Stihl Break-In

[Al_Smith]

Okay Andy .It was fun,have a nice Christmas  ;D

[H 2 H]

.Never the less what's all that got to do with oil in the first place ?

You and H2H were asking about my experience in an attempt to discredit what I was "trying" to say, I answered.

I've done countless hours of research on the subject at hand, and some testing of my own, but nothing scientific obviously. When talking about breaking in a saw, as others have already said, simply run the saw, any approved oil will do just fine.

My research is hands on - working with motors  ;D

[turnkey]

.Never the less what's all that got to do with oil in the first place ?

You and H2H were asking about my experience in an attempt to discredit what I was "trying" to say, I answered.

I've done countless hours of research on the subject at hand, and some testing of my own, but nothing scientific obviously. When talking about breaking in a saw, as others have already said, simply run the saw, any approved oil will do just fine.

Yep, and a quart of oil/1000miles was considered good back then.  Now?  No add between changes.

Harry K

[Al_Smith]

Ya know a discussion of simpley breaking in a saw soon escalates to what type of oil and you get then a thousand opinions .That's cool .It might as it has further transform into modified engines .That's cool too but of the chainsaw owners in this country that might be less than 10 percent probabley closer to less than 5 percent .

They are neat no matter who built the engine .However it comes down to pride of ownership and bragging rights .If you didn't do at least a portion of the mods you simpley have no bragging rights .Anybody with enough money can have someone else do the work .That's just the way I feel and make no aplologies for that fact .

[martyinmi]

I bought a new VW Jetta TDI (it's a diesel) back in October.
They put a special "Break in Oil" in it that they tell you NOT to have changed until 10,000 miles, and the oil change interval there after is every 10,000 miles.
The service manager told me that the best break-in procedure was not to baby it, so I don't!
6100 miles on it tonight and the oil level has not went down at all on the dip stick.
The Jetta TDI has kind of a cult following with multiple owners reporting well over 500k miles with little or no oil consumption.
I know a VW is not a chainsaw, but they recommend that you not baby them if you want longevity.
I've always heard nearly the opposite when breaking in an internal combustion engine. ???
Kinda funny growing up in my neighborhood. My dad babied every vehicle he ever owned and always got 150-200k miles out of them before the bodies rusted away. My dads neighbor beat the crap out of every vehicle he ever owned and they always ran fine until their bodies fell apart. They both religiously changed oil and filter every 3000 miles. Neither ever had a serious engine issue that I can remember.

So which is it-baby engines at break in or run 'em like ya stole 'em?

Or does routine maintenance dictate longevity and performance?  

[Al_Smith]

Obviously you have to change the oil every so often .

On a chainsaw nobody is going to agree on which is best .My theory is on the oil mix ratio and correct tuning.

[ehp]

I just did my new 461 arctic and I just went to work falling with the saw like any normal day , I make sure saw is not set to lean out of the box and put her to work making me money

[H 2 H]

Obviously you have to change the oil every so often .

On a chainsaw nobody is going to agree on which is best .My theory is on the oil mix ratio and correct tuning.

I agree


Wait a minute  agreed with Al

[ZeroJunk]

What happens is that you have one guy who does it a certain way and has no problems so he says that is the way it needs to be done. Another guy does it differently and has no problems so he says that is the way it needs to be done.

I cut for a few minutes to get the saw up to temperature, tune it 500 RPM on the low side, and send it out the door. And, that is really in case the RPM creeps up which it has a tendency to do. Never had one come back, knock on wood.

I know that some guys can tune by ear, but I will always be way low. Too cautious maybe.

[H 2 H]

Friday I went and bought a new blower at the local saw shop and the retired machinist was in and rebuilding and new saw break in just happened to be talked about. New saw they didn't really matter because of warranty they said but there was sure alot of difference between the older generation and the younger generation
machinist on rebuilt saws ;D
 

[ehp]

I help out the stihl dealer down the road when they need it and the only real thing we do is make sure the new saw is not set to lean and 99.9% of them from the factory are set way to lean , the only saw they really watch is the 660 stihl and will not sell 1 without putting 1 tank of fuel threw it first cause of so many engine failures as most guys run 36 inch bars on them , high test gas and at 40-1 and happy days

[Al_Smith]

My theory is on the oil mix ratio and correct tuning.

I agree


Wait a minute  agreed with Al
[/quote] Well I'm right some of the time .Then again as they say even a blind hog can find an acorn every now and again . ;D

[CTYank]

The saws that I have always brought are tuned by the dealer wide open,under no load. It's only for about 30 seconds,a minute? but each time I hear it like that, it seems a LONG time.
I have heard of only 2 speeds on a chainsaw too. Wide open,under a load and idle.

Some dealer types insist on adjusting high-speed mixture so that engine speed @WOT meets some spec. An indicator of incompetence, IMHO. No-load @WOT is abusive. Like with auto-tune, mixture should be set for max speed UNDER LOAD. One easy test @WOT if it's right: 2-stroking under load, light 4-stroking when you lift.

Two dealer monkeys insisted on the WOT unloaded speed thing. EPA would have busted them- the engine ran STINKY rich. When I could adjust the carb, 1/2+ turn in got it dead-on. 2-stroking, then, and the 4-stroking transition. It now sings. Beware of dealer "geniuses"- the deaf ones.

It's completely acceptable and the norm to tune a chainsaw at WOT without load, in fact it's the best method for non rev limited models. However running the saw at WOT for 30 seconds or more, is not advisable, 5 seconds is more than enough. Tuning with a tachometer also requires you to run the saw at WOT without load. Tuning in the wood is fine if you have experience. 

As far as I know, no dealer has been busted buy the EPA for tuning a carb rich for the first few tanks, that's what I do and everyone I know who works on or ports chainsaws. Again rev limited saws are a different story, but you can still set the RPM's just under the limiter, this still requires a WOT run and a tach. One also has to have a good feel of how a saw behaves during testing, some like more fuel than others, some less.

It appears you didn't read what I said. The dealer self-appointed-geniuses insisted on setting high-speed mixture solely by tach, and set that mixture STINKY-RICH. Should I say that again? Obvious that they weren't near close. (About 3/4 turn in later, and that 40cc RedMax is again amazing, like when received; 2- to 4-stroking nicely.) EPA would have s*at all over these idiots.

Ironically, they said that I couldn't be empowered to adjust my carb. Total (Admin Edit) arrogance.

Like "auto-tune" you set H mixture for best performance UNDER LOAD, or you should find a job you understand. Setting for proper transition from 2- to 4-stroking is something an average 6th grader could handle. Anyone who's not learning is dead. R.I.P.

If the exhaust brings tears to your eyes, doh- something you did is wrong- make it right.

You do NOT adjust my saws unloaded @WOT. Got that? No alibis, no bs.

[ZeroJunk]

Well, I have been tuning 2 cycles since West Bend Super Bees and I can tune them where they will operate just fine.

But, I am not as good as a tachometer.

[JohnG28]

CTYank, are you a saw manufacturer, builder, and mechanic? Just curious because your over opinionated responses don't seem all that productive to me. Not saying you don't know how to tune or whatever, but as opposed to being helpful you seem to blast your thoughts off and offer the rest an insult of intelligence or competence, often when the others are just as or more correct than you. But hey, JMHO.

[AKDoug]

I don't know how anyone can find out if it 4 strokes at WOT, without running it at WOT ??

[ZeroJunk]

I don't know how anyone can find out if it 4 strokes at WOT, without running it at WOT ??

Or, what is supposed to happen if you do. They are rev limited by the amount of fuel that you are adjusting. I can't imagine anybody starting out lean.

[Al_Smith]

 :D Well JohnG don't let CTY yank your chain ,he's harmless and really a lot of fun.He's endeavored to teach me proper punctuation but some how failed.Probabley not entirely his fault as I'm a tad bit obstinate or so they say.  ;D

In his defense I don't think he's attempting to come off in general as a know it all .Just on 40 cc Redmax's which almost nobody owns so how would anyone else know? So as to honor his great vast knowledge he should be declaired guru of Redmax until somebody else claims the title .See I'm a nice guy after all . 8)

[JohnG28]

 :D :D :D :D Think that's about spot on Al! Nothing being yanked over here anyway, just figured I'd air out my opinion.  Al, maybe those Redmax should become your area of study for a while, could become interesting! :P

[Al_Smith]

I can't ever remember even seeing one.I've actually heard good reports on them though.

You know 40 cc's it's a small firewooder which is okay but I doubt it's all that much in terms of a power house Paul Bunyan type of saw.

I've got an 024 Stihl myself which I actually used this afternoon a little bit.It is what it is,a small firewooder.Does fine but isn't an oak slayer by any means .. < two periods  :D  just can't help myself at times.

[brettl]

That Redmax must be a great saw. After 5 winters of cutting hedge, I've just recently found out that this Craftsman 40cc I use for the mid sized stuff is a re-badged Redmax! Who would of thunk it? I believe it is the only one they've done for Sears. The Zenoah engines they use are great engines and have been used in a Ryobi and a Mcculloch as well and now the Earthquakes and a few others. Of course there's been some deviation with strato and non-strato but I've been running Zenoah engines on rc planes for over 15 years and love 'em so if strato is better then I want to try a Redmax! :new_year:

[JohnG28]

Speaking of Ryobi, I had seen one a while back that I swore was a rebadged Echo top handle. Then again it may have been a Hitachi. Had the same 5 year warranty as Echo.

[gary courtney]

run my saws out of box wide open using non-ethanol 40:1 with ethanol shield for good measure never had problem in timber starting to slow down though as evident i am on this forum instead of the woods!