Fine dust getting past air filter

[Honda_man]

Yep. That's why they tell you to clean it. And sell new ones when the old ones wear out. And tell you to use good quality parts such as filters. And discuss engine failure caused by dirt and dust ingestion. However, you know.more than they do so I'll leave you alone.

 

[doubletrouble]

Whether the manufactures think its ok or not is irrelevant to me. I know an engine that ingests foreign material will not last long. If it were just a tiny bit I may not be as concerned with it but it is more than I would be comfortable with letting get by and into the cylinder at 12,000 rpm.
I ordered the OEM filter for a Redmax g5000. I'm gonna see if that helps but in the process I will experiment a little with a couple ideas like grease and checking the seal at the carb throat. May even stretch some fine thin material over the filter itself or like suggested earlier in the thread, put some foam inside the filter case itself. To bad its supposed to rain this coming weekend, I could try some of these ideas out. May have to drag a log or two into the pole barn to do some testing.....

 

[Franny K]

, put some foam inside the filter case itself.

Might as well oil that foam like a dirt bike. Bar oil behaves a lot like foam air filter oil if you do not want to get dedicated air filter oil. Probably will have to re jet if you can get it to work at all. That oem filter might do the trick by itself.

Demo saws with abrasive blades and proper air filters do not seem to last as long as chainsaws with leaky and falling off air filters in my limited experience. If you use the chainsaw in a dust storm that would be different

 

[7sleeper]

Yep. That's why they tell you to clean it. And sell new ones when the old ones wear out. And tell you to use good quality parts such as filters. And discuss engine failure caused by dirt and dust ingestion. However, you know.more than they do so I'll leave you alone.

Absoluely correct on everything. One thing they don't tell us is to modify our existing airfilter, so oviously you are the person knowing more than they do.

And for all airfilter foam modders, donot forget that adding foam WILL restrict airflow. If you decide to foam moddify your airfilter be sure that it is so called "open cell" foam.

7

 

[Honda_man]

Absoluely correcton everything. One thing they don't tell us is to modify our existing airfilter, so oviously you are the person knowing more than they do.

And for all airfilter foam modders, donot forget that adding foam WILL restrict airflow. If you decide to foam moddify your airfilter be sure that it is so called "open cell" foam.

7

Have I once suggested modding the air filter? That's where you are wrong. I am a "run it stock" kind of guy. Not once have I suggested otherwise.

Now let's stop beating a dead horse. The OP understands fine saw dust will harm his engine and has ordered a new OEM filter. He doesn't need us bashing each other over the internet to know what needs done.

 

[doubletrouble]

I beleive there is a "start a fight" thread somewhere for that. Lol

 

[stihlman27]

I've had to replace a carb already in my ms391 because of fine saw dust getting into it. It always had a sharp chain on it as well. I'm the type of guy that blows my saws off after every use. Fine saw dust is no good deff will do some damage if not properly taken care of.

 

[muddstopper]

Just to stir the pot a little. Wood dust will turn to wood ash in the combustion chamber. The carbon contained in the wood dust will accumulate and build up on the top of the piston and combustion chamber, and between the piston and the rings, leading to stuck rings. To compare burnt wood dust in a combustion chamber, take a dry rag and dip it into the ashes from your stove and rub it on some metal and see if it will scratch the metal material.

 

[scottr]

Whether the manufactures think its ok or not is irrelevant to me. I know an engine that ingests foreign material will not last long. If it were just a tiny bit I may not be as concerned with it but it is more than I would be comfortable with letting get by and into the cylinder at 12,000 rpm.
I ordered the OEM filter for a Redmax g5000. I'm gonna see if that helps but in the process I will experiment a little with a couple ideas like grease and checking the seal at the carb throat. May even stretch some fine thin material over the filter itself or like suggested earlier in the thread, put some foam inside the filter case itself. To bad its supposed to rain this coming weekend, I could try some of these ideas out. May have to drag a log or two into the pole barn to do some testing.....

Hey dt, check out this old thread in the chainsaw forum started by member Moddoo 'Prefilter material to keep saw air filters clean ' .

 

[2dogs]

I agree with 7 on this one. While I don't like seeing fine dust inside the saw there is always some to find. I do not like Stihl's filtration system on their older generation saws like the 440,460,660 and so I have changed to the Max Flow filters. They perform much better than OEM but still a little dust gets inside, especially cutting burned timber. My MS361 has the worst filter ever designed, leaks sawdust like a screen door, but the saw has not failed and shows no signs of undue wear.

This image is from 10 days ago. MS361 with a 22" bar, could not quite make the cuts touch. Cleaned the carb at lunch, airbox was a mess.

 

[Johnnybar]

I agree with 7 on this one. While I don't like seeing fine dust inside the saw there is always some to find. I do not like Stihl's filtration system on their older generation saws like the 440,460,660 and so I have changed to the Max Flow filters. They perform much better than OEM but still a little dust gets inside, especially cutting burned timber. My MS361 has the worst filter ever designed, leaks sawdust like a screen door, but the saw has not failed and shows no signs of undue wear.

This image is from 10 days ago. MS361 with a 22" bar, could not quite make the cuts touch. Cleaned the carb at lunch, airbox was a mess.

What's the old saying? "It's better to have too much bar and not need it, than to need it and not have enough." LOL

 

[doubletrouble]

I understand 2dogs but in an earlier post in this thread I said that the amount getting by the filter was more than I was willing to accept.
I did receive the original Redmax filter today but unfortunately it does not fit. It is slightly larger than the one that is on there and because of this slight size difference it will not come close to sealing at the carb. So looks like I'll be exploring the pre-filter option at least for now.

 

[Honda_man]

I think there is a great difference between a little bit of dust passing through and large quantities passing through like we saw (no pun intended) with this case. I know people are saying saw dust won't hurt or but I suspect the engineers that work for all of these reputable companies would disagree with that. Plus, those of us who have seen the negative effects of excessive saw dust such we in this saw.

@doubletrouble, have you explorered the sealing area of the old filter and free base? Im really curious where it's getting through. Changing the media by adding a pre or post filter will change the air flow and in turn probably require some tuning changes. Let us know what you find. This is interesting.

 

[CR888]

Usually its not the filter media that 'usually' leaks unless its a nylon filter, its the seal that joins the filter to the intake elbow. Make that seal better. Sheez folks get pretty agro over a leaky Chinese filter!

 

[doubletrouble]

I did some investigating this morning and found some evidence of the base of the filter contacting the the carb even with the seal in place so I filed the base of the filter down some with a hand file in an effort to eliminate that interference. My thought is it wasn't sealing against the gasket and letting dust through. It's raining today so I won't be able to test this theory.

 

[doubletrouble]

And cr888, I know it may seem frivolous to some by putting this much effort into correcting a cheap saw but, other than a couple issues I've had with it so far it seems to be a decent saw for my needs. Most people say they won't last long and it could be true but in this case I beleive it could last longer ifthen dust ingestion is cut to a minimum. Would I like to have a Stihl saw? Yes, but for my needs I can't justify the expense or afford it at this point. I'm of the mindset that I'll do the best I can with what I have to work with. I like the challenge anyway. Lol

 

[7sleeper]

Do you already have a quality chain and is it properly sharpened? That question hasn't been answerd so far. THAT may be the actual problem.

7

 

[doubletrouble]

It was a brand new Oregon bar/chain set on the saw this last time.

 

[7sleeper]

Although I might mention that brand new doesn't mean a lot, I have often needed to sharpen & adjust the rakers on brand new to make it cut satisfying.

7

 

[Big_Wood]

And cr888, I know it may seem frivolous to some by putting this much effort into correcting a cheap saw but, other than a couple issues I've had with it so far it seems to be a decent saw for my needs. Most people say they won't last long and it could be true but in this case I beleive it could last longer ifthen dust ingestion is cut to a minimum. Would I like to have a Stihl saw? Yes, but for my needs I can't justify the expense or afford it at this point. I'm of the mindset that I'll do the best I can with what I have to work with. I like the challenge anyway. Lol

good to see a realist, some of these guys would let their hydro go unpaid to get the larger dawgs on their saw for display in their shop or to get their shelf queen ported lol clearance issues like you mention are definitely a concern and something i would correct but i doubt it will stop it completely cause the nylon media of those filters pass so much. i've seen guys glue felt over the nylon in an attempt to improve it. something like seal all would work great for that.