General Product Question
1. When I push the oil cap to oil the bar and chain, the oil goes into the saw and not into the bar and chain. What should I check?
2. Oil seeps out of the oil tank when the saw is stored. It does not have a gasket. Is it possible that this will be fixed by adding a gasket inside the oil tank cap?
3. When cutting horizontally with the saw, oil leaks out of the oil tank cap. Is this another issue to be solved with an oil cap gasket?
4. I do not have a manual to use as a reference. How do I get one?
These issues (except #4) were originally listed in the Poulan Pro section on Mar 24, updated on Mar 28, and I removed the listing on Mar 30 to re-list in the Poulan section where it belongs. In those 6 days with the help of some rain days I have been able to work out the answers to issues 2,3, and 4.
Possible Answers: to issues 2,3,4.
2. Possible Answer: In the Poulan Pro section of this website, the question by Charles Dudley, “My PLN1514 is leaking chainbar oil everywhere, all of the ...“. Answer provided on Mar 25, by Scott W. In his answer where he writes “...As long as the cap is sealed and there are no air leaks to the tank the oil will only release a couple of drops then a vacuum would be created and no ail would dispense....” It appears the the answer to my question is to add the gasket to the oil cap sense it is missing one, then I should get my proper oil seal.
3. Answer: Order and install the gasket from the; Kit Oil Cap, Part number: 574404101.
4. Answer: Found the manual and parts list on the web:
Operator Manual: /pdf/order_static/doc/NOUS/NOUS2008/NOUS2008-PLN1514-9096210916-2.pdf
Parts List: /pdf/order_static/doc/NIUS/NIUS2010/NIUS2010_952802357.pdf
Details of the number one issue.
Actions: Removed and cleaned the chain and bar, (including the bar grove, and oil ports).
Observations:
a. The oil tank does not have any cracks or holes.
b. The anti-spillage pad looks good, no cracks or tears.
c. The front of the oil tank with the oil exit nipple is not flush against the back of the anti-spillage pad, and the bar adjusting plate. There is free play there.
d. The front of the oil tank has free play both forward and back, and side to side.
e. The oil tank nipple is not centered inside the hole in the bar adjusting plate. Easily identified in picture shown below.
f. When pushing the oil tank cap to oil the bar, the oil tank moves forward and pushes the nipple against the front of the anti-spillage pad changing the pad shape from circular to oval and creating a gap on the left side between the anti-spillage pad and the bar adjusting plate hole. Looks like it creates an opportunity for oil to be routed into the saw case between the back of the bar adjusting plate, and the anti-spillage pad.
Additional observations Dated 03-31-2011.
g. When the oil tank is pulled slightly to the back of the saw, the oil tank nipple can be centered in the middle of the hole in the anti-spillage pad and bar adjusting plate.
h. When the oil tank nipple is centered in the middle of the hole of the anti-spillage pad and bar adjusting plate two things are immediately noticeable; 1) the oval distortion of the anti-spillage pad ends and it returns to a circular shape, 2) there is a sizable gap in front of the oil tank and a rib on the case that appears to be there to stop the oil tank from moving forward, and to hold the tank in the correct position.
Steps forward: Because of the absence of any input by “Answer Army” from the time these issues/questions were originally raised in the Poulan Pro section on Mar 24, and the saw needs to be fixed to use it, I'll take a stab at answering the remaining final question/issue.
Issue #1 Initial Solution Options:
There are three apparent options to fix the problem of the saw not oiling the bar/chain, and instead the oil is going into the saw.
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Take it to my nearest authorized Poulan repair facility. (good option)
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Purchase, and replace the oil tank, and anti-spillage pad. (good option)
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Cut and bend a metal shim to fill the slack space on the left, and front of the oil tank to hold the oil tank where it appears it should be. The intended results are aligning the nipple with the hole in the pad/plate, holding the oil tank flush against the pad/plate, and a long term solution.
Decision and why: Option “3)” It appears to be a straight forward task that might have a good chance of being a longer term solution. The estimated total cost of this option is one can (soup/vegetable/Pepsi/) to use for metal shim fabrication. Estimated additional wait time=zero.
Disadvantages of options “1), 2)”: I can not find my original receipt to prove it is still under warranty so the dealer should charge me labor, plus parts. They will most likely replace the tank and anti-spillage pad and the same problem has a good chance to fail again in about the same time-frame of use. If I purchase and replace the oil tank and anti-spillage pad myself, I pay for the parts, wait for them to arrive, and then they still have a good chance to fail again in about the same time-frame of use.
Best Answer
Answer
Answers to The Four Questions:
1. a. Take it to your nearest authorized Poulan repair facility. I did not do this.
b. Purchase, and replace the oil tank, and anti-spillage pad. I did not do this.
c. Shim the tank firmly in place so the oil tank nipple lies centered in the anti-spillage pad, and bar adjusting plate hole and is restricted to make it stay there.
Cut a Pepsi can with tin snips & make these shims. Yours may vary.
-One “L” shim that went along the left side and front of the oil tank
-One “L” shim that went along the left side and bottom of the oil tank
-One additional shim along the bottom of the oil tank
-Four additional shims on the front of the oil tank, and three of them with a 90 degree lip at the top to provide forward rigidity.
-The shim closest to the tank along the front was created with a 90 degree angle and then a curlycue coming in contact with the top and front of the saw case to act as a spring to restrict the front shims and keep them from riding up and out of place.
Yes it is working perfectly, took 27 minutes (not counting time to drink the Pepsi)
2. a. Buy a new; Kit Oil Cap with gasket, Part number: 574404101. I did not do this.
b. Cut a oil tank cap gasket from oil resistant gasket material. Yes it is working perfectly
3. Same solution as answer #2. Yes it is working perfectly
4. Download from the Poulan.com website. Easy to do, and they are very good.
Poulan Shims.JPG (33KB)Average Rating:
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- posted April 5, 2011 by Scott W.
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Thank you for contacting Answer ARMY.
You can find your local Poulan dealers for sales and service as well as manuals and a place to order parts using the link provided http://www.poulan.com choose the appropriate link at the bottom of the page.
Service Locator (Canadian customers use postal code no spacing)
Contact Us
Download Manuals
Order Parts (This is a third party company not Poulan) or can contact local dealer.Your local dealer is your best and fastest source of information.
It is not recommended that any modifications be made to any piece of equipment.
The best solution for this is to take the unit to a local servicing center to have the unit inspected.
The oil tank used on this machine is called an open bladder, meaning it has no check valve just an open hole leading to the bar pad. The oil fill cap must be sealed to prevent oil from leaking through the tank. If the cap allows air into the tank the oil will be allowed to drain through. It is normal to lose a few drops of oil from the tank till a vacuum is formed in the tank.
To oil this unit the operator pushes on the oil cap this squeezes the tank to push oil out once the cap is released air is drwan back in to displace the oil that was expelled.
Hi Scot W. Thank you for the answers you provided on 5 April, to the questions originally submitted on 24 March on the Poulan Pro section and resubmitted on the Poulan section on 30 March.
Just a little feedback. 1. When I opted to use AnswerArmy I did so because my saw was not working. I needed a quick solution to get it back to work, and what I read on the AnswerArmy website; “Questions that aren't correctly answered by other customers will be answered by AnswerArmy within 24 hours.” Sounded good, so I gave AnswerArmy a try. While waiting for an answer I had to do more than just wait. I needed that saw. I continued to work on my saw problems and share additional detail and observations with AnswerArmy as I discovered them. I found and listed answers to my questions on the AnswerArmy site to all of the questions other than the #1 question which I was having more trouble solving. For 10 days I received nothing from AnswerArmy. In the absence of a Poulan recommended solution, I tried and tested several solutions to the #1 problem. The solution/answer that worked and will clearly improve the reliability of the saw, I shared on the AnswerArmy site. I understand that you can not endorse my solution across the board. But it's funny that posting my own modifications is what it took to finally get an answer from AnswerArmy after more than 240 hours of one way communication. Recommend You remove the little comment that AnswerArmy will answer you questions correctly in 24 hours from the AnswerArmy pages. It incorrectly sets the customers expectations, which eventually leads to frustrating customers. 2. The Poulan support locator you recommended provided me with a Jones Small Engine repair shop 9.8, miles and 18 minutes away. I took my shims out of the saw and promptly took it to the shop. I went there, waited in line to be politely told they don't work on electric saws and the lady even went to her computer station and tried to order me some parts, and she could not. I then drove back home, less the $6.00 in gas. Now, I have put the shims back in the saw sense they work and the Poulan service locator recommended shop doesn't work on my saw. And no, I'm not going to keep beating my head against the wall to get the saw fixed by another Poulan shop. Recommend someone update the service locator.
The PLN1514 is a great cutting little electric saw. But, it does have one significant flaw.
Safety Risk! Prolonged use of the PLN1514 exposes the saw blade and chain to an increased risk for damage/failure, and the operator to an increased risk for personal injury. With extended use, the design of the PLN1514 will lead to a bar and chain oil failure as the oil tank/bladder and anti-spillage pad gradually become more distorted with use. Eventually a point is reached where dispensed oil does not go onto the bar, but instead the dispensed oil goes into the saw case. Damage and injury can occur even though the operator is correctly following all documented operating and safety precautions in the operators manual and may have a full oil tank/bladder, and a properly adjusted chain when they start a cut. Recommend: appropriate divisions within Poulan work together on this problem immediately to notify all purchasers of the risk, and to return the saw to their nearest dealer for repair/retrofit of corrective action. Additionally, all PLN1514 saws “in the pipe, production, warehouses, and stores” should be retrofitted. This is not a replace the oil tank and anti-spillage pad option only. New tanks and pads will in-turn fail, thereby exposing an operator to harm without fixing the causing problem. The failure of the tank and pad are symptoms of the actual problem. The front of the oil tank/bladder is not sufficiently restrained in place by the current design to resist deforming in the presence of constant pumping of the tank/bladder cap. Need to implement an improvement to the saw that sufficiently restrains the front of the oil tank to prevent it from becoming distorted. Two options that can accomplish this are redesigning the saw case or the design of an add on shim. Once these corrections to the tank/bladder restraint are met, used tanks and pads may need to be replaced based on the extent a used tank and pad may not conform to original specifications.
PLN1514 Oil Tank Gap.JPG (28KB)Average Rating:
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- posted April 5, 2011 by Scott W.
Thank you for contacting Answer ARMY.
You can find your local Poulan dealers for sales and service as well as manuals and a place to order parts using the link provided http://www.poulan.com choose the appropriate link at the bottom of the page.
Service Locator (Canadian customers use postal code no spacing)
Contact Us
Download Manuals
Order Parts (This is a third party company not Poulan) or can contact local dealer.
Your local dealer is your best and fastest source of information.
It is not recommended that any modifications be made to any piece of equipment.
The best solution for this is to take the unit to a local servicing center to have the unit inspected.
The oil tank used on this machine is called an open bladder, meaning it has no check valve just an open hole leading to the bar pad. The oil fill cap must be sealed to prevent oil from leaking through the tank. If the cap allows air into the tank the oil will be allowed to drain through. It is normal to lose a few drops of oil from the tank till a vacuum is formed in the tank.
To oil this unit the operator pushes on the oil cap this squeezes the tank to push oil out once the cap is released air is drwan back in to displace the oil that was expelled.