engine idle speed

[One Tough Pressure 580]

I recently spoke to a person who says that he saves gas by idling down his engine. Now I know that this will cut flow and pressure, and also hamper the charging system if it has one, but other than that, is their any problem with this?

I have no plans of doing it myself, but just would like to know. Seems like their would be an issue with cooling, since these are air cooled.

[Jon 533]

OTP from all I have heard over the years one should never idle the engine down but use different nozzles to adjust to what he or she is trying to gain or loose.

My understanding is engines must run full power to be effective and to do otherwise can/will damage the pump over time by not allowing it to run at full RPM.

Jon

[Scott Stone 604]

It all depends. The engines on most of our machines are designed to run at 3200 RPM. The reason is that they are air cooled, and that is the volume of air needed to cool it properly. So if you have an air cooled engine, then it will make your engine run hotter than design.

If you have a liquid cooled engine, then as long as the fan is working like it should, and the radiator is not plugged, then you should be okay.