stihl warranty problem

[john inglis]

hi , one of my neighbours bought a brand new stihl 210 for general light farm use and was using it to trim the top of some split fence posts , not a big cut or that much use , only 10 posts when it stopped and would not cut . he brought it down to me and i had a quick look but he had melted the plastic casing arround the chainbrake and destroyed the clutch bearing ,
i told him to take it back to the dealer as he had only used it for 15 minutes at the absolute max surely they would fix it for him , i stupidly thought that the chainbrake should work and stop the chain and told him so , the stihl rep disagrees and says it is his fault for running the saw with the brake on (bumped it on probably when lifting it for the cut) .
i have quite a few stihls and the brake stops the chain on all of them except for the 090 ( no brake ) . even my old mccullochs have brakes that work very well .
it seems that stihl thinks that homeowner saws do not require safety features that actually work despite them advertising them as safe saws , i find it very hard to believe that the rep actually believes that brake on a saw which is regularly sold to new users is not required to lock the chain when on.

any views on this would be welcome as i intend to speak to the stihl rep about this .


ps , who is liable if someone is injured if you give them a saw to use that does not have an effective chainbrake , i would not like to be employing people using saws without an effective safety chainbrake , the stihl rep would not put it on paper so maybe it is not official stihl policy .

 

[Mad Professor]

Tell the Stihl Rep. your going to contact OSHA about unsafe illegal equipment being sold, that should get him a new (working) saw quick.

 

[huskystihl]

I find it hard to believe that the chainbreak was so weak it wouldn't stop the cutters on a 210? I also find it hard to believe that someone wouldn't realize what was going on either. No offense but my 10 yr old son would have stopped and said "dad somethings wrong" Either way someone if not both parties are to balme, party one for the chainbreak not being fully operational. Party 2 for not smelling the welding plastic and lac of power. I think stihl should provide parts while the owner should pay the labor for lesson learned.

 

[Torin]

Tell the Stihl Rep. your going to contact OSHA about unsafe illegal equipment being sold, that should get him a new (working) saw quick.

Or Australia's equivalent.

 

[Fish]

If someone keeps trying to run a saw with the chainbrake on and melts the saw, how is that Stihl's fault?
Someone was real determined and kept gunning it, it is a common thing,
see it all of the time, Had a guy once bring me a saw from Big Lots, he
used the hell out of it with the chain on backwards, he was real determined
as well.

 

[Fish]

The chain brake obviously was working properly, that is what caused all
of that frictional heat. Doesn't take much time of that clutch turning inside a
locked sprocket to generate a lot of heat.

 

[huskystihl]

The chain brake obviously was working properly, that is what caused all
of that frictional heat. Doesn't take much time of that clutch turning inside a
locked sprocket to generate a lot of heat.

I can't get any saw from a 211 to a 660 to a 372 to make more than a half revolution with the chainbreak engaged. I had a 575 xp that would run with the chainbreak on which I quickly had replaced for the safety of the guys running it. I just cant figure out how one would not realize it's bogging down for more than a minute let alone long enough to fry the cover.

 

[ray benson]

Had a neighbor come down with the same saw borrowed from his friend. He made one cut on a branch and set the brake accidently. Kept starting the saw but it was jammed up. I released brake and fortunately it did no damage.
He just had no knowledge of a saw. I got my saw and followed him home. Dropped the parkway tree for him and got the wood.

 

[Fish]

When you rev the saw and the chain doesn't turn, the clutch is turning,
otherwise the saw would die/stop, and it generates heat very quickly.

Someone not used to the saw/brake trying to gun it to unstick it can melt
plastic quickly.

 

[Fish]

Time for a THall edumacational video, how long till the plastic melts!!!!!

 

[huskystihl]

Time for a THall edumacational video, how long till the plastic melts!!!!!

I agree but the answer is an overwhelming long after common sense sets in.

 

[galde]

Proper operation of the saw, including the chainbrake, is always part of a Stihl dealer's operator instruction at the time of sale. If the buyer is unable or unwilling to grasp the importance of such details, the dealer can't be blamed. Any time a tool with centrifugal clutch is braked or overloaded (or worked at too-low RPM), there will be slippage (and rapid heat build-up) at the clutch. If this area is surrounded by plastic covers and parts, serious damage is assured. These overheating cases are more damaging with inboard clutches.

 

[smokinj]

In my area the Attorney general will get them to work!

 

[CentaurG2]

I love the smell of melting plastic and burning bearings in the morning. You know that burning organic/metallic stink you can only get when you run a saw with the brake on? Smells like…..a costly repair bill.

Operator should have known better but in the states, the dealer should have covered basic operation of the chainsaw before it left the shop. I would think this includes proper operation of the chainbrake. Someone was asleep behind the wheel but based on the info available, I don’t think stihl corp has anything to do with this.

 

[blackoak]

If someone keeps trying to run a saw with the chainbrake on and melts the saw, how is that Stihl's fault?
Someone was real determined and kept gunning it, it is a common thing,
see it all of the time, Had a guy once bring me a saw from Big Lots, he
used the hell out of it with the chain on backwards, he was real determined
as well.

I had a guy bring me his saw with the chain on backwards, he wanted the chips to fly forward instead of back towards him and filling his boots up. He was a "determinded" type of guy also. I gave him a roll of duct tape.

 

[surfincr]

to answer your question on who would be liable in that case it would in fact be the manufacturer of the saw. i would have to look at what stihl makes publically known about the holding power of the chain brake, i.e. if the state stating chain brake is ineffective at XXX rpms which would give them some legal wiggle room but likely not much.

in the insurance field this would actually be a completed operation claim.

sorry heard the who's liable question and had to dive in, since do insurance underwriting and am a licensed claim adjuster.

 

[Grande Dog]

Howdy,
Real easy to figure out if it's a warranty. On that size saw, no way the saw has enough torque to over ride the brake. If the bake band is thrashed, it's Stihl's fault. If the brake band is in good condition, user's fault.
Regards
Gregg

 

[belgian]

Someone not used to the saw/brake trying to gun it to unstick it can melt
plastic quickly.

My take on it as well. You can't spin the chain with the chainbrake actuated, but if you keep on trying vigorously for a minute....you'll smell the plastic burning...:monkey:

 

[THALL10326]

hi , one of my neighbours bought a brand new stihl 210 for general light farm use and was using it to trim the top of some split fence posts , not a big cut or that much use , only 10 posts when it stopped and would not cut . he brought it down to me and i had a quick look but he had melted the plastic casing arround the chainbrake and destroyed the clutch bearing ,
i told him to take it back to the dealer as he had only used it for 15 minutes at the absolute max surely they would fix it for him , i stupidly thought that the chainbrake should work and stop the chain and told him so , the stihl rep disagrees and says it is his fault for running the saw with the brake on (bumped it on probably when lifting it for the cut) .
i have quite a few stihls and the brake stops the chain on all of them except for the 090 ( no brake ) . even my old mccullochs have brakes that work very well .
it seems that stihl thinks that homeowner saws do not require safety features that actually work despite them advertising them as safe saws , i find it very hard to believe that the rep actually believes that brake on a saw which is regularly sold to new users is not required to lock the chain when on.

any views on this would be welcome as i intend to speak to the stihl rep about this .


ps , who is liable if someone is injured if you give them a saw to use that does not have an effective chainbrake , i would not like to be employing people using saws without an effective safety chainbrake , the stihl rep would not put it on paper so maybe it is not official stihl policy .

So he set off the brake on the 10th post and then proceeded to melt the saw housing, the issue is simple just like your friend. Don't know what the warranty policy is where you are but where I am warranty doesn't cover and can't fix stupid....

 

[howellhandmade]

So he set off the brake on the 10th post and then proceeded to melt the saw housing, the issue is simple just like your friend. Don't know what the warranty policy is where you are but where I am warranty doesn't cover and can't fix stupid....

There's another bullseye. The Law of Parsimony says that the simplest explanation is correct, and actually cutting 10 posts with the brake on would take a lot of explaining.