My Projects.

[John]

When my old Stihl 032 chain saw quit in 2002, had to invest in a new saw as the ignition module for the 032 was no longer available... Shame, it was a damned good saw.
Anyhoosley, the new Stihl MS 310 didn't last long, stupid thing seized up, warranty covered it, problem was it didn't last long again, after a lot of arguing Stihl repaired it again....Yeah, damned thing failed again with the same problem, so it got buried under the bench.
New saw was a Husqvarna Rancher 55, done a lot of service with few problems, apart from it's a high compression engine, and the starter rope is hard to pull!!!

Well decided I'd have a go at getting the old MS310 out after seeing I could get a short block engine at a good price.
Seems the problems I had with this saw were caused by the 10% alcohol in standard fuel.

Well after stripping the saw, cleaning all the parts, rebuilding the carby and soaking it to clean the jets, I now have a working second saw... I now use ONLY premium high octane alcohol free fuel.

Next project is to rebuild the old 032 with an older style contact and condenser ignition unit...I tried world wide to get the original Bosch solid state ignition unit to no avail..

I also have a couple of line feed cutters, I think you lot call them "strimmers" One is a Stihl and the other an Echo, both two stroke and both have problems I attribute to crap fuel...

AND they call this retirement....

[colly0410]

Is non ethanol petrol (gas) readily available in USA? if so is it a lot more expensive than the blended stuff? I've read somewhere that some engines (two strokes??) don't like the blended stuff. My Mate says he works harder now he's retired than when he worked.

[John]

Jan 27, 2013 14:08:38 GMT -5 colly0410 said:

Is non ethanol petrol (gas) readily available in USA? if so is it a lot more expensive than the blended stuff? I've read somewhere that some engines (two strokes??) don't like the blended stuff. My Mate says he works harder now he's retired than when he worked.

The two lower grades of gasoline, (petrol) have 10% ethanol added to them by law, and now there's a 15% mix, car makers are up in arms as it will destroy engines and engine components!!

The premium none ethanol fuel is about 5 cents a gallon dearer.

Two stroke engines are damaged by ethanol, if left for a short time in fuel tanks, it absorbs moisture out of the air, reacts with it and forms acids and varnish, causes the engine to work too hot and in a lot of instances causes piston "meltdown". That's what happened in my Stihl MS 310 chainsaw.

Ethanol also causes rubber and plastic hoses to break down, rubber goes "gooey" and plastic hoses go hard and crack.

I'll take a photo of the piston from this saw tomorrow and post it here.

Another problem with ethanol mixes of gasoline in road engines is, you don't get the same MPG as ethanol free gasoline..

[John]

You can clearly see this piston has overheated and the score marks from a partial "meltdown".. This is the piston/crankshaft assembly out of the Stihl MS310 engine.

[John]

And another view of the heat damaged piston.

[colly0410]

Your posts got me worried John. I've been reading through my handbook. (Hyundai i10 automatic) It says it's OK to use up to 10% ethanol fuel but no higher, it also mentions the performance & corrosion problems of higher percentages you mention. One to watch me thinks..

[John]

I knew the 10% alcohol fuels were crap, they go stale real quickly, more so in summer.
I just decided to start reading up on what others used in their two stroke small engines, holy smoke!!! Those that use chainsaws for a living, ie loggers, NEVER use anything but the high octane alcohol free fuels. Most change their saws out after two years service.
I also went into the chainsaw section of a large forum I'm a member of, mostly big farmers down to smallholders from all over the world...They are adamant on using high octane fuels alcohol free...

This what Stihl have to say about ethanol fuels.

www.stihlusa.com/information/articles/gasoline-guidelines-outdoor-power-equipment/

And here's an article about the E15, the 15% ethanol fuels.

www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/09/23/ten-reasons-to-care-that-e15-ethanol-is-on-the-way-to-your-gas-station/

[colly0410]

I usually use Tesco 95 RON petrol, it doesn't say anything on the pump about ethanol so I presume it's pure petrol, unless they sneak ethanol in & don't tell us, I wouldn't put that past them.

[John]

I don't think you'll have any trouble with 95 octane.

[dazbt]

Tesco 95 RON petrol had 5% ethanol content, the maximum allowed by UK regulators, but that was prior to this year when I've been told that the ethanol content maximum allowed will be increased to 10%. I've no idea what the actual levels are now, but I'll bet that if it saves supermarkets money they'll be pretty close to the legal max.
I use Tesco as well by the way ....... but for diesel.

[John]

I like diesel, less components in the engine, a lot easier to maintain, I have a Yanmar tractor, they make some of the big marine diesel engines and are renowned for their engines.. Next vehicle the wife gets will be diesel, that I'm sure of!!

But so far, nobody has made a diesel chain saw... Mind, there is a motor bike with something like 22 chainsaw engines powering it, video is on Youtube, it's a huge beast.

[dazbt]

There's a Royal Enfield 350 Bullet diesel motorbike, made in India and been around for many years now.

[John]

Jan 29, 2013 8:47:30 GMT -5 dazbt said:

There's a Royal Enfield 350 Bullet diesel motorbike, made in India and been around for many years now.

Here's the chainsaw powered bike... ;D