I received my safety recall notice today, anyone else?
Stihl recalls flippy caps!!!
- Thread starter brad1000s
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I went by my dealer today and picked up two new caps. All they needed were the serial numbers off the trimmers.
LOL I figured my dealer would just hand me a new cap. I just love this thread too much to let it go. Ahahahaha:msp_sneaky:
Okay, I'll give this one a big BUMP! Been reading about the flippy cap issue and here is my 2 cents! If I had had a good understanding of how these caps work, I would have never had a problem with them short of having to use a screw driver point to rotate the dogs into position prior to twisting and flipping the bail. (sarcasm) However, this complicated little plastic mechanism is not easy to understand at first. That said, I spilled three tanks of fuel in my lap from my new MS260 and dribbled chain oil on my shop floor several times before I finally figured out that I was not getting those dogs fully engaged. Needless to say, I was furious. Being a design engineer by trade, I was flabbergasted by the intricacy, delicacy, and complication involved in the design of this Rube Goldberg cap! Align, insert, rotate, twist, flip. Absolutely ridiculous in my book. Oh, and I just stopped in the other day at my local dealer to get a new o-ring installed on my gas cap so it would turn again. There is no excuse for this. Obviously a "sacred cow" design that was invented by someone with family ties way up the ladder at Stihl corporate!!! Hey Stihl....Just give us a threaded gas cap no more complicated than a single piece of plastic with an o-ring seal...no big deal!!!
Sorry for the rant, but this strikes a chord with me. Just happy I didn't catch fire when I spilled all that gasoline on my lap!!!!
Sorry for the rant, but this strikes a chord with me. Just happy I didn't catch fire when I spilled all that gasoline on my lap!!!!
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I couldn't get the link to open.
Finally able to open and print the link. Looks as if only my HT-131 is involved.
Thanks for the info.
Finally able to open and print the link. Looks as if only my HT-131 is involved.
Thanks for the info.
For people who use their saws a lot it becomes an ingrained habit to check the caps for proper installation while the saw is still on it's side. It shouldn't have to be. Stihl changed something that didn't need to be changed.
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Called my local ACE Hardware store that sold me my HT-131. My pole prunner is too new and doesn't fall under the recall.
I was told that the recall is several years old.
I was told that the recall is several years old.
You do realize this thread is several years old?
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Yup, we got it Mom. Thanks. It might be good information for new Stihl owners though.
c5rulz
Addicted to ArboristSite
Of course but flippy caps still $uck.
BTW, hasn't Stihl quit putting flippy caps on all their products except chainsaws?
Nothing like doubling down on dumb.
They're not really all that bad. They just take a little special care and technique. They're also not any kind of improvement over the old style caps.
I've run Stihls for quite a while and I've seen a lot of good changes over the years. Flippy caps weren't one of them though.
I've run Stihls for quite a while and I've seen a lot of good changes over the years. Flippy caps weren't one of them though.
oldboy
ArboristSite Member
I sorta got used to the flippy cap on my ms 192, but the plastic T that holds the oil cap to the saw when unscrewed and hanging broke the other day for no reason, haven't had the saw for a year yet. Easy enough to repair though.
battlefordguy
ArboristSite Operative
First saw with flip caps gave me fits. Read all the reviews, and thought wow these are difficult. seriously made a 100+ efforts to line everything up, just assumed I was missing something. Then I got a replacement as I felt the o-ring was bad. Not a single issue since.
Quite the feeling though after a 100+ attempts and sitting their thinking what am I missing, why can't I get this....
Quite the feeling though after a 100+ attempts and sitting their thinking what am I missing, why can't I get this....
no offense dude, but only an engineer could have trouble with a flippy cap.
Philip Wheelock
Finis Origine Pendet
I like the Husky/screw cap design better, but I've never had any operational trouble with the Stihl caps, although they seem to break down and leak sooner than they should. Big deal. If people don't like the Stihl design, just sell the saws and be done with it. Stop complaining and start an oil thread or something.
Matt81
Bliss: Saw full of fuel and yard full of trees!
I have just the once had the fuel on the 261 at work come out when i righted the saw because the cap was seated and in the right orientation but the "dogs" were already rotated and not locked properly.
Since then it is just second nature to give all of these Stihl flippy caps a wiggle after locking it to check if it engaged properly or not. That's why i love our 660's at work because they have the screw normal caps still. Yes i agree it is something that Stihl didn't need to change but they did and life goes on. The new Husky flip caps are brilliant as they combine the best of both worlds, screw in style but with a flip up handle.
Since then it is just second nature to give all of these Stihl flippy caps a wiggle after locking it to check if it engaged properly or not. That's why i love our 660's at work because they have the screw normal caps still. Yes i agree it is something that Stihl didn't need to change but they did and life goes on. The new Husky flip caps are brilliant as they combine the best of both worlds, screw in style but with a flip up handle.
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Maybe it's just me (again), but I'm not having any issues with flippy caps.
But then again, I don't care if it takes me 1.7 seconds longer to complete a cut cause my saw ain't ported.
But then again, I don't care if it takes me 1.7 seconds longer to complete a cut cause my saw ain't ported.
Matt81
Bliss: Saw full of fuel and yard full of trees!
None of our saws are ported either, i don't get what that has to do with the operation of fuel and oil caps? Insider joke?
If you were using saws with these caps as often as we do, i find it amazing you have not come across any issues with them, lol.
The locking mechanism gets crud in it and stops the cap rotating and locking properly. The top of the cap and around the cap seems more susceptible to allow crud into the tank than a regular cap that is easy to wipe around and clean. The locking barrel mechanism stays in the open position and won't rotate to lock properly despite the cap being orientated and seated correctly giving a false impression of it being ok. Giving it a little wiggle ensures it is locked securely.This is a very basic item on the saw, so why make it so overly complex? The old screw ones worked well and reliably for Stihl and still do for other brands. Plus they were much simpler and cheaper to manufacture.
Seems typical of most German engineering i have come across, especially concerning cars. Fantastic when it's working but overly complex and not designed to be easily serviced or worked on.
