So I bought this weed whacker last week at a garage sale half off, for 1.50. It said "needs repair" but I figured I couldn't go wrong for that price. So I took it home tried to crank it, nothing. I took it apart, cleaned it up a bit replaced the fuel and it started up for me. It was running rough though and not idling well at all. I opened it up a bit and managed to whack a few weeds, but I noticed after 5 minutes or so that it was incredibly hot so I turned it off. I noticed a little smoke coming from the muffler area. So I took it apart again, took apart the carb this time and all the gaskets seem to be in good order. I let em dry out then reassembled it. Now I am waiting to put the whole thing back together until I get some idea what is wrong. First suspect is the torn gaskets, one from the carb housing and another one shown in the picture. Second suspect is the fuel lines, I bought new ones even though I think the old ones are fine. Third suspect, gas mix might have had too much oil because I kinda eyeballed a half gallon's worth. It might even be the muffler, some debris rattles around when I shake it. Was hoping someone could help me make this thing run again, any tips for checking for leaks in the fuel lines? Thanks for the help, Joe

 

That bad gasket in the first pic is probably the main cause of your problems.