Patent ID: 6912979

Claim:
A method for operating a two-stroke engine including a two-stroke engine for a portable handheld work apparatus, the two-stroke engine including: a crankcase; a cylinder connected to said crankcase; said cylinder having a cylinder wall defining a cylinder; a piston displaceably mounted in said cylinder for reciprocating movement therein and said piston and said cylinder conjointly defining a combustion chamber; a crankshaft rotatably mounted in said crankcase; a connecting rod connecting said piston to said crankshaft so as to permit said piston to drive said crankshaft as said piston reciprocates in said cylinder; said crankcase having an inlet through which an air/fuel mixture is drawn into said crankcase during an intake phase of said engine; a transfer channel for conducting said air/fuel mixture from said crankcase into said combustion chamber; and, a fluid channel communicating with said transfer channel; the method comprising the steps of: drawing a fluid into said transfer channel through said fluid channel during said intake phase and storing the inducted fluid in said transfer channel with said fluid being a fuel-poor to fuel-free fluid; and, adjusting lambda (λ) of said air/fuel mixture stored in said crankcase in a range of 0.2 to 0.6.