Chainsaw mechanic tips, tricks and advice.

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yeah be careful with certain Purple cleaner/degreaser, some (i.e. Zep industrial purple) will eat aluminum. Some of the weaker stuff from the auto parts stores does work great.

Simple Green works great and will not harm anything, either.

I have a little power sprayer thing that hooks up to the air compressor, so I get rid of all the big pieces of oily wood pitch and such with a small plastic something-or-other (can literally be a plastic spoon or knife), then blow out with just air to get the loose stuff, then hook up the sprayer w/ simple green, then back to just air. All just using the air compressor, wipe off everything after.

A low-PSI electric pressure washer would be a great use, too (i.e. not like a 2500+ PSI unit, more like a 1600-1800 psi). Also mainly because it's one less gas engine to deal with haha

Dawn dish soap works incredible on oily/greasy stuff too, if you have a saw which has been a leaker of mix/oil or is otherwise really terrible.

More items:

Buy small diameter Torx tools, hopefully somewhat long length as you can find them

Hemostats are great, I also have some loooong needle nose pliers which are perfect for fishing fuel lines

If anything is rusty at all, I soak it in PB Blaster and let it sit for a while before even putting a wrench to it

Use baggies and labels to keep small parts together, especially if the job takes quite some time, but then again I have CRS.

If you're working on something you know you can fix in one sitting, an old metal muffin pan is a great idea.... separate small screws/parts into their respective areas.

Little plastic tubs that you get from eating a Lean Cuisine frozen meal are great.... good for parts to keep them together.

Go slow, it ain't a race. Take pictures, write notes, but then again I have CRS bad. Wait did I already say that? I can't remember ****.
 
Do you dilute Purple Power with water? I have some in a spray bottle.

I've also good result with regular old Gunk engine degreaser. You are absolutely right about cleaning them before doing work, little bits of sawdust in carbs, bearings, oilers, etc is no good.
I have a couple strengths i use in the shop...100% straight concentrate in a bottle fir engines (will strip clear coat), 50/50 for saws, trimmers. 70/30 for painted stuff.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
Just like I said yesterday, I came back from lunch and what do I see? Only one pair of Hemostats on my bench instead of two. F7716BA4-21B8-403A-86D7-A976FE543EA5.jpeg
 
My top tip is having short plastic golf tee's handy to plug fuel/ vacuum lines when dismantling to keep crap out, but don't forget to lay saw on its side, (fuel cap up) and release tank pressure by loosening fuel cap momentarily before popping off fuel lines!!
 
I often use the little rope around the boot to pull it through the hole trick.
Love hemostats but file the edges slightly so the don't cut into rubber fuel lines or boots.
I use a variety of nails cut to length, to plug fuel lines since I have up golf.
Those inexpensive red ring compressors sure work well along with the wooden block to hold the connecting rod.
Any tips on installing fuel lines while the saw is together? Struggled with a Stihl 250 the other day?

2stroker
 
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