I have an older Weed Eater XT 40T and the line breaks constantly. I have tried using WD 40 to lubricate the inside and scraping the edges clean of dirt. I wind the line as carefully as I can to keep it tight and even. I think the button in the center is getting stuck so maybe the spring inside is not giving enough tension, thus when I open it to feed the line out again the spool is all loose. I have ordered pre-wound spools as advised by the manual but have not tried them yet.
I am ready to buy a new trimmer but hate to be adding something else to the town dump. Thanks, Ruth

<moved>

Well, if you do buy a new trimmer, I would suggest you check out the STIHL brand of trimmers. I would not take $500.00 for my STIHL weed eater and of course I could replace it very easily for that amount. In fact a couple of times replacement cost. But I simply love my STIHL products. They always perform and only need routine maintenance to provide a long life of usage.

As far as the line breaking, is the line old? Old line will be brittle.