My answer for the flipcap problem.

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

boltonranger

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Mar 28, 2008
Messages
624
Reaction score
380
Location
Northeast
I've read posts about the flip cap issues; particularly the gas cap.
I'll preface by saying this is regarding the gas flip cap.

I find they swell and get tight from the ethanol in the gas.
The cap is pretty simple the way it works. All it does is press the o-ring against the fuel tank opening. Here's how:
There are three little cleats on the bottom of the cap that fit only one way into the tank. They accomplish the one way fit by making the cleats different widths.

Once you put the cleats into the correct grooves in the tank; you turn clockwise. The cleats are supposed to go to the right until they reach the stops in the grooves in the tank wall. As you turn the cap at this point, the cap itself begins to contract in height. This squishes the o-ring against the lip of the tank opening. Continuing to turn the cap to the right locks it down and makes the seal. At least that's how it's supposed to work.

Like I said above; the E-10 swells the cap.
What goes wrong from here can vary; but in my case the cleats stop turning before they reach there stops in the tank groove.

When that happens; you continue turning the cap and it wants to squish the o-ring but nothing is properly seated.

You can't always tell it because:
A) Unless you look real close the cap looks locked on.
B) The cleats keep the cap from falling out; but it's not sealed right.

I'll say here that I prefer the old caps.
I'll also say that I've replaced my cap and had the problem return.

So after much looking at the cap; I came up with what I think is an answer.

I took a flat file (you can use a hone stone too) to the outer edge of the cleats on the cap; and filed their edges down a little at a time.
This worked fine. A year later the cap got sticky again.
This time I did the cleats and the circular part (flange) on the cap right below the o-ring. I removed the 0-ring first to keep it from being damaged. This has worked well enough that I put my old cap back on the saw that it originally came with. I took a picture to show it. I highlighted the filed surfaces with white so you can see where I mean.

When the cap is working properly it will go straight in the tank with no resistance before you turn it. It will also turn easily. That's how I know I've filed enough material from the cleats and flange part. If the cap doesn't come out easily and you have to pull hard, wiggle it, etc; it's not right and about to give you problems.

I can't speak exactly to the oil cap but I know it works identically. There's no E-10 in there so I don't know if it's swelling problems or debris. I can say that if anything interferes with the right hand rotation of the cap once it's in the tank it won't act right.

Also if for any reason the cap tries seat and doesn't- you need to pull it out and unrotate the mechanism, which then expands the height of the cap so you can try again.

Like I say - I do prefer the old caps; but...this seems to cure the problem for me.

Note: If you take a stone or file to the cap; wipe it clean afterward so you don't get the plastic filings in your fuel tank.)

Anyway; that's it.
Hope this can help somebody.
-br
picture.php
 
Hmmm. What you say makes sense. I much prefer the old style caps. I tend to overfill the bar oil, and that makes the flip caps inoperable. Also, if I am in a hurry, I will almost always not start it in the right spot. That innovation was not a positive one, IMO.
 
Just a side note on the flippy cap silliness.

Stopped into my local REAL saw shop the other day for the weekly abuse, and the proprietor was at the bench cussing the ####ens out of a Stihl weedwhacker and prying at a flippy cap angrily.

The back story is the owner(Landscape/lawn outfit) had issues with the cap, and had it "Repaired" by another Stihl shop(John Deere mower and mini tractor dealer that caters to Yuppies) and the Cap was still getting hung up or falling out so it was brought in for a second opinion and attempt.


Once the offending flippy cap was removed, a box full of flippy caps of various designations was brought out, and one by one each was tried untill one actually seated without the use of a hammer, and subsequently removed using only fingers....then the part# was verified as bieng proper for this weed whacker model.

The thing never had the proper flippy cap on it from the get go.

#### on a stick!!!!
Not only are there multiple sized flippy caps out there, they are unique to certain models of Stihl OPE.

So dealers have to stock several of each variation to cover thier possible customer needs.

A simple threaded Cork should suffice, but leave it to the Germans to not only introduce three moving parts to the matter, but various sizes of those moving parts, the tooling to produce them, and the cataloging of each seperately.

LOL!!!!!
I guess a simple universal threaded plug is beyond the mental capacity of some.

Good thing I favor Modern Huskys and older Stihls...


Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Just a side note on the flippy cap silliness.

Stopped into my local REAL saw shop the other day for the weekly abuse, and the proprietor was at the bench cussing the ####ens out of a Stihl weedwhacker and prying at a flippy cap angrily.

The back story is the owner(Landscape/lawn outfit) had issues with the cap, and had it "Repaired" by another Stihl shop(John Deere mower and mini tractor dealer that caters to Yuppies) and the Cap was still getting hung up or falling out so it was brought in for a second opinion and attempt.


Once the offending flippy cap was removed, a box full of flippy caps of various designations was brought out, and one by one each was tried untill one actually seated without the use of a hammer, and subsequently removed using only fingers....then the part# was verified as bieng proper for this weed whacker model.

The thing never had the proper flippy cap on it from the get go.

#### on a stick!!!!
Not only are there multiple sized flippy caps out there, they are unique to certain models of Stihl OPE.

So dealers have to stock several of each variation to cover thier possible customer needs.

A simple threaded Cork should suffice, but leave it to the Germans to not only introduce three moving parts to the matter, but various sizes of those moving parts, the tooling to produce them, and the cataloging of each seperately.

LOL!!!!!
I guess a simple universal threaded plug is beyond the mental capacity of some.

Good thing I favor Modern Huskys and older Stihls...


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I suppose that could have been the problem with the cap for the oil tank on my ex MS 211.

The gas cap was not such a problem, but for the oil tank, line up the tabs with the slots on the housing, push down, and it would not seat.

Keep lining up and pushing until it would finally seat. How much time did it take? I don't know, maybe a minute, maybe more, but all the time I am thinking less that 5 seconds and a screw in cap is on and I am back to using the saw.

It would be nice if someone would make an adapter to change the flip caps over to screw in.

In the meantime, my solution shows up in my signature.:deadhorse:
 
You can still over-tighten threaded caps and cause them to be tough to remove by hand. And once a cap has been overtightened enough it will leak unless you continue to over tighten it.

Personally I find the flip caps a very nice innovation and a step in the right direction. The idea still needs improvement and hearing that sizes and types of caps vary so much; that sounds like it needs to be corrected.

One of the reasons I bought my 361 over the 357xp was that I liked the caps better.
 
I have had no problems with the flip caps. Ever.

My FS110 trimmer has one and I haven't had an issue with that and I've had it since the spring of 2008. My wife runs the FS110 all the time, and I've never had to show her how to use the cap an she's never had a problem.

I have flip caps on my MS211 which I've had since last fall, and they're lso on the Snellerized MS260 I bought from Brad. No problem with any of the caps at ay time.

Seems strange that so many people are having problems. Not to say that it isn't fault of the caps, but I still have yet to experience any issues.
 
#### on a stick!!!!


A simple threaded Cork should suffice, but leave it to the Germans to not only introduce three moving parts to the matter, but various sizes of those moving parts, the tooling to produce them, and the cataloging of each seperately.

LOL!!!!!
I guess a simple universal threaded plug is beyond the mental capacity of some.
LOL, ain't that the truth......over engineer every:censored:thing.
Personally I find the flip caps a very nice innovation and a step in the right direction. The idea still needs improvement and hearing that sizes and types of caps vary so much; that sounds like it needs to be corrected.

One of the reasons I bought my 361 over the 357xp was that I liked the caps better.

WTF ??????????????????????? :confused::confused:
 
if your a climber.............

I will never own a Stihl with flippy caps. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid setup.

you kind of have to deal with them if you want a balanced top handle saw with some power.

fortunately when I hit the ground ,I get some relief.
 
I used them for three years without a problem until...:censored: Gas down my pant leg. I seated the cap, turned it, felt it click into place but it fell right out when I picked up the saw. I think they're great except that they can feel as though the're securely installed without being securely installed.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to anyone I may have inadvertently poked a little fun at for having trouble operating a simple gas cap. I am sorry.
 
Chalk up another flip cap hater here. I only own one Stihl with a flip cap, a BR550 blower and one time I swear I spent 3 mintues trying to get the cap on right. What a pain in the arse.
 
WTF ??????????????????????? :confused::confused:


Yep I meant what I said ONE (of many) of the reasons i chose a 361 over a 357xp was because I like the caps.

I have never had a problem with the stihl flip caps, had the saw since 2007...

I am working on a Husky 266xp right now and using the screw caps is fine but they also have problems with being hard to thread in straight.
 
I like em. But I guess I have not had any issues with the O-ring swelling. But if the O-ring is swelling won't that still be an issue regardless of cap design? Why not just buy a few .25 O-rings and keep em in the tool box?

A little practice takes care of the "5 minute" install problem.:greenchainsaw:
 
Uh oh boys........ Now what are you going to do, if the woman can do it then by god so should you.:hmm3grin2orange:
 
Back
Top