Stihl MS 291 burnt out after 1 hr

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Well I think people can believe me when I say I didn't run it with the brake on, and I can certainly accept that it's possible that I operated the saw in such a way that it generated significant heat in the clutch region. I will add some more pictures tomorrow, the battery was dead in my camera.
 
I'm fine with people jumping to the simplest conclusion based on what they saw. It still leaves open other possibilities. I was just pretty defensive from the start, which led to the middle 5 pages of conversation.
 
If it was your saw that came back after loaning it what would you suspect?


I'm not sure. If the guy borrowing it had 20 years experience running saws I would give him the benefit of the doubt.

But this isn't about any of us lending out our saw. It's about the op trying to understand why his saw failed. Ultimately it can be considered operator error, but if the saw can fail that easily in an experienced user's hand, how can Stihl expect it to hold up to the bulk of the crowd they market it to?

Sure....if the guy ran it with the brake on, or bogged it out or whatever, but he established early on he hadn't. Whatever signs the saw gave him must have been subtle, and a lesser experienced user certainly wouldn't caught them.

Perhaps his experience with older saws was his downfall, but regardless this failure shouldn't be laid entirely on him.
 
That's nice to hear, thanks. I have spent many an hour on the old 041 FB (hence the screen name), which, although not a favorite to many now due to its increased weight, was a very torquey saw and pretty much indestructible. So we can't rule that out as a factor.
 
There will,be evidence of what happened to the saw if its inspected properly. Don't forget we are dealing with a new saw so a proper inspection will solve this. l think light pressure was applied to the brake handle while at wot which will cause failure fast and many would not realise it happening as they believe the brake is either on/off which is not the case.
 
There will,be evidence of what happened to the saw if its inspected properly. Don't forget we are dealing with a new saw so a proper inspection will solve this. l think light pressure was applied to the brake handle while at wot which will cause failure fast and many would not realise it happening as they believe the brake is either on/off which is not the case.
Maybe huh.
 
What are you talking about "so angry"? What I'm saying is that if you're suggesting or condoning that, I strongly oppose it. It is totally inappropriate, besides grounds for arrest. Were I to make such a leap, you'd be angry at how I'd construe your judgement, so I won't.

"Boys will be boys" does NOT apply here, and, yes the OP was way out of line, in many ways. At least he caught on eventually.

Surprisingly nobody clued him in that if he wanted a saw from West Germany, he'd do waaaaaaay better with a Dolmar. No comparison, in so many ways.
I was talking about "so angry" because you told me to G.F myself, usually people that are angry say that. I was only suggesting that those kind of things happen. I definitely don't condone such behavior though. I personally did not threaten anyone, including yourself. Simply implying that a few of you guys should not use your superior knowledge to beat a guy up who just ruined his fathers new saw. Some day the guy might really track you down. I'm sorry if what I Said was totally inappropriate for you CTYank. I hope I don't get arrested. I Think I might be a little too pretty for jail.
 
I hate to say it ,that is a stihl defect that I've been seeing on a lot of the compsite
Housing saws. I have 3 290's now in my
Shop waiting to fix and there in great shape except for the badly melted housing and bad clutch and oiler. But I might not fix them knowing that there's something odd going on about there clutch or chain brake assembly. If I were u I'd look into a ms 360 or 036 and stay away from the composite housing saws. This really bothers me that they did that to u.
 
I hate to say it ,that is a stihl defect that I've been seeing on a lot of the compsite
Housing saws. I have 3 290's now in my
Shop waiting to fix and there in great shape except for the badly melted housing and bad clutch and oiler. But I might not fix them knowing that there's something odd going on about there clutch or chain brake assembly. If I were u I'd look into a ms 360 or 036 and stay away from the composite housing saws. This really bothers me that they did that to u.
There you go West041. Im sure the guys who were giving you a hard time will be apologizing any time now...not
 
I'm not sure. If the guy borrowing it had 20 years experience running saws I would give him the benefit of the doubt.

But this isn't about any of us lending out our saw. It's about the op trying to understand why his saw failed. Ultimately it can be considered operator error, but if the saw can fail that easily in an experienced user's hand, how can Stihl expect it to hold up to the bulk of the crowd they market it to?

Sure....if the guy ran it with the brake on, or bogged it out or whatever, but he established early on he hadn't. Whatever signs the saw gave him must have been subtle, and a lesser experienced user certainly wouldn't caught them.

Perhaps his experience with older saws was his downfall, but regardless this failure shouldn't be laid entirely on him.
+1 ....it seems to me that not just Stihl but all the other saw companies are slipping in the quality control and the public relations departments , i have seen idiots that didn't know a chainsaw from a hole in the ground , but i still believe in the old saying the customer is always right , it seems that this is a design flaw , be it the chain break , clutch or cover, this is not the only saw this has happened to , i have used and abused about everything on the planet , and i have smoked a few clutches , but i have never set a saw on fire, the good old .034's and .044's you couldn't kill them even if you dropped a tree on them , just throw a new bar on it and straighten the handle the best you can and go back to cutting , new saws , engine failures , other assorted problems .. look at all the reconditioned huskys and other saws for sale , i think it has to do with parts made in china ,this seems more common with consumer grade saws , lots of people don't have the money or the need for a $1000 pro grade saw , a consumer grade saw should have a tolerance for more abuse than a spruce log, i was looking at the new Stihls , all i can say is i am glad i didn't buy one ...
 
I hate to say it ,that is a stihl defect that I've been seeing on a lot of the compsite
Housing saws. I have 3 290's now in my
Shop waiting to fix and there in great shape except for the badly melted housing and bad clutch and oiler. But I might not fix them knowing that there's something odd going on about there clutch or chain brake assembly. If I were u I'd look into a ms 360 or 036 and stay away from the composite housing saws. This really bothers me that they did that to u.
There is nothing odd about the clutch or chain brake setup. I probably worked on a hundred homeowner grade Stihl saws last year, fully half of them being 290's. ONE had melted plastic around the clutch, and that was repairable. This is not a chronic issue.
 
Close up of brake band/oil pump worm gear
DSC03297.JPG
inside brake band facing bar area
DSC03300.JPG
facing handle:
DSC03299.JPG
inside drum
DSC03302.JPG
outside of drum
DSC03304.JPG
opposite side
DSC03303.JPG
clutch
DSC03305.JPG

Let me know if you guys want more pictures/different angles. Work was cancelled for me due to snow so I have some time to look this stuff over.

Am I to infer from the grooving on the outside of the drum that for whatever reason the brake band was dragging on the clutch, hence the excessive heat? Does anyone see wear on the inside of the drum indicative of clutch slippage? I only see a little bit of melted residue, which would seem to point to something between the brake band/clutch drum causing the heat.

I'll let the experts decide.
 
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