Rust Forms Fast...

[Wood Doctor]

Just thought I would add this post after the plethora of rain we've had this spring. I left my MS361 in my truck bed, inside the orange plastic case, thinking it was safe from the moisture. I had to park the truck outside during roof repairs and thought nothing of two or three thunderstorms that moved through the night with torrential rain. My truck's bedliner is almost waterproof and filled up. As it did, the water got into the saw's case, bar cover high.

Next day I drained the case, cleaned the saw, and let it dry out. BUT, I forgot about the clutch bearings. Only four days later I started the saw. The needle bearings had already frozen up and the clutch was useless. The chain ran continuously and the chain brake stopped the saw dead. Rather than run it like that, back to the workshop it went. Had a heckuva time just removing the E-clip and pulling the clutch cover out. Rust penetrant helped. Removed all rust, lubed all parts, reassembled, and all was back in action.

Still, it's hard to believe how fast that rust can set in from rain water. Anybody else run into this?

 

[rmh3481]

I had a fellow one time hide his saws in a dump truck bed on a job site. It rained hard over a long weekend and the saws sat underwater in the dump bed. The bearings were rusted tight by the time they got to me.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Crankshaft bearings?

I had a fellow one time hide his saws in a dump truck bed on a job site. It rained hard over a long weekend and the saws sat underwater in the dump bed. The bearings were rusted tight by the time they got to me.

Gadfry! I assume that includes the crankshaft bearings? That worries me also. I actually had two saws in the truck that were under water. My Echo CS3900 was also submerged nearly four days. Both saws are running now, but I do fear about potential damage to the crankshaft bearings. If they go out, both saws are potentially toast and/or I'm in for several day's of work to save them.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[RiverRocket]

If saws are anything like a boat motor..If they get submerged, It's better to leave them submerged until you can immediately service them...As soon as they're exposed to air is when the corrosion really starts.
so letting them sit a couple days to dry out isn't a good idea..

 

[lumberjack48]

Before i'd pull a pickup out of the lake that had gone though the ice, i made sure i had a heated garage to put it in. I worked on it none stop until i had it running and drivable, if it sat at all, even all drained out, it was basically junk. This is the same with a chainsaw.

 

[67L36Driver]

A friend kept his little Craftsman in the plastic case on the back porch. Sat there for a long while, like a year. Opened up the thing to look at it and there it sat in an inch and a half or so of water. Chainsaw coffin is not weather tight.

Didn't hurt the runnin' of it none.

On inspection he had the chain on backwards.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Before i'd pull a pickup out of the lake that had gone though the ice, i made sure i had a heated garage to put it in. I worked on it none stop until i had it running and drivable, if it sat at all, even all drained out, it was basically junk. This is the same with a chainsaw.

Then I'm really lucky. Both saw cases were full of water. I cleaned them all up, including the chains, dried them out and lubed them once again. Both engines now run once more. Oh, and I also ran a fan on them for several hours. Note that at least the spark plugs (and cylinders) on both of these saws were above water rather than positioned below the throttle trigger. Had they been under the throttle trigger, the combustion chambers would have been submerged.

 

[Guido Salvage]

In the words of Neil Young... "Rust Never Sleeps".