I'm an idiot, or how not to take care of your saw...

[TradEddie]

I've been playing with engines of all types and sizes for at least 25 years, so I freely admit to not spending too much time reading my chainsaw User Manual. I also admit to willful abuse of all my tools. It's not that I don't take care of tools, but IMO, if a tool can't withstand use at extremes, it's no use to me.

Intentional, informed abuse is one thing, but abuse by ignorance is something I now need to admit:

I haven't had any big chainsaw work recently so although I knew it wasn't running anywhere near it's best, I hadn't taken time to investigate, I had adjusted the carb but it hadn't helped.

The recent thread about reading sparkplugs got me thinking, so I finally got around to taking proper look. I opened the cover, looked in and thought "what's that plastic box on top of the carrb?" Surely it couldn't be an air filter, because I'd read in the manual that this saw used the centrifugal force of the flywheel blades to clean the air... right? Somehow I'd got the idea that this saw didn't have an air filter, an idea that was quickly correcting itself as I unscrewed the box and examined it. The valleys formed by the pleats were completely filled with sawdust, it wasn't even obvious that this was a pleated filter. Five years, regular use, and this filter had never been looked at! In all honesty, it's a credit to the designers that this saw ran at all. I cleaned out the filter, reset the high jet, and wow!

Don't try this at home. Apologies to all saw lovers.

TE

 

[ScotO]

Wow. I'm not gonna beat you up about it, but WOW.....;-) now if that was a Stihl that you had abused like that. I'D HAVE TO TURN YOU IN TO THE AUTHORITIES! :lol: Hey look on the bright side, now that you cleaned it out, your saw runs a lot better!!

 

[JustWood]

HOLY SCHNIKEYS I tap mine out at least once a day when running hard.

 

[Highbeam]

You know that the saw wasn't getting all of it's air through that filter. I would consider the possibility that unfiltered air was being burned.

 

[zzr7ky]

Well if you liked it before, I'm thinkin' you LOVE it's new attitude!!

 

[wkpoor]

When ever a saw comes to me not running right thats the first thing I look at. And 100% of the time ,whether its the problem or not, the filter is plum plugged full.

 

[ScotO]

I'm not sure about the 350, but the XP saws do have the air "pr-cleaned" by the flywheel of I am not mistaken. You still have an air filter on them as all, but the air is pr-cleaned.....

 

[Thistle]

I'm not sure about the 350, but the XP saws do have the air "pr-cleaned" by the flywheel of I am not mistaken. You still have an air filter on them as all, but the air is pr-cleaned.....

I give all my saws a complete cleaning with compressed air after each cutting session,whether its 30 minutes or 8 hrs.Takes 5 minutes tops & rewards me with more power & effientcy next use.

 

[TradEddie]

I'm not sure about the 350, but the XP saws do have the air "pr-cleaned" by the flywheel of I am not mistaken. You still have an air filter on them as all, but the air is pr-cleaned.....

That's the case, and somehow I had read that part of the manual but completely missed the other side of the same page where it discussed the real air filter. I had kept the flywheel fins clean thinking that was the filter. The carb throttle body looked spotless so I'm confident that even fully loaded, the filter was effective at cleaning what little air it was letting through.

I'm no newbie to engines, I've rebuilt 2 and 4 stroke engines without needing service manuals for anything but part numbers, I still fix whatever is still fixable on my car, I'll offer to repair friend's old engines just for fun. This may be the low point in my mechanical carreer.

TE

 

[ScotO]

When ever a saw comes to me not running right thats the first thing I look at. And 100% of the time ,whether its the problem or not, the filter is plum plugged full.

I give all my saws a complete cleaning with compressed air after each cutting session,whether its 30 minutes or 8 hrs.Takes 5 minutes tops & rewards me with more power & effientcy next use.View attachment 63726

That's the case, and somehow I had read that part of the manual but completely missed the other side of the same page where it discussed the real air filter. I had kept the flywheel fins clean thinking that was the filter. The carb throttle body looked spotless so I'm confident that even fully loaded, the filter was effective at cleaning what little air it was letting through.

I'm no newbie to engines, I've rebuilt 2 and 4 stroke engines without needing service manuals for anything but part numbers, I still fix whatever is still fixable on my car, I'll offer to repair friend's old engines just for fun. This may be the low point in my mechanical carreer.

TE

Nah, you'll be fine. We all make a 'boo boo' now and then (I laid a piece of a walnut treetop across high tension lines this evening, it was roped off with no weight on the lines and no damage done but hey it was a boo boo!). Now that you know to checking the filter I am sure you will love running your saw all the more!

 

[MasterMech]

Wow. I'm not gonna beat you up about it, but WOW.....;-) now if that was a Stihl that you had abused like that. I'D HAVE TO TURN YOU IN TO THE AUTHORITIES! :lol: Hey look on the bright side, now that you cleaned it out, your saw runs a lot better!!

A Stihl wouldn't have run that long. A real testament to Husky's air injection system that is.

 

[ScotO]

I agree. Husky has the air filtration down pat. (And I'm a Stihl guy). I never said that ;-)

 

[Jack Straw]

I applaud the talk about reading the owner's manual. Every time I get something new I sit down and read the OM. I don't understand peeps who don't

 

[TradEddie]

I applaud the talk about reading the owner's manual. Every time I get something new I sit down and read the OM. I don't understand peeps who don't

Possibly because Owner Manuals nowadays are sometimes more about covering the manufacturer's legal butt than conveying any useful information. Also because many are written assuming the new owner knows nothing at all (a reasonable assumption), it's hard find the useful new information hidden within the basic instructions.

Obviously if I'd read the manual more carefully, this wouldn't have happened, but now that I've looked over the whole thing, there was nothing else in there I didn't already know or couldn't have figured out in about 10 seconds looking at the saw.

TE

 

[surviverguy]

I can't think of a single internal combustion engine that doesn't use an air filter and a fuel filter.

 

[ScotO]

My Snowmobile has no air filt

I can't think of a single internal combustion engine that doesn't use an air filter and a fuel filter.

my snowmobile has no air filter.....

 

[TradEddie]

I can't think of a single internal combustion engine that doesn't use an air filter and a fuel filter.

Of course, but the manual clearly says that the air is filtered using centrifugal force of the fins on the flywheel. I obviously didn't get to the next section where it mentions the real air filter. I remember being impressed at the time that this would be sufficient filtration, but hey, that's what the manual said, (I was diligent about keeping the flywheel fins clean...).

No harm done anyway, hope I made some of you laugh, or cry.

TE

 

[MasterMech]

I can't think of a single internal combustion engine that doesn't use an air filter and a fuel filter.

90% of the snowblowers out there do not use air filters and only recently have we seen fuel filters on them.

 

[surviverguy]

I guess it's a good thing I've never repaired any snow equipment...I'd still be looking for filters to change (LOL)