OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Briggs & Stratton Quantum 50 Pull cord length?

Hi,

The current cord on my Briggs & Stratton Quantum 50 is all frayed and looks like it is going to snap very soon.

I want to replace it before it snaps to avoid more work.

I did a rough measurment of the current cord and it is about 1250mm long, but am thinking in the 10 years I have had it that it may have stretched a little.

Is there a specific length for these motors?

I rememeber reading something that if it's too long/short it could damage the tension spring?

Thanks

Too long might damage the tension spring, but too short will just make it difficult to start the mower. The cord probably hasn't stretched a whole lot, but sometimes they get shorter than normal when someone re-attaches the pull handle to the stub of a broken cord.

Briggs and Stratton recommend that you find the correct length and diameter of cord by referring to their parts list.

I found the parts list, but it wasn't very helpful.

All it had was the part number 280399S. Rope-Starter (Cut to Required Length)

The motor is a Quantum XM 50, Model 12F802-0842-02

I am pretty sure the cord has been broken and reattached before so that measurement I posted above probably isnt very accurate.

What should I do?

Others, especially Joe Carroll, can give you a more accurate description, but the usual process is to fully wind the spring, unwind it one turn, attach the cord, and let the spring fully unwind, coiling cord onto the reel as it does so. Then pull the cord out about three inches, cut it, and tie on the T-handle. The idea is to end up with the spring a few cord-inches away from fully extended, when you've pulled out all of the cord.

Grumpy, your pretty much got it in one, I keep feeding the rope in until the starter reel is nearlly full. Can be tricky at times threading in the new rope and keeping tension on the starter spring once you have tensioned it up.

Thanks grumpy, I tried that method and seems to be working well.

Thanks for letting us know victa. I'll close this thread.