Setting the Carb

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.

Gunner

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Sep 20, 2006
851
Southern Ontario
What do you guys do?, take it to the dealer, do it yourself, by ear or with a tach?

Now that it is broken in, I took the saw back to the dealertoday to get him to check the carb and set it. First thing he says when he takes it out of the case is "why do you have the bar on upside down?" I'm thinking Oh great, THIS guy is going to set the carb! "You only flip the bar when you sharpen the chain" he says.

Then I explain to him that the saw has about 8-10hrs of use on it (hence why I am here) and that I have touched up the chain half a dozen times, I had it apart to clean it anyways, so I flipped the bar. He looks at me like I'm nuts, then disappears into the shop with the saw. He's back in a minute with the saw and says he leaned out the low screw a little bit and that it was good. I asked him if he put it on a tach and he said "it's good"

Now I'm a little picky about my stuff, but the reason I bought the saw there is because they are whats called a STIHL RETAIL READINESS DEALER which means they carry the full Stihl line plus the techs receive training annually from Stihl.

My understanding is that the saw must be warmed up first, then held Wide Open Throttle for a couple of seconds to see what the max RPM's are. He just bliped the throttle 10-15 times. I also thought the adjust of one screw was dependant on the others.

Who knows, maybe it's the OCD but I like knowing that stuff is done right, especially with expensive equipment. I think I will have to learn to adjust the carb myself.
 
I Set it 3 to 400 under spec by tach and have never had a problem. It seem to me that when I set to max spec it is a little lacking. When I richen it up it seem to have more power in the cut. Never had a piston issue and any other problems .







.
 
bobo said:
I Set it 3 to 400 under spec by tach and have never had a problem. It seem to me that when I set to max spec it is a little lacking. When I richen it up it seem to have more power in the cut. Never had a piston issue and any other problems .







.

That's what I have heard, a couple hundred less than max. Don't you need to hold WOT for a second or two when using a tach to set the H screw. This guy never did that with my saw. How could he have set the max RPM, just by reving it, wasn't WOT for more than .5 sec. ?
I doubt he used a tach!
 
I don't know about the MS361, but a lot of the newer saws only have a low mixture and idle speed adjustments. No way to easily "tweak" the high speed mixture anyway.
 
I set mine a little on the high side with a tach. Keep it in the wood and keep it SHARP.
 
Gunner said:
What do you guys do?, take it to the dealer, do it yourself, by ear or with a tach?

Now that it is broken in, I took the saw back to the dealertoday to get him to check the carb and set it. First thing he says when he takes it out of the case is "why do you have the bar on upside down?" I'm thinking Oh great, THIS guy is going to set the carb! "You only flip the bar when you sharpen the chain" he says.

Then I explain to him that the saw has about 8-10hrs of use on it (hence why I am here) and that I have touched up the chain half a dozen times, I had it apart to clean it anyways, so I flipped the bar. He looks at me like I'm nuts, then disappears into the shop with the saw. He's back in a minute with the saw and says he leaned out the low screw a little bit and that it was good. I asked him if he put it on a tach and he said "it's good"

Now I'm a little picky about my stuff, but the reason I bought the saw there is because they are whats called a STIHL RETAIL READINESS DEALER which means they carry the full Stihl line plus the techs receive training annually from Stihl.

My understanding is that the saw must be warmed up first, then held Wide Open Throttle for a couple of seconds to see what the max RPM's are. He just bliped the throttle 10-15 times. I also thought the adjust of one screw was dependant on the others.

Who knows, maybe it's the OCD but I like knowing that stuff is done right, especially with expensive equipment. I think I will have to learn to adjust the carb myself.

I think this is the best option ("I think I will have to learn to adjust the carb myself") The guy asking about the bar is kinda scary.
One the other hand i can set a chainsaw by ear when listing for it to 4 stroke sound and then adjusting the carb and i can normally hit the setting within 100 or so RPMs. (not sure thats what he did tho)
Yes, i have a tach and do use it and suggest getting one to set a carb , I mod the mufflers on all my chainsaw and set the H (high) carb adjustment screw back 500 RPMs under factory max.
I've always readjusted all three carb screws when adjusting as one normally changes the others.

Here is a link for anybody that would like to get started in adjusting the carb.

(broken link removed to http://www.madsens1.com/sawtune.htm)

Here are a few tach that can be used for chainsaw carb adjusting. You'll need one for over 16,000 RPM for a chainsaw and 2 stroke.

Baileys has a basic tachometer that i understand is OK , no replacement battery for it tho so ones its dead .... its done.
(broken link removed)

Here is the one i have and i can highly recomend this model wire/wireless Tech Tach-20K Tachometer .
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tech-Tach-20K-Tachometer-All-Small-Gas-Engines-DTITT20K_W0QQitemZ230018353022QQihZ013QQcategoryZ85915QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
or
http://www.manddsmallengine.com/tinytach/20k.html
and the website
http://tinytach.com/design/


Stihl has good Tachometers also. They are changing the tach models so I'm not up to date with what they have out this year.
 
The one from Baileys works good, I have one and it's about 5-6 years old.
 
earthharvester said:
The one from Baileys works good, I have one and it's about 5-6 years old.

There ya go .
I have not owned the one from Baileys myself so i couldnt stand behind it for time of use.
 
I carry the Stihl EDT 6 in my pocket out in the field and have the EDT 5 back at the shop.


ROO they even works on Huskys, isn't that something.






.
 
bobo said:
I carry the Stihl EDT 6 in my pocket out in the field and have the EDT 5 back at the shop.


ROO they even works on Huskys, isn't that something.
:bug: Now way ! lol
Do you know model they quit carring and what new models that went to ?
The Stihl EDT 6 is the credit card looking one is it not?
The Stihl EDT 8 looks like the one at Baileys i believe.
I had the EDT 5 on order but it didnt come it within a month so i canciled the order.
 
Roospike said:
bobo said:
I carry the Stihl EDT 6 in my pocket out in the field and have the EDT 5 back at the shop.


ROO they even works on Huskys, isn't that something.
:bug: Now way ! lol
Do you know model they quit carring and what new models that went to ?
The Stihl EDT 6 is the credit card looking one is it not?
The Stihl EDT 8 looks like the one at Baileys i believe.
I had the EDT 5 on order but it didnt come it within a month so i canciled the order.



The EDT6 is smaller then a pack of butts . I had a chance to buy another EDT6 new from a friend for 35.00 and I was stupid for not taking it. It really dosen't matter anymore if it works on a Husky because I switching over to all Stihl's and Dolmars.


.
 
When he asked me about the bar, I though for sure he was joking.

I really don't want to spend $100 for a tach...pretty much a one time use, unless I get another saw.
 
Gunner said:
When he asked me about the bar, I though for sure he was joking.

I really don't want to spend $100 for a tach...pretty much a one time use, unless I get another saw.

I set my saws at least twice a year X 5 chainsaws = 10 time a year.
See if you cant find another dealerto set the carb and tach it or maybe you know somebody else that has a chainsaw that you can slpit the cost with on a tach.
 
Carbs should be reset with the weather change - at least twice a year. (Summer,winter).

Without a tach, do like Roo says and adjust the high until you get the engine to "4 stroke" or "burble" at WOT.
Adjust the low until you can crack the throttle without a stumble.

I always adjust to the rich side.

As a hint at which direction to go, adjustments low and high should head toward the rich side in the winter, and lean
side in the summer.

Cold air is more dense than hot air and needs more fuel to hold the ideal stoichiometric ratio.

Always make adjustments with a clean air filter!
 
16,000 rpm? Wow. I didn't know they spun that fast. I have a TinyTach original but it looks like it'll only make it to 10k.
 
There is a website that has sound files of what a properly tuned saw should sound like. I'll see if I can find the link and pot it here. KD

EDIT: Turns out the sound files are on the madsens website and for some reason the site is down right now??
 
kd460 said:
There is a website that has sound files of what a properly tuned saw should sound like. I'll see if I can find the link and pot it here. KD

I posted the Madsens site with the sound file but there web site says there site down right now.

http://www.madsens1.com/



Roospike said:
Ah-ha , found 2 on the MADSEN'S web site.

(broken link removed to http://www.madsens1.com/tach.htm)
 
Yep see edit on previous post. KD
 
Madsens is a good site. About the 3rd time I played those clips the girlfriend looks at me like I'm nuts and says "I can't believe your listening to chainsaws on the computer"
 
Status
Not open for further replies.