Safety- Do you remove the spark plug wire?

[banditt007]

I was wondering a few things:

How many of you turn the ignition switch off AND REMOVE THE SPARK PLUG LEAD, before working on the saw? especially w/ a hot engine... (sharpening chain, swapping a bar, making adjustments to the oiler ect)

-How many of you have experience, first hand or otherwise of a saw starting accidently, after it was shut off?


The way i see it, is UNLIKE for example a lawn mower, the chain is not directly connected to the engine. So when one spins the chain by hand on a saw, the clutch is not allowing the piston to move at all, whereas, with a lawn mower that direct connection could be a disaster if the ignition switch fails or a still hot piece of carbon ignites the mixture...

I always see this in manuals and questioned it...

 

[T0RN4D0]

Nobody ever.

nuff said

 

[waynewhitacre]

I live on the wild side -----------never----

 

[Jlhotstick3]

Personally I just leave the switch off and put it in the vice to sharpen, but I do put the chain break on so the chain doesn't move while sharpening. It's not a bad idea if you want to pull the plug cap off but I don't thinks the saw would ever start from sharpening the chain or cleaning. As far as stopping the piston, in my experiences you only have to stop the piston for the flywheel and clutch removal.

 

[R/C Pilot]

Unlike battery ignition the mag on a chainsaw takes a little bit of speed to generate a spark. I just leave the switch off.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Absolutely, I also drain the fuel mix, wrap the saw in Nomex so I won't get burned and place wax over all the cutters before I sharpen them so I will not cut myself. One can never be too safe... :bang:

 

[northmanlogging]

Hel I change the bar and chain with the bastard still running... and the throttle locked wide open...
(but I'm a paid professional so don't try this at home...)

If you can get the saw to start with the ignition on and a fully functioning well maintained saw just from messing with the chain I will give you 100 cents! hel you can even use another saw to push start it if you want...:msp_scared:

 

[z71mike]

It's almost impossible for that to happen.

 

[hamish]

Depends what part of the saw I am working on.

Had a snowmobile carb on my bench in the shop and the sled sitting outside, my nephew gave er a pull and she fired and lauched a good 30 yards in to my truck.

Outboard motor in the shop clamped in the vise, no remote tank hooked up, changed the flywheel, checking point gap, she fired up, prop almost took out my balls.

Nah I just leave all the fun stuff hooked up, no sense having a boring day.

 

[Tiewire]

Nope.

 

[naturelover]

Nope.

I do however when working on lawnmowers, especially when messing underneath the deck...

 

[stihl sawing]

Never take the plug wire off,except to change it, Also don't worry about the switch. don't think i can sharpen a chain that fast.lol

 

[naturelover]

Nope.

I do however when working on lawnmowers, especially when messing underneath the deck...

 

[stihl sawing]

Nope.

I do however when working on lawnmowers, especially when messing underneath the deck...

Yep, Lawnmowers do not have a clutch. It could start by turning the blade.

 

[indiansprings]

Never, only to check compression or inspect inside the cylinder, or to use compressed air to blow the cylinder out when someone floods one so bad you can literally hold the saw upside down and see a fog of gas blow out the muffler

 

[leeha]

Hell ya, I even take the plug out and install a piston stop.
Ya can never be to safe so why take chances.





Lee

 

[Fish]

I remember back when Stihl first came out with their E-Z Start line up, a salesman demonstrated the feature, and when he came back in, he
pulled the rope some more, then set the ms180 down, then about 5 minutes later it burped and started on the display.......

Yes, taking off the plug wire would be smart....

 

[arborealbuffoon]

In my case, no worries. Most of my saws won't start anyway. That's why I keep so many around, ya know!

 

[2dumb4words]

I remember back when Stihl first came out with their E-Z Start line up, a salesman demonstrated the feature, and when he came back in, he
pulled the rope some more, then set the ms180 down, then about 5 minutes later it burped and started on the display.......

Yes, taking off the plug wire would be smart....

Wow. That's incredibly dangerous.

 

[atvhead]

Yep, Lawnmowers do not have a clutch. It could start by turning the blade.

The first part is not true. I have used many lawnmowers with a clutch to engage the blades.