String length for Husky starter pulley?

[Soundchasm]

Howdy Again,

I was doing more maintenance on my little Husky 435. Maybe you can parse what I write here, since I don't know what things are!

Pulling the starter rope turns a plastic piece that has two flat surfaces that contact two metal teeth that transfer the rotation to the engine. When I first got the saw years ago, it was so badly tuned I about beat it and myself to death pulling that rope to start it. The plastic bit finally broke a few weeks ago.

Replacement arrived today. Took off the housing to get to the piece. Lifted up the broken plastic disk with the two flat surfaces and untied the starter string (leaving the pulling handle intact). Threaded the string through the new plastic bit and damn near tied the knot in the same place. I only had 1/4" of string showing where the factory knot was cut flush.

Now the handle has 3.5" of hanging string! I wondered if the metal spring might have moved since it was loose after all these years. I can't believe that less than an inch on one side eliminated an entire wrap of the pulley.

Is the system to _always_ re-tie the handle knot to the right length?

In other words, is a starting rope always "file to fit"? Is what I'm experiencing unusual?

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

You - tube is your friend!

 

[dougand3]

Pull rope handle out ~ 1 ft. Vise grip rope at starter housing. Open the pull handle up. Cut 3-5" inches off rope. Tie knot and burn it slightly. Handle will now be taunt against recoil housing.

 

[salecker]

No don't cut the rope...
Remove the handle off the rope then wind the plastic thingy a turn or two in the direction it turns when you pull the rope.Do this with the rope in the groove and the shortest amount of rope sticking out of the little notch in the face.
Then thread the rope back out the housing hole and reattach the handle.
The couple of winds will tension the spring which will pull the rope and handle in tight and have the handle against the housing as apposed to hanging loose.
Hope that makes sense,shorten the rope only when the plastic thingy is full of rope.You want the maximum amount of rope,because as the rope ages you may have to shorten it due to frays.

 

[Soundchasm]

Man, these are all good insights. I know I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but it's piqued my curiosity, and that's never good. The video is helpful but a different model, even though I understand the concept.

My string is slightly longer than 30", including knots.
The pull is about 26"

Like I said, I re-tied the knot very close to the original length, and I've ended up with 7" of "excess" string.
So let's say the string is <1" shorter than it was. That leaves me with an entire turn of the cog required that there's not enough string to do.

1st turn 5" of string
2nd turn 7" string
3rd turn 7" string
4th turn 6" string

Now I have 7" of string left over. But this is the crazy part- Based on where the cog snaps into place, I'd need ANOTHER 7" of string for it to have tension. That leads me to believe that the spring may not be where it was from the factory. If it's at 3:00 maybe it needs to be at 6:00.

I can tie the handle shorter for now and go get a new string. But it's still blowing my mind that at tiny bit on one end gets amplified so much on the other!! You can see on the knot on the plastic bit has 1/4" hanging out. The factory knot was flush.

 

[Soundchasm]

It's all back together and it fired up - hooray!!

I put in a new ignition coil(?), wiring harness for the kill switch and bought some 550 lb paracord for the rope. The rope is a little too soft compared to the factory rope, but I haven't the faintest idea where to source it locally, or I mean I haven't called any shops, and the net will be a few weeks delivery. Couldn't bring myself to put in the braided nylon Lowe's was selling.

The previous spark plug wire had been crushed between the housing and the cylinder so many times it was completely compromised. Even after adding extra insulation I could touch the jacket to the cylinder and stop the engine. I sliced some heat shrink tubing open and put it around the jacket. Took some high quality gaffer's tape and closed the slice. Did the same for the kill switch harness attaching to the coil. Hopefully that will give it some mechanical strength and a little more resistant to heat.

In the annoyance department, one of the clips that hold the top on broke. Checked out the price on the web and they're $11.00!!

Thanks for helping me keep my little $289, 6.5 year old saw running. Much appreciated!

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

I Like happy endings !