Very Strange plug fowling, pp5020.

[LegDeLimber]

Aww for flips sake, where's the edit button to fix a title error?
I'm a messy typist and spellcheck threw in the wrong "fowl"
Can somebody fix it please!!
=
Last night I pulled the spark plug from my pp5020 and dropped muffler to look into the cylinder.
Found a really bizarre looking sight with the plug.
The red arrows indicate the intake side as the plug was run.
Wondering if these are fibers from the filter, but yet the filter looks well intact though.
curious if anyone else has ever seen such a thing.

Sorry that my camera is having some focus issue, oddly it's the same one that gave me those
super sharp pics of a chain , a couple months back.

I last ran the pp5020 that i mentioned in Modifiedmark -"Bought a new Poulan Pro 5020 to see what there about" until it abruptly faded and stopped. I just set it aside till last night
and decided to pull the muffler
I was hoping it would fit the 450 rancher for muff-mod. the 5020 muff cost about 1/4 of the 450 muffler...nope larger port & wider bolt spacing in the 5020 ...hmm, sorta interesting on that port size difference.
http://www.arboristsite.com/communi...ulan-pro-5020-to-see-what-there-about.192321/

I seem to be about the only one who found the bad (used&returned?) ones in lowes
so gave up and went to the 450 rancher.
Still have the pp5020 carcass & plan to revive it when money permits.
Hoping to get the saw we truly feel Poulan is selling.
I still think it's a good saw, I just hit a bad/suspicious (looked abused & returned) batch is all.

A link for about where I mentioning my bum luck vs everyone elses good reports
http://www.arboristsite.com/communi...-what-there-about.192321/page-32#post-4234523

 

[fearofpavement]

Is the material soft and fluffy or is it stiff like melted glass (fiberglass)? Was the air filter in good condition?

 

[LegDeLimber]

Yeah the filter seems look fine. That was/is my first suspect source for the fibers.
The filter is a light brown color, but the heat could burn out a color I figure.
you can see some globules on the ground strap.

I'll try to set up a pic of the filter.
Those pleats make it a pain to get good lighting in them.
and my frigging camera (canon sx120) is having a macro focus issue.
Gotta get a bite of food eaten (diabetic) and then I'll try for filter pics.

 

[zogger]

Well, you win for oddest plug I have ever seen. Filter sure does seem a likely suspect. I'd change that bad boy to something else and get a new plug, see how it runs then.

 

[farmrboy]

That is such a small amount of media, you wouldn't notice it missing from the filter. Replace the faulty filter & plug, probably would be a good idea to check the carb ports for any media that could have lodged in them, too.

 

[LegDeLimber]

I picked through the fibers on the intake side of the plug.
Looking at this spark plug pic
I took a single pass from bottom of frame towards center left side (sort of follows the red line).
You can see how the fibers cling to the stainless steel probe
and the ones on the plug are fairly undisturbed looking.
I'd say they're stiff like fiberglass.

I snapped a few frames of the filter and as noted it would be extremely difficult to see
that much loss of material. Would have to run a while to see it.

The air filter was letting some dirt in too. You can see it spreads from the lower left
and mostly covered the entire box.
the choke plate looked clean but the strato plate has some gunk on it.
There is definitely a filter change/mod in store for the saw.

 

[GrassGuerilla]

opcorn:

 

[jughead500]

Thats mold from setting too long.lol

 

[Chris-PA]

Thats mold from setting too long.lol

No, but it might be some form of corrosion, crystal growth, etc.

 

[GrassGuerilla]

Well, you win for oddest plug I have ever seen. Filter sure does seem a likely suspect./QUOTE].

+1

 

[jughead500]

No, but it might be some form of corrosion, crystal growth, etc.

True

 

[GrassGuerilla]

Really looks like bits of the flocking coming off the filter to me.

Edit: how many hours on this saw? How have you been cleaning the filter?

I have one I picked up not long ago. Went out and checked mine, nothing like that on my plug. Mines a happy brown. This just makes my stomach twist a little thinking of my 024 eating the flocking off the air filter. Not pretty.

Before you go much if any further, I'd want a compression check. Or at least a visual of the intake side.

 

[LegDeLimber]

This saw is the one with the bumpy plating in the cylinder that i mentioned in Modified Marks thread, So compression is down.
I need to hunt for the pics of it as they were lost here due to the hacking.

I'm of the opinion that it's the filter material on the plug.

The saw probably has 18~25 tanks run through it.
Filter was cleaned by usual gentle taping and a careful mild use of the air hose
as I was trying not to damage it. Hopefully the pics can show the filter condition.
if anyone wants more photos, maybe at a different angle or a different part of the saw
just say so and I'll try to shoot them.

Oil mix was the Poulan bottle that came with it, then switched to Stihl ultra
till the saw died off.
Gasoline was always mid grade or premium NON- corn gas.
that's all I run in all my OPE and there's no e-gas anywhere here and I absolutely
do not allow anyone elses fuel in my gear.

And yes I plan to figure up a different filter and of course a fresh plug
then go see how it runs.
just remember that cylinder has the bad plating
So likely won't be too much of a run.

If I've skipped anything else useful to know, just let me know and I'll try to post the info.

I'll be in and out doing some yard work, so might be a bit of delay in my checking back here.

and Thanks for the input/ideas fellows!

 

[old-cat]

It looks to me like that plug has been running a bit too hot.

 

[zogger]

This saw is the one with the bumpy plating in the cylinder that i mentioned in Modified Marks thread, So compression is down.
I need to hunt for the pics of it as they were lost here due to the hacking.

I'm of the opinion that it's the filter material on the plug.

The saw probably has 18~25 tanks run through it.
Filter was cleaned by usual gentle taping and a careful mild use of the air hose
as I was trying not to damage it. Hopefully the pics can show the filter condition.
if anyone wants more photos, maybe at a different angle or a different part of the saw
just say so and I'll try to shoot them.

Oil mix was the Poulan bottle that came with it, then switched to Stihl ultra
till the saw died off.
Gasoline was always mid grade or premium NON- corn gas.
that's all I run in all my OPE and there's no e-gas anywhere here and I absolutely
do not allow anyone elses fuel in my gear.

And yes I plan to figure up a different filter and of course a fresh plug
then go see how it runs.
just remember that cylinder has the bad plating
So likely won't be too much of a run.

If I've skipped anything else useful to know, just let me know and I'll try to post the info.

I'll be in and out doing some yard work, so might be a bit of delay in my checking back here.

and Thanks for the input/ideas fellows!

I have never looked at that particular model, but I know poulan parts for newish saws aren't that high compared to other brands. So you might just want to rebuild it.

 

[anlrolfe]

Something reminds me about growing sugar or alum crystals.

Have you p-ed anyone off to spike your gas?

 

[rmh3481]

Combustion temps would destroy any fibers short of asbestos. How long has this been sitting?

 

[zogger]

Something reminds me about growing sugar or alum crystals.

Have you p-ed anyone off to spike your gas?

It does look crystalline in a way. Or sorta like when sharp filings stick to stuff because it is slightly magnetic.

 

[fearofpavement]

Why I asked if the fibers were stiff is because it almost looks like melted glass to me. ie, silicon ie "sand". Is there any chance that sand could have been ingested?

 

[LegDeLimber]

Ok let me see if I have the brains this morning to answer everything.

I grabbed a magnet from a PC hard drive (seriously strong at close range)
I Dragged it around the threads and across the top of the ground strap/electrode.
I couldn't see any movement of the fibers.

Contaminated fuel? I normally keep my fuel jugs in a locked storage.
I'm not aware of anyone ticked off at me.
I'm generally the "handyman" guy that ambles over when i see a neighbor struggling with something
if it's something i know how to help with.

Could I have gotten bad fuel from the station? that was over a year back, So would be impossible for me to determine if that had happend.

The saw has been sitting uncranked for a bit over a year.

My eyes aren't the greatest for small details anymore (monocular diplopia)
The fibers just seem so much like fiberglass. Perhaps I can rig better lighting
and get a crisper picture.

As for ingested sand? The saw has only been run by me, The trees were very clean
fresh dropped from what had been a wooded lot (yeah!, no nails..so far)
Calm weather no dirt/dust being blown about.
In the pic abov, You can see the saw dust that got into the airbox
But I don't seem to seeany grit/dirt - just the wood fines that leaked in.
And yes a leaky filter is just that and it doesn't tend to discriminate what gets around it.

Just for giggles, I put a new plug a bit of oil & fuel in the 5020 and spent a few mins with it yesterday.
I only had the powerhead (no cutting of course) and was running it without that suspect air filter.
The purge bubble just bearly will pull fuel , won't pump to snug feeling.
So there's first indicator of some fuel system problems.
Choked it would crank at idle but of course you had to tickle the throttle
to get it to rev up any.
trying it w/ partial choke was a slight bit better.
Turning high screw (and on the idle screw) had no appreciable affect on it.
So decided to call it a day on this one.
But yes there's a carb and fuelsystem tear down and inspection in the saws future.

-
I just got a note from City about my woodpile location,
So I'll likely be a bit more focused on fixing that wood pile issue for a few days.
But will try to get any pics or answers up for this saw & plug.