Mick
ArboristSite Lurker
Yup, I am a homeowner. I do occasional volunteer chainsaw work for the hiking club on the trails, for the land trust in their woodlots and for friends. Over the decade or so that I have had it my Stihl MS 211 has rarely run out of fuel on the job - usually there has been a single tree and/or a few small spots requiring attention. But recently I have done a few all-day plus come-back-the-next kind of jobs so refueling part way through the day became usual practice.
Recently I have had some trouble restarting my chainsaw after refilling the oil and fuel part way through a job. I use a warm start procedure - no choke. The symptom has been similar to if it were flooded [pull throttle and it just sputters, several times] so I used my flooded procedure to restart it: remove the air filter cover and filter, let it air out then replace. Choke off, hold trigger and lever on while pulling the starter rope; it starts after a few pulls. I have not had to remove/dry spark plug, empty the combustion chamber yet
The last time this happened I had an insight - perhaps it is not flooded at all, but instead the carburetor is completely empty. I had this thought because I see no practical reason why it should be flooded. When it actually does run out of fuel I typically restart it a couple of times only to have it sputter out right away before I really get that it really does need refueling; so maybe the fuel bowl/combustion chamber is just super empty?
So, my question is - What is happening? Is it really flooded because I had it on its side while I topped up the oil and fuel? Or is it hard to restart because it is hard to get fuel back into the combustion chamber? Or perhaps I should just give it some choke, half maybe? On my most recent job I did not have this problem - I re-fueled and it just started normally.
Recently I have had some trouble restarting my chainsaw after refilling the oil and fuel part way through a job. I use a warm start procedure - no choke. The symptom has been similar to if it were flooded [pull throttle and it just sputters, several times] so I used my flooded procedure to restart it: remove the air filter cover and filter, let it air out then replace. Choke off, hold trigger and lever on while pulling the starter rope; it starts after a few pulls. I have not had to remove/dry spark plug, empty the combustion chamber yet
The last time this happened I had an insight - perhaps it is not flooded at all, but instead the carburetor is completely empty. I had this thought because I see no practical reason why it should be flooded. When it actually does run out of fuel I typically restart it a couple of times only to have it sputter out right away before I really get that it really does need refueling; so maybe the fuel bowl/combustion chamber is just super empty?
So, my question is - What is happening? Is it really flooded because I had it on its side while I topped up the oil and fuel? Or is it hard to restart because it is hard to get fuel back into the combustion chamber? Or perhaps I should just give it some choke, half maybe? On my most recent job I did not have this problem - I re-fueled and it just started normally.