Said goodbye to my second 5100s

[pinus]

1/32 versus 1/50 should not being the problem. For example, stihls manual for 270 says 1/50 with stihls oil, 1/25 with other oils.

 

[vegaome]

Howdy All,

There is a Dolmar dealer in town here but he only stocks up to the 460 and will order all others. I have been saving for a bigger saw and was thinking 7900 but thought if the 5100 is that good maybe just try that one.

Now Ill just have to wait and watch. I nut and bolt all my gear from time to time but never the new stuff, seems like that may be when it needs to be done, especially if it comming off the Dolmar line. I think their QA needs to look at this off the line prior to packing and shipping and the dealers will need to check everysaw.

I'm not rich enough to eat 400 to 600 dollar saws and neither are many others. The caution flag is out in my books on this.

Two saws in a row? Dolmar are you taking any action/investigate?

v/r

Mike

 

[Freakingstang]

I have only seen one running 5100. It was being demonstrated by a Dolmar rep, it took 15 pulls(I counted) to start and did not not want to idle. It was not put into wood because after the starting marathon nobody else was watching but me and I said do not bother, for $409.00 I will get a saw that works better. I wish it was different but the rest of the demo went down hill fast. Dolmar rep said they were "desperate" for dealers but a demo has got to be better than the one I witnessed to get a dealer to buy a package. I am not a dealer nor do I work for one, I just happened to be there and was invited to try out some new saws. I did not get to. A person selling something should not talk down another brand unless they know their saws will start and run well. The blower demo was worse. All around a disappointing Dolmar experience. Not my first one after the grand reinvention.

Most dealers, believe it or not, are not saw junkies. It takes a good dealer to know the problems with certain saws.

I have seen two Dolmar displays, in both instances there were similar results. The 5100 and 7900's are set rich from the factory. A little too rich actually. if there are other saws running, it is very hard to here the "pop" with the choke on. I did this at Eric's GTG last spring when my 5100 was brand new. I didn't hear the initial pop and pulled it about 6-7 times. The plug was fouled. The carb has been reset multiple times since then. that is the reason for the pull marathon you are talking about. Of all the dealers I've talked to, there is only one that knows what I am talking about. And it does look bad when a Demonstator doesn't know what the problem is, or the fix to it.


FWIW, I run mine at 40:1 and never had a problem with it. I did tighten the carb screws about 1/2 a turn after reading on here that it was a problem (although I haven't had a problem with it) I guess I caught it before it was a problem.

I will also say with these rev limiters on these saws, if you set them to the normal four stoke sound, they are too lean. That would be my guess as to what happened in this situation. It takes a tach and a more deicated ear to set these without damaging them.

With that being said, I hope all of you are readjusting your carbs for the cooler temperatures as of late. It should go without saying, but if you are running your saws in cool dense air when they were adjusted for the summer time temps/humidity your saws is doomed.....

 

[Justsaws]

FS, that is actually what I thought when he was pulling however it still does not explain the saws inability to return to a smooth low idle. It was a bad demo that was not handled well by the Dolmar rep. It was to sad because the dealer I was at was talking about picking up another line of saws at the time.

This dealer used to be one of three local Dolmar dealers.

 

[Lakeside53]

Lakeside53 I'm not going to mess with the 5100 anymore, I have my money, so I'm ok. I just felt bad for the nice dealer having to eat the saws. The dealer agreed with me, he said that I was not at fault.

Understood. I misread your post. Hopefully the dealer can get dolmar to eat the saws..

 

[pitkas]

In the owners manual it says to use 40:1 if you are not using the Dolmar brand 2 stroke oil.

Starting my new 5100s was a challenge. It took some time getting use to it. I could flood it in a heartbeat. After 3 tanks and starting it more, I have it down to 2 pulls cold start.

 

[spike60]

Guys, it's the loose carb screw deal here, as was mentioned in a previous post. All of this analysis on the oils is off in the wrong direction, as any of these variations are not great enough to cause a major failure.

I don't mean to knock the selling dealer, who sounds like a decent guy, but a dealer who is "on top of it", at some point becomes aware of issues such as this and takes care of them. Every brand has it's share of problems, and there are plenty of service bulletins with everybody's letterhead on the top.

A good dealer also cultivates a good working relationship with OEM or distributor tech guys so that situations like this can be discussed/negotiated when the cause of the problem is not so obvious.

 

[THALL10326]

interesting thread

Reading this thread about mix ratios is why I tell each and every buyer who buys a Stihl from me to use 50:1 I get alot of customers who say I'll mix it alittle rich to be on the safe side. I always say no need for that, just go by what the manufacture says, they know more than you or me. Out of almost 500 units this year I've had one MS180 come back fried. The chain on that saw was so dull you could run your hand up and down it and never get a scratch. No doult burning through wood instead of sawing through wood runined that saw. Stihl replaced the saw with a warning to the customer, no more free saws due to dull chains. Other than that one saw I've had not one fried cylinder to deal with this year. 50:1 works just fine for normal cutting.

As for the 5100 I can only speak for the one I bought. Came out the box running alittle too fast but started fine. I set it at 14,200 and to date the saw has been nothing but a joy to run. Spike says it best, all brands are going to have some issues from time to time. No saw is perfect each and everytime that I know of. Without some problems of some sort we'd be bored to death and that goes for anything, not just saws. I take the long view. The man took back two 5100's for problems and thats fine. It doesn't mean mine has any problems. Good and bad in everything. I'm not worried about my 5100 because the other guy got hold of some that acted up. Hell if people did that the car companies would all be out of business long ago..

 

[sugarbush]

Andy, would you pm me the name and phone # of your dealer, i'd like to buy that 2nd saw and find out what's wrong. i've never had a problem with a 5100 like that and if there is a flaw i'd like to know what it is. will talk to my rep also. well i'm off to my deer stand.

 

[Andyshine77]

Bought a new MS361 on saturday, ran it for over an hour today without any problems at all. And yes I used the same mix I use in all my saws.

 

[Lakeside53]

Great choice!

 

[Andyshine77]

Yes I think it's a keeper. I used it to delimb this poplar that fell down behind my fathers house, looks like the tree was split in two for some time.

The second picture is me with my 7900. Sorry no pictures of the 361 yet.

 

[Marco]

I have 2 5100's out working since last fall, I was the first here to have them. No problems, the carbs seem to have plenty of adjustment within the caps range. The older 540s didn't behave as well out of the box.
Dealer should take some time and check the saw over before it goes out the door, if it wouldn't run on its side for you it wouldn't for him most likely

 

[Urbicide]

Hi Andy. Did you get your 361 from DeWars?

 

[DOLMARatOs]

As a power equipment dealer and a Dolmar Dealer I'd like to apolagize for the dealer. Dolmar has been nothing but an A+ company. That being said. We test-run every single saw we sell. I check all the fasteners before and after a 10 minute run-in if the customer wants to take the saw with them that day. We readjust the chain, check the oiler and adjust the carburetor. I'm not sure about the elevation of the DOLMAR factory in Germany or what fuel they used to test the saw. So i fire it off on 89 octane fuel mixed at 50:1 and so far i've only had a few customers that needed to bring their saws back after 5-10 tanks of fuel for readjustment. The majority of our customers aren't professionals nor are they able to adjust their own equipment. Electronic tachometers are always nice and most ppl don't have the money to purchase them.

We also offer saws that are run-in with 5 tanks of fuel. These saws have new bar+chain and are completely cleaned but I can guarantee that they are 100% ready to go. This service is usually taken by half my customers.

I'd like to say that with the exception of 1 dolmar 540 having a bad coil, 1 pb250.4 blower having a fastener problem and a 510 that broke a starter rope on the second pull...we haven't had a warranty problem with a Dolmar saw in a long time. Just my $0.02

 

[Andyshine77]

Hi Andy. Did you get your 361 from DeWars?

I was going to buy from Don but they were closed so I went to Schwab's power equipment, they're not to bad.

DOLMARatOs Thanks for the kind words, someday I'd like to have a 5100 that works.

 

[litefoot]

I have seen two Dolmar displays, in both instances there were similar results. The 5100 and 7900's are set rich from the factory. A little too rich actually. if there are other saws running, it is very hard to here the "pop" with the choke on. I did this at Eric's GTG last spring when my 5100 was brand new. I didn't hear the initial pop and pulled it about 6-7 times. The plug was fouled. The carb has been reset multiple times since then. that is the reason for the pull marathon you are talking about. Of all the dealers I've talked to, there is only one that knows what I am talking about. And it does look bad when a Demonstator doesn't know what the problem is, or the fix to it.

Steve,
Amen to the set-too-rich-at-the-factory comment. When I picked up my 7900 from the dealer, he had it all "set up". I asked if he had used a tach to tune the carb. I promptly received a puzzled stare followed by a comment about how the factory settings were close enough. So "set up" means he put on the bar and chain and made sure it started. After I cranked the carb about 2/3 of a turn CW on the H side, it was still well within the "4-stoke" zone.

However, I have found on my 7900 that the initial pop is very distinct (1st pull usually) and it starts 2nd or 3rd pull which I think is great for a brand new saw.

 

[SawTroll]

Bought a new MS361 on saturday, ran it for over an hour today without any problems at all. And yes I used the same mix I use in all my saws.

Congratulations!

...should be a problem free saw for a long time to come.....:rockn: :rockn: :rockn: