Chainsaw Oil Replace after 30 days??

[Davy]

I have recently bought an AL-KO electric chainsaw for occasional garden use. The instructions state that if the saw is not used for 30 days then the chain oil should be drained out of the tank and replaced with motor oil and the saw run until the motor oil replaces the chain oil in all the channels. There is a warning that failure to do this will cause failure of the oil pump. It does not say whether I can resuse the drained chain oil.

Because I don't always believe these warnings, I failed to drain the oil after 40 days of non use and the next time I used the chainsaw the oil pump was inoperative and leaking.

Fortunately the pump was replaced under warrentee.

But is it usual to have to drain the oil if not used for

30 days? What if I use the saw for a minute or two and don't use all the old oil in the reservoir - does the reservoir still then need to be drained?

If I had known of this time-consumming requirement I probably would not have bought a chainsaw for occasional use.

DAvy

[ransley]

I never heard of 30 day crap like that

[Andy Dingley]

And you wonder why genuine warranty claims are becoming so awkward, when they're having to pay out like this after gross operator error?

8-(

No, because a half-decent pump will cope.

The reason is that most chainsaw oil is biodegradable. This is for fluffy anti-pollution reasons, but it's also a good thing because you'll be breathing in a fair bit of it as an aerosol (try using an oil with castor oil in it, and then you'll find out what bears do in the woods!). The trouble is that biodegradable oils with current tech are hygroscopic and don't store well in corrodable metallic pumps, which seems to be what has killed yours. Better pump materials (more expensive to make) aren't affected by the oil, but even then it's good practice to flush it at the end of a season. Old biodegradable oil gets a bit treacly after a few months - it might just be that it's too sticky for a feeble pump to cope with.

[Michael Chare]

From the manual of my Stihl petrol chain saw:

"Biological chain oil must be resistant to aging (e.g. Stihl Bioplus) since it will otherwise quickly turn to resin. This results in hard deposits that are difficult to remove, especially in the area of the chain drive, clutch and chain. It may even cause the oil pump to seize"

Frankly it is not an issue that I have paid much attention to! Maybe I should.

A chain saw is something that I might use once or twice a year.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Michael Chare" saying something like:

Luckily, I still have a few litres of the old nasty stuff left.

[andrew]

Not to mention the mould that grows on any that's exposed, including the bar. In one instace I had mice chew through the cap and a bit of plastic casing to get to it!

It's a good reminder to me to replace with mineral oil because I'm not using mine atm.

AJH

[Tim Lamb]

I still have that big, dead Oak to take down:-)

A structural engineer is currently working on the design of an internal supporting frame for the timber barn and I have ambitions to mill the Oak for wall plates etc.

If it turns out to be unsuitable, the log burner is installed and using a basket of logs each evening:-)

regards

[Davy]

Davy wrote in news:Xns9BD76D0116B24meremoveallthistextc@

216.196.109.145:

30

tank

failed to

time I

for

and

occasional

I've heard that chain oil is recommended cos it is sticky and wont fly off the blade as easily as motor oil. But if I am using the chainsaw only about 4 times a year then oil consumption is not an issue. So what if I keep the chainsaw filled with (maybe used) motor oil? Then I wont have a problem with the oil becoming treacly. Thoughts? DAvy

[andrew]

Why didn't you ask when I had plenty of free time ;-)

I thought I reserved the ip on that :-)

and this is summertime! Think of the hard work in winter .

AJH

[Tim Lamb]

Nice to know you are working. Nothing much is going to happen while I sort out planning on a change of use.

We can call it the Heggie holder if you like?

I've got a screw splitter so the tractor does the work. Stacking logs is tedious though.

regards