Hi Norm, I would check the easiest things first ,like the flywheel is not slightly loose and moving on the cranks
keyway or sometimes I've had bad spark plugs that cause backfiring and it doesn't take much time to change the
coil just in case that has an intermittent problem .
It's just that you mentioned the starter handle being ripped out of your hand with the lighter blade assembly,
that's not a compression issue it's usually advanced spark or loose (slipping) blade plate on the crank or slipping
crank blade plate boss.
Cheers
Max.
