What is the acceptable warm up time of a 550xp?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
There are several 1-1.5 hours away. Bishops outside of topeka seems well recommended but a 3 hour drive round trip and 2 trips is a lot of money in gas. This was the only dealer that carried the 550xp in the area when I bought it. My intention is start an email conversation with the store manager. Email is great because you end up with written proof of what is said. If I don't get satisfaction I'll leave negative reviews wherever possible. I'll also send any false information pertaining to the saw given by the dealer to husqvarna corporate(not sure how much good it will do).

Depending on the rep it may help via corporate. If it will cost you more than $20 per trip to another dealer then it's less money to ship the saw. If you don't get anywhere with the dealer you've already started with then I can take a look at it for ya if you want. I don't know your travel expenses so that part is up to you to figure out.
 
What I did find was a thick coating of brown dirt in the intake tract under the air filter. Its wearing the the yellow nylon filter currently.

I've had the same issue with dust from simple Pine bark. The yellow filter won't have a hope in Redgum dust.
Time for me to order the flocked version :)

Who the hell has a shop labour rate or $82.84 and hour in the US? Australia yes,

Um no. Not even WE are that much of a rip off :D
 
Pulled the air filter today looking for the adjustment screw. I really didn't want to muck around removing parts considering its under warranty. What I did find was a thick coating of brown dirt in the intake tract under the air filter. Its wearing the the yellow nylon filter currently. It appeared clean on top the bottom pleats were slightly dirty. I checked the sealing surfaces which appeared clean and in good working order. I could see no damage to the filter. I've been cutting clean wood left in piles by a landscaper. Its all been pin oak, hard maple, and willow mostly green. I get a days use out of sharp chain. A quick search revealed others having similar issues with the 346 and most recommending a switch to a flocked filter and trip to the dealer. I've been reticent to take it in because I don't like the dealer and I was getting bad vibes(they are the only good sized saw dealer near me). I arrived in the service area and asked for the saw tech. His body language was combative/standoffish. I explained the symptoms and he said "its $45 deposit to check it out. Husky will refund you the deposit if its covered". "Fuel related issues are not covered". I said its running stihl ultra and fresh non ethanol premium I would hope its not fuel related. After he got the saw checked in I asked about dirt getting through the filter and if there was a flocked filter available. He said there was no other filter available and that me letting the carb throat get dirty might be the the problem. It'll be there a week before they can even check it out.

Same here,when cleaning the saw i removed the air filter en found some white dust on the inside of the filter en some little dirt on the intake.the dealer did some phone calls to Husqvarna and they told that they had some issues and the problem would be a bad sealing of the air filter on the intake when its cold and adding some grease to the bottom part of the filter should do the trick.
Also when it is cold (negative temps)the saw start as normal (choke on-choke off).but dies after 1 sec.and the start procedure has to restart and this for a x times.when its keeping running i have to wait until its get hot enough to start working.
Also today my rep. received a modification kit for all the 550xp he has sold, which consist of a new fuel tank vent + cap and a hose plug.
It looks like i have to remove the old vent plug and replace it with a new vent plug + cap.I need to cut the hose (that is connected to the original vent plug )and plug it.

and decrease the flywheel ignition module gap to 0.20 instead of 0.30

regds,
Jan
 
Last edited:
Just addition to the topic

I have read all of the comments on this thread and I have come to the conclusion that an opinion from Smitty’s Lawn & Garden is now in order. While the email conversation with the store manager has not been established as he intended, I will take the authority to speak on this and let all draw their own conclusions. While an online forum is not the ideal place for a private matter, I will indulge.
My name is Richard and I am the Service Manager for Smitty’s Lawn & Garden Equipment. I have over 25 year of experience in this business on all sides of this equation and hold the highest levels of service training from both Stihl and Husqvarna. I have worked in the field as an end user in climbing and rigging, I have worked for a manufacturer (Stihl) and I am now at the dealership level.
Being around for as long as I have in the biz, I have run across my share of customers that fell that there is not much value to what a dealership can provide, unless it is warranty service and usually not even then. Smitty’s has been in business for 40 years and we send our technicians to every available training class available from the manufacturers each year to stay up to date with the latest technologies and tools. For this we spend a great deal of money investing in these resources which we pass onto our customers in the form of charging for our time which we make no apologies for, that is just business.
The individual who started this thread for discussion, Clint M., doesn’t feel that he was treated fairly by our service department. Instead of bringing it to the attention of Smitty’s management to attempt to address his issues he sends us an email referring to the damage he is doing to our name on this forum attaching a link. His email reads as follows.................................................
‘Getting some good feedback on how much ya''ll swindle the local folks on the arborist forum, Here is the thread for you to review...crying shame, ...the web is great for so many things, this is one of them.’
I am going to stop short of calling this juvenile, but there are certainly more constructive things that could have been done to help him with his, yes, problem.
We do charge a fee to diagnose a customer unit and we do collect it at time of drop off. A few too many people have burned us on this in the past, so in all fairness we collect it on every ticket checked in, no exceptions. If there is a warrantable issue with the machine, the customer will get the diagnosis fee back and the manufacturer foots the bill, very simple. In Clint’s case, what we charged for was in no way a reflection of the time spent on his Husqvarna saw. We had his unit in our shop for 5 days trying to duplicate the complaint. We checked the unit with the Auto-Tune Diagnostic tool (computer program), crankcase leakdown and pressure test, carb pressure and vacuum tests and found all readings within spec. Testing the saw repeatedly we were unable to duplicate the problem. When this occurs, we contact Husqvarna to see if they have seen or heard of this issue and if they have had any updates. While all machines get updates during the product life cycle, there was nothing pertaining to this specific issue.
I was off the day that he was in to pick up the unit and according to my service writer the response was ‘OK, if you can’t find anything’ and he took his saw and left. If there was an issue with the way he was treated or that he felt he was shortchanged on what he got for his diagnosis fee, why wouldn’t you speak up and ask questions? All we received instead was an email with his intent to discredit our services by suggesting we are charging for doing nothing.
Smitty’s Lawn & Garden is not going to be bullied by any individual that feels that he was wrongfully charged for our time. While we all know you cannot fix something that you cannot duplicate this issue, this goes beyond that. This is why we stand behind our services with a 90 day warranty on all work performed.
Mr Clint is more then welcome to take his unit to another dealer and get a second opinion on his matter of service issue. There are a few in the Olathe Kansas area close to him.
Industral Sales Company Inc, In Olathe Logan Contractor Supply, In Olathe Sisson Sharpening in Belton.
I want to thank all of you for your for your time and good Luck to Clint.
Richard
 
Dealership post is Interesting, and a testament to the power of the internet these days - whether the dealer deserved it or not, well..

After the wind took down/split a 30 inch pine taking down several other smaller trees + other stuff in yard, I needed to get my saws out, it was about 30 degrees or so..

I started my 550xp up after over 1 month of no use, popped on 3rd pull full choke, then 1 pull on half choke, died, then one more pull was good to go, it hesitated a little and required slow throttle to prevent stall, I have a few posts about this cold start issue - some said it was normal, and so on, my thought it was a little worse than normal, but not that big of a deal considering the fine overall performance of the saw so far..

The cold starting has been improving with the 550xp (as others have noted) - always fires on 3rd pull from dead cold, just needs to be feathered a bit still, and I think part of my problems have been with the chain binding up a bit, not sure what the issue was there, (I am not use to the outboard clutch, and my bar sprocket binded up a few times and needed to be cleaned) but after taking off clutch cover loosening chain a bit, and cleaning 2x it seems to be smooth now. When warm this thing takes like a 1/4 pull with your pinky with no choke and it fires right up.

It took about 8 pulls or so for my MS362, which from my experience is pretty normal for any saw in cold weather after a long time with no use, but the final conclusion is that the 550xp fired up cold better than about any other saw I ever had, it just is a little wonky after starting a bit as it finds itself again - but only for about 30 secs or so. YMMV!!
 
Guys just need to get used to the new controls on these saws.

By far most starting issues are operator error.

Runnin em hard right out of the shoot seems to help too.
 
I have read all of the comments on this thread and I have come to the conclusion that an opinion from Smitty’s Lawn & Garden is now in order. While the email conversation with the store manager has not been established as he intended, I will take the authority to speak on this and let all draw their own conclusions. While an online forum is not the ideal place for a private matter, I will indulge.
My name is Richard and I am the Service Manager for Smitty’s Lawn & Garden Equipment. I have over 25 year of experience in this business on all sides of this equation and hold the highest levels of service training from both Stihl and Husqvarna. I have worked in the field as an end user in climbing and rigging, I have worked for a manufacturer (Stihl) and I am now at the dealership level.
Being around for as long as I have in the biz, I have run across my share of customers that fell that there is not much value to what a dealership can provide, unless it is warranty service and usually not even then. Smitty’s has been in business for 40 years and we send our technicians to every available training class available from the manufacturers each year to stay up to date with the latest technologies and tools. For this we spend a great deal of money investing in these resources which we pass onto our customers in the form of charging for our time which we make no apologies for, that is just business.
The individual who started this thread for discussion, Clint M., doesn’t feel that he was treated fairly by our service department. Instead of bringing it to the attention of Smitty’s management to attempt to address his issues he sends us an email referring to the damage he is doing to our name on this forum attaching a link. His email reads as follows.................................................
‘Getting some good feedback on how much ya''ll swindle the local folks on the arborist forum, Here is the thread for you to review...crying shame, ...the web is great for so many things, this is one of them.’
I am going to stop short of calling this juvenile, but there are certainly more constructive things that could have been done to help him with his, yes, problem.
We do charge a fee to diagnose a customer unit and we do collect it at time of drop off. A few too many people have burned us on this in the past, so in all fairness we collect it on every ticket checked in, no exceptions. If there is a warrantable issue with the machine, the customer will get the diagnosis fee back and the manufacturer foots the bill, very simple. In Clint’s case, what we charged for was in no way a reflection of the time spent on his Husqvarna saw. We had his unit in our shop for 5 days trying to duplicate the complaint. We checked the unit with the Auto-Tune Diagnostic tool (computer program), crankcase leakdown and pressure test, carb pressure and vacuum tests and found all readings within spec. Testing the saw repeatedly we were unable to duplicate the problem. When this occurs, we contact Husqvarna to see if they have seen or heard of this issue and if they have had any updates. While all machines get updates during the product life cycle, there was nothing pertaining to this specific issue.
I was off the day that he was in to pick up the unit and according to my service writer the response was ‘OK, if you can’t find anything’ and he took his saw and left. If there was an issue with the way he was treated or that he felt he was shortchanged on what he got for his diagnosis fee, why wouldn’t you speak up and ask questions? All we received instead was an email with his intent to discredit our services by suggesting we are charging for doing nothing.
Smitty’s Lawn & Garden is not going to be bullied by any individual that feels that he was wrongfully charged for our time. While we all know you cannot fix something that you cannot duplicate this issue, this goes beyond that. This is why we stand behind our services with a 90 day warranty on all work performed.
Mr Clint is more then welcome to take his unit to another dealer and get a second opinion on his matter of service issue. There are a few in the Olathe Kansas area close to him.
Industral Sales Company Inc, In Olathe Logan Contractor Supply, In Olathe Sisson Sharpening in Belton.
I want to thank all of you for your for your time and good Luck to Clint.
Richard


This warrants a response. Unfortunately I never followed up with the dealer regarding this issue. I have been sick since 1-10-2013. I have missed 9 days of work(I'm an apartment manager). My entire family has been sick 2 different viruses. My 4 children first started vomiting 1-4-2013. They contracted the "nohovirus", then flu, then nohovirus again, finally the flu again. My children have been to the doctor multiple times with no real positive effect. My wife was unaffected until last week when she got the flu. Her eardrum burst monday evening. I had to hire a cleaning service to deal with the housework. My mother has been bringing meals. I personally I have had an ongoing sinus infection/headache, and fever that doesn't seem go away completely. I had intended to prep the saw friday 1-22 and work it the next day but I got sick at work and went home early. I was sick both dropping off and picking up the saw.

Richard I never sent any emails to you. I don't know who did. My intention was check the saw and contact you with my findings. I started the saw last night in 15f (saw was in the garage though)weather and it was pretty normal for the first minute or so. It seemed to run better initially. After running a bit it started hesitating coming off idle. I removed the intake for cleaning as it had very fine coating of dust inside (I mentioned this to the service writer) and cleaned the air filter. I adjusted the previously mentioned mixture screw 1/8 turn out. It seemed to run slightly better but I would call the results inconclusive. It doesn't run as well as my 345 when cold or warming up. At this point I intend to adjust the mixture screw once more and or live with it. As for Smitty's, unfortunately I mistook the service writer for the saw tech. Which is why I felt like I wasn't getting good info especially regarding a different air filter. When I read the ticket it sounded as if the work performed took all of 15 minutes, perhaps I came to an erroneous conclusion. With that said I feel the tone of Richards response contained strong professionalism. I feel humbled by his response. Reasons aside, I could have gone to him sooner. I apologize for not contacting him or Smitty's directly.
 
This warrants a response. Unfortunately I never followed up with the dealer regarding this issue. I have been sick since 1-10-2013. I have missed 9 days of work(I'm an apartment manager). My entire family has been sick 2 different viruses. My 4 children first started vomiting 1-4-2013. They contracted the "nohovirus", then flu, then nohovirus again, finally the flu again. My children have been to the doctor multiple times with no real positive effect. My wife was unaffected until last week when she got the flu. Her eardrum burst monday evening. I had to hire a cleaning service to deal with the housework. My mother has been bringing meals. I personally I have had an ongoing sinus infection/headache, and fever that doesn't seem go away completely. I had intended to prep the saw friday 1-22 and work it the next day but I got sick at work and went home early. I was sick both dropping off and picking up the saw.

Richard I never sent any emails to you. I don't know who did. My intention was check the saw and contact you with my findings. I started the saw last night in 15f (saw was in the garage though)weather and it was pretty normal for the first minute or so. It seemed to run better initially. After running a bit it started hesitating coming off idle. I removed the intake for cleaning as it had very fine coating of dust inside (I mentioned this to the service writer) and cleaned the air filter. I adjusted the previously mentioned mixture screw 1/8 turn out. It seemed to run slightly better but I would call the results inconclusive. It doesn't run as well as my 345 when cold or warming up. At this point I intend to adjust the mixture screw once more and or live with it. As for Smitty's, unfortunately I mistook the service writer for the saw tech. Which is why I felt like I wasn't getting good info especially regarding a different air filter. When I read the ticket it sounded as if the work performed took all of 15 minutes, perhaps I came to an erroneous conclusion. With that said I feel the tone of Richards response contained strong professionalism. I feel humbled by his response. Reasons aside, I could have gone to him sooner. I apologize for not contacting him or Smitty's directly.


Number one, the screw that you were informed and people think is a fuel mix screw... isn't. This thread prompted me to contact Husqvarna and with a few (alot) of phone calls and emails back and forth with the Autotune techs the screw is nothing more then a passage to clean the carb and nothing more than that. The screw should stay fully seated. And with all that said Husqvarna has now told me that they will plug that with a tamper proof plug. If you have anyother concerns just stop in the Store and ask for me.
 
Agreed. Screwdriver = 2 minute twist of the hand. Warranty = leave it at the dealer for 2-3 days because they're busy. I believe in warranty work when you blow an automatic trans. But I replace my own wiper blades. Sorry.

last time i took a saw to the dealer it was there for 5 months. i spent many hours on the phone talking to husqvarna and called the dealer several times. i no longer use that dealer. mostly i fix all of my own stuff but that saw was an off the shelf brand new no start. it was my first warranty work on a saw, i was not impressed.
 
last time i took a saw to the dealer it was there for 5 months. i spent many hours on the phone talking to husqvarna and called the dealer several times. i no longer use that dealer. mostly i fix all of my own stuff but that saw was an off the shelf brand new no start. it was my first warranty work on a saw, i was not impressed.

5 months!!! Dang! I imagine warranties are sort of a state by state deal(minimum), but me, I know I would have at least dropped the 25 bucks to haul them into small claims court before 5 months was up.

Did they eventually fix the saw, replace it with a real runner, or refund all your money? I mean really, no start, they should have handed you another one right then and there.
 
Number one, the screw that you were informed and people think is a fuel mix screw... isn't. This thread prompted me to contact Husqvarna and with a few (alot) of phone calls and emails back and forth with the Autotune techs the screw is nothing more then a passage to clean the carb and nothing more than that. The screw should stay fully seated. And with all that said Husqvarna has now told me that they will plug that with a tamper proof plug. If you have anyother concerns just stop in the Store and ask for me.

I really wish that I had a 550 here right now. That is most definately a needle, not a plug. And, it most definately affects the tune of the saw. If you seat it, you'll have a non-functioning saw. I suspect that they told you what they had to since they don't want it messed with.
 
I really wish that I had a 550 here right now. That is most definately a needle, not a plug. And, it most definately affects the tune of the saw. If you seat it, you'll have a non-functioning saw. I suspect that they told you what they had to since they don't want it messed with.

:popcorn:

The plot thickens
 
Last edited:
Back
Top