Founder & Licensed Engineer
Professionally licensed engineer with 20+ years of troubleshooting experience across naval, electrical, and power generation systems, and a lifelong small engine hobbyist.
Derick Dearmon is a professionally licensed engineer with more than 20 years of experience in troubleshooting, design, and operation of a wide range of equipment. Over his career, he has worked as a Naval ship designer, Navy ship electrician, commercial and residential electrician, project engineer for a power generation facility, and project manager of a new power generation construction project. Every one of those roles drilled the same core skill: walk up to a broken system, figure out what's wrong, and fix it.
Small engine repair has been Derick's passion and hobby for years — tearing down mowers, generators, and chainsaws, bringing them back to life, and personally helping countless friends, neighbors, and fellow DIYers do the same. He created Lil Engine to combine the systematic troubleshooting methodology he built over two decades with something he genuinely loves doing.
Every troubleshooting guide on Lil Engine is grounded in real-world repair data, manufacturer service manuals, technical forums, and verified community sources — and is reviewed against the diagnostic process Derick relies on professionally.
Tearing down and rebuilding mowers, generators, chainsaws, and handheld outdoor power equipment — for himself and his community.
Commercial and residential electrician, Navy ship electrician — diagnosing ignition, charging, and safety-interlock circuits.
Project engineer and project manager for a power generation facility and new construction — deep experience with generators and fuel systems.
20+ years of a repeatable, systematic diagnostic process: observe, isolate, test, fix — applied to every guide on the site.
Search your make, model, and symptom for a step-by-step repair guide.
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