Chainsaws

A saw of that caliber deserves high octane fuel, and fuels that contain ethanol can rate as high as "105" at the pump.

any fuel containing ethanol immediately begins to draw moisture out of the atmosphere accumulating water inexplicably.

When mixing fuel I first only buy straight fuel (NO Ethanol), 91 min. octane, then mix very small batches. 20oz-1/2oz for a 40/1 mixture, and 25oz-1/2oz for a 50/1 mix. the yellow cap from a can of liquid wrench is exactly 1/2oz volume so I use it to measure in my oil. for the volume of fuel I use an old prego jar, then after mixing I funnel into an old jack daniels bottle because the neck allows you to fill up saws without ever spilling a drop.

This posture I take only mixing what I use has worked for me for quite a while.

Now onto an issue that worked me over really good a few weeks ago. I am an expert mechanic and have always prided myself on being able to diagnose and identify an exact cause for a "No Start". I put my saws up dry, emptying the tank then starting up and running till starvation kill. so a gum issue is very abnormal.  so after addressing the carb, I pull the plug and spark test.  spark is good, saw should run.  compression ok, start!

that didn't work 3 weeks ago. very frustrating. pulled the carb and cleaned it, reassembled, used starting fluid, no start! arrrghh! whats happening?

finally after hours of pissin me off. I pulled the starter cover and discovered the arbor spindle that goes thru the spring cassette and starter wheel had sheared off of the inside of the starter cover.

this caused the starter wheel to sloppily engage the spring loaded dogs intermittently and rounded over the sharp edges of the nylon starter wheels dogs. after installing the new recoil assembly,  an instant fire on the very first 3-6" pull on the old ripcord.

so the moral to the story is remember to check everything on your saw!  fuel supply/carb jets, spark/compression, starter engagement, exaust security.  just everything.

all things being equal, this is my best advice to myself from here onward.

I wish you luck and encourage you to use a measuring cup to test the volume of whatever containers you decide to use in mixing fuel. if you test a very small container, prove its volume by pouring 4 full caps into a measure cup. if it is exactly 1/2oz, then 4 of them will make exactly 2 oz..

obviously I used water when doing my volume tests.

good luck identifying the problem...