEM unit. I agreed, it sits about 3-5mm to high. Unfortunately I can't weld for nuts and getting someone to do it would cost more than it's worth. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwippg Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Hey Matt That's a shame you can't get it modified economically to suit, cause they seem to be a sturdy unit and the parts for them are in stock at nearly all lawn mower repair shops. If I was a bit closer I would mod it for you but I think the air freight would kill it also! Cheers Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwippg Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Hi all. I have a Thor 130 and have had the usual flash starter issues with the broken starter springs, but not I have just experienced the starter cord coming loose and getting caught in the flywheel mid flight, sending the starter handle into orbit. Has anyone found a miracle fix for the flash starter to prevent this from happening. I have a standard modified Briggs starter on standby to keep me going, but the flash starter is a neat option and would be good to keep in place. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Camaro Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Ok, so I have about a 100 hours on my Thor 130 converted back to a manual start so far all good..!I resolved the kick back issue by replacing the pull start handle with 8mm bungee cord. Easy to start and if it does kick back them it doesn't rip out of my hand. I also found that the the kick back seems to happen when it's overly primed, so am now very careful to just prime a little and use the choke to finish off. Matt Hey Matt, Do you have a picture of how you did the bungee? Mine kicks back hard and it sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrizzz Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) Hi, I'm happily flying a PAP PA125 since 80 hours and unfortunately last weekend the 'cord into prop' problem has caught me, too. What's maybe worth noting: the PA125 doesn't have the flash starter, it comes with a regular starter (with all it's kick-back beauty...). I think I will have to take the recoil starter apart to see what's really going on but for sure the starter rope is slowly unwinding at high RPM. Recoil spring tension seems normal (but I have no comparison). My personal theory is that the cooling fan will "transmit" some rotation to the starter pulley (both right next to each other, unwinding the rope) at high RPM, recoil spring not strong enough (anymore) to hold it in place (can a spring wear out after 80 hours?). Anyone else had this issue on the PA125 or similar engines with regular starter? Is there a fix or do I have to replace the starter? Thanks a lot! Edited September 2, 2016 by chrizzz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas_whitmore Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 havn't heard about it happening to regular pull start motors . put a post on here if you find out why ' cas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aljken Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Hi all, It seems like the thor 130 (and 100) have known issues from the poor design of the flash starter. Has anyone tried doing this mod: http://www.southwestairsports.com/ppgtechinfo/thor130200/flashstarter/insert.htm Might fix the problem permanently? Is it easy to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrizzz Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 (edited) Update on the PA125 (conventional) starter issue: I figured out the recoil spring of the starter was somehow unwound by one turn (whenever and however that happend). It's not likely to be a fatigued spring, rather the roundend "inner end" of the spring has somehow slipped over the little "hook" of the pulley (see attached image). This resulted in too little tension to keep the starter cord pulled in during flight (but still enough to keep the starter cord in place at low revs) . Strikingly, the tension of the starter cord also was not greatly decreased by this missing turn (so tricky to notice on the ground!!). I wound the spring up for one turn and tension increased. When I pull out the cord to maximum length (limited by the spring totally wound up) there is a little bit cord left on the roll (3/4 of one turn). I hope it will not slip again. I also secured the starter handle now, but of course the cord is hard to secure... chrizzz Edited September 7, 2016 by chrizzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrizzz Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 (edited) deleted Edited September 7, 2016 by chrizzz duplicate post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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