saw storage

[mikefunaro]

Hey all--

I'm preparing to go off to college and am in the process of preparing all my pieces of OPE that will not get used regularly by my father (everything but the mower, weed wacker), for semi-long term storage.

I have two questions--

1. Does anyone still put a few drops of 2-cycle engine oil into the cylinder before storing for long term? My redmax backpack blower and the echo strimmer both suggest it in the manual, but Stihl claims it is unnecessary.

2. I can either store my saws in a lidded plastic cargo tote in my basement (the big plastic storage bins), or in my garage. The garage is really not heated, but generally does not freeze during the winter (it gets heat from the rest of the house). It does, however, get relatively cold (40 degrees or so). The basement is a finished basement that's not very humid, but there's definitely more humidity than there is in a normal room in the house. It doesn't have any real waterproofing problems, but it is definitely a little more humid than an at or above grade room.

What's worse for the saws, the cold or the humidity and why? Where should I store them?

Thanks,

MGF

 

[Bruce Hopf]

Hey all--

I'm preparing to go off to college and am in the process of preparing all my pieces of OPE that will not get used regularly by my father (everything but the mower, weed wacker), for semi-long term storage.

I have two questions--

1. Does anyone still put a few drops of 2-cycle engine oil into the cylinder before storing for long term? My redmax backpack blower and the echo strimmer both suggest it in the manual, but Stihl claims it is unnecessary.

2. I can either store my saws in a lidded plastic cargo tote in my basement (the big plastic storage bins), or in my garage. The garage is really not heated, but generally does not freeze during the winter (it gets heat from the rest of the house). It does, however, get relatively cold (40 degrees or so). The basement is a finished basement that's not very humid, but there's definitely more humidity than there is in a normal room in the house. It doesn't have any real waterproofing problems, but it is definitely a little more humid than an at or above grade room.

What's worse for the saws, the cold or the humidity and why? Where should I store them?

Thanks,

MGF

A few drops of oil, and turning the Chain Saw over without the Spark Plug definitely won't hurt. I would not suggest putting the Chain Saws in a Plastic Tote of any kind, because it could cause Condensation inside it. If you have a shelf in the Garage to place your Chain Saws, you should be fine. Bruce.

 

[Bruce Hopf]

P.S.
Good Luck At College.
Bruce.

 

[rxe]

Humidity will do damage, saws won't be bothered by cold. If I know I'm going to leave a saw for a while, I shoot some WD-40 (thin penetrating oil) in through the plug hole, and wipe the whole thing down with the same. I leave the saws resting on wood - don't leave them on concrete, it eats mag over the years.

 

[stevethekiwi]

Hey all--

I'm preparing to go off to college and am in the process of preparing all my pieces of OPE that will not get used regularly by my father (everything but the mower, weed wacker), for semi-long term storage.

I have two questions--

1. Does anyone still put a few drops of 2-cycle engine oil into the cylinder before storing for long term? My redmax backpack blower and the echo strimmer both suggest it in the manual, but Stihl claims it is unnecessary.

2. I can either store my saws in a lidded plastic cargo tote in my basement (the big plastic storage bins), or in my garage. The garage is really not heated, but generally does not freeze during the winter (it gets heat from the rest of the house). It does, however, get relatively cold (40 degrees or so). The basement is a finished basement that's not very humid, but there's definitely more humidity than there is in a normal room in the house. It doesn't have any real waterproofing problems, but it is definitely a little more humid than an at or above grade room.

What's worse for the saws, the cold or the humidity and why? Where should I store them?

Thanks,

MGF

why not take your saw with you? you will be the most popular guy there!

STK

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I would dump all the fuel out of the tanks and then run them at idle until they stop running. Spraying some WD40 down the intake while pulling the engine over won't hurt anything and may do some good, and spraying the unpainted metal parts with WD40 or a similar product won't hurt. Change oil in any 4 cycle engines. Putting plastic bags over things is a bit of a problem if you do it when it is hot and humid - as when the air gets cold the humidity that was suspended in the hot air may settle out and make a humid environmnet that didn't exist when it was warmer and the air could hold more moisture. If you put the plastic bags on when the air and equipment is cold you have very little moisture supspended in the air.

Store in as dry and constant temperature environment as possible. An unheated garage that has big temperature swings is a problem. I had an uninsulated garage for a while and the outside temperature would be 20 degrees for a week and then get to be 50 degrees and rainy in a few days. The garage floor was cold and when you would open the garage door the warm wet air outside would come in the garage and condense moisture on the floor. Everything I owned would get rusty in that situation and even the screwdrivers in my toolbox were rusting inside the plastic handles - the air would condense on the floor just like an iced lemonade pitcher in the summer. I have since insulated that garage and it is much better.

If the humidity in the basement is 60% or less you will probably be fine. At humidity above 70% mold forms - a range of 40%-60% is a good environment. Keep everything as high off the floor as possible.

 

[Taxmantoo]

You have two enemies here, corrosion and nasty stale fuel.

I've heard it said by many people that aviation fuels last virtually forever, not being allowed to contain a lot of the nasty stuff that makes automotive gasoline go stale (especially oxygenated fuel, that stuff's guaranteed to decompose through oxidation). I'd get a gallon of LL100, mix it with premix, drain the saws, put some of the LL100 mix in them and run them before storage. If I wasn't worried about the lead in the exhaust I'd run LL100 all the time (in fact, I might start doing that, I probably don't run saws enough to matter healthwise).

2 stroke oil is good to have inside an engine, and flooding the rings with the proper engine oil can't hurt anything.

If you can seal off the intake and exhaust, you won't get condensation inside the engine (or not more than the little bit of humidity that's already in there). Sealing in a garbage bag can work, if the bag is sealed and if it doesn't have humidity in it. If you seal warm wet air in there, it will become a low temperature sauna in the winter. When I store ammunition, I put it in a sealed can flooded with CO2, you can't have corrosion without oxygen and humidity. The condensation problem is when there's limited airflow (like only an intake port open) so the saw sucks in air at night as it gets cooler, then condenses the water out of that air, keeping the water and breathing out some of the air during the day. There's very little air and water involved in this, but if it happens every day for several months or years, it adds up. If I put a saw in a sealed container, I'd put a bunch of silica gel in there too. Cheaper Than Dirt used to sell military surplus desiccant packets, 5.5oz of silica gel in a little paper baggie. One of those would probably handle a garbage bag, especially if you didn't trap more air in there than necessary, maybe give the bag a quick hit with the shop vac.

WD-40 is great at washing water out of something, it was invented as a water dispersant. Main ingredients are light kerosene and DMSO, neither of which I'd intentionally put inside an engine. An old farmer's trick is to spray the tractor with diesel fuel to prevent exterior rust, it leaves behind a paraffin residue. WD-40 doesn't have paraffins in it, the kerosene base is more refined than diesel fuel. WD-40 can damage certain rubber and plastic parts. I once made the mistake of drawing it into a plastic syringe and ten seconds later when I tried to use it, the syringe has fused together into a useless lump (I think it was the rubber piston that the WD-40 destroyed instantly). Probably the worst thing you could do with the stuff is spray it down the carb throat to feast on the intake boot and crank seals for the next few months.

 

[Dadatwins]

Dump out the fuel, run the saw/whatever at idle until it dies. Spray some fogging oil in the carb pull the spark plug and spray some fogging oil in the cylinder. Put the plug back in. Turn the engine once or twice with the switch off to coat everything. No bags or plastic totes. Don't leave them sitting on a concrete floor. Sit them on some wood on the floor or shelves if you have them. The garage is fine, some cold weather will not hurt them. Take a picture before you leave and keep it under your pillow while at school. You can take a wallet size also. Think about school, the tools will be there when you get back. Hopefully you will learn enough to hire someone else to use them.

 

[Taxmantoo]

why not take your saw with you? you will be the most popular guy there!

A guy on my dorm floor was a forestry major. The RA called his axes weapons and made him store them elsewhere, but allowed the saws. One time I was helping a friend build a loft and I think he was planning on cutting the lumber with a hacksaw. "Hey, go get Eric, he's got a couple of chainsaws under his bed".
You know how loud a 1970's vintage saw sounds indoors? I found out that day.

 

[Bermie]

I had six saws stored for four years. (five 026's and one 021)

I ran them till they stopped and drained the oil. Left the fuel cap loose to allow venting. Slacked off the chains.

They sat in a closed metal container on metal shelves for four years, no ventilation, temperature in the container must have exceeded 100* in the summer, winter temps never colder than mid 50*'s, humidity never lower than 75%, often exceeding 90%.

When it came time to use them again, I filled them up with fresh gas and oil, and BRRRRMMM, every one started in a completely normal manner...

Dem Stihls is TOUGH!