Homelite 550 - 84cc

[TuscanPhil]

On 11/08/2020 at 13:17, topchippyles said:

...but why the hell you bought a 30+ year old saw beats me

I've had it 'carbon' dated and its manufacture date was 5th March 1979, so it's a 41 yr + aged saw!

 

Tried it out this morning on some wind felled Oak boughs roughly 12-15"dia - it's a bit of a beast!  Carries a lot more momentum / inertia in the chain/engine than my baby Husky so a lot more care is required, especially as there's no chain brake!  But as it's pretty much destined for milling, it's not too much of a worry.  Oh, and (torrential) rain stopped play else I'd still be out there.

[TuscanPhil]

New semi chisel lo pro chains arrived today, so I set about re-grinding one to 10 deg so I could mill with it, but I've encountered another issue - my fuel tank cap leaks when the saw is on its side.  I'm 99% sure it is the cork gasket so I need to source a new one (or a rubber one) as I've temporarily pinched something from another 2 stroke engine, which slows the leak to a small drip every so often.  Any ideas where I can get a 25mm ID 40mm OD (approx) cork (or fuel proof rubber) gasket?  I've had a quick look on ebay but nothing pops out at me that isn't a stupid price.  This is what I need (or something similar that will do) 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292535774410

 

[topchippyles]

7 minutes ago, TuscanPhil said:

New semi chisel lo pro chains arrived today, so I set about re-grinding one to 10 deg so I could mill with it, but I've encountered another issue - my fuel tank cap leaks when the saw is on its side.  I'm 99% sure it is the cork gasket so I need to source a new one (or a rubber one) as I've temporarily pinched something from another 2 stroke engine, which slows the leak to a small drip every so often.  Any ideas where I can get a 25mm ID 40mm OD (approx) cork (or fuel proof rubber) gasket?  I've had a quick look on ebay but nothing pops out at me that isn't a stupid price.  This is what I need (or something similar that will do) 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292535774410

 

Use a plastic bag cut down for now wrapped inside the fuel cap and sealed when you screw the cap on and should be fine for a short term fix.

[Rough Hewn]

That saw is going to be expensive to run. And by that I mean spare parts.
Start looking for something more modern.
[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[topchippyles]

4 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

That saw is going to be expensive to run. And by that I mean spare parts.
Start looking for something more modern.

41 year old saw so it should be on antiques roadshow ?

[Khriss]

2 hours ago, TuscanPhil said:

New semi chisel lo pro chains arrived today, so I set about re-grinding one to 10 deg so I could mill with it, but I've encountered another issue - my fuel tank cap leaks when the saw is on its side.  I'm 99% sure it is the cork gasket so I need to source a new one (or a rubber one) as I've temporarily pinched something from another 2 stroke engine, which slows the leak to a small drip every so often.  Any ideas where I can get a 25mm ID 40mm OD (approx) cork (or fuel proof rubber) gasket?  I've had a quick look on ebay but nothing pops out at me that isn't a stupid price.  This is what I need (or something similar that will do) 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292535774410

 

'o' ring not do ?  Or get a set of wad punches n suitable rubber sheet.  Big old filler hose shoud do. K

[Dan Maynard]

Maybe some silicone rubber sheet, or gasket paper at motor factors - cut your own?

[TuscanPhil]

4 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

That saw is going to be expensive to run. And by that I mean spare parts.
Start looking for something more modern.

If by expensive you mean 30p for a rubber or cork gasket, then yes, I'll happily throw it away and spend £500-£800 or more on a 'new;' saw - or I could just fix this one and when it breaks catastrophically, bin it then and get something else if I've still got any wood to use it on?  So far the saw has cost me (outside of the purchase price) a carb overhaul kit - £3.13, a carb  inlet boot (from America so 50% of cost was postage) - £19.79, a spark plug - £2.52, and 3 new chains (2 for the 30" bar, one for the 18" bar) - £38.30, so it hasn't exactly been expensive in spare parts (yet).

2 hours ago, Khriss said:

'o' ring not do ?  Or get a set of wad punches n suitable rubber sheet.  Big old filler hose should do. K

Tried an O ring, too sloppy, so I tried 2 O rings, one inside the other - still didn't work!

2 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

Maybe some silicone rubber sheet, or gasket paper at motor factors - cut your own?

It might come down to that - I have some old cycle tyre inner tubes that might be fuel tolerant.  It's just getting neat circles cut out that will be the tricky bit but I could try a scalpel blade in a compass.  Maybe somthing from the local plumbing supplies might fit...?

[Khriss]

It's getting it fuel proof mate, cycle rubber will just disolve,   neoprene is the thing. Old filler hose off petrol car. K

[TuscanPhil]

On 01/09/2020 at 13:18, Rough Hewn said:

That saw is going to be expensive to run. And by that I mean spare parts.

My A4 sheet of 1.5mm cork gasket material arrived (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254504193278 - all £3.25 of it) and I successfully cut out a fuel cap washer but sadly it didn't solve the issue - more 'fault finding' revealed that it is the duck bill check valve that has failed (in fact it was just a mushy mess) within the fuel cap, just behind the brass breather filter thingy, so I'm on the hunt for a replacement (or two as the oil cap also needs one).  Seems I need an Oregon product (an equivalent part) so I'm hunting for a (reasonably priced) Oregon 07-004 Duck Bill Valve.  Amazon have them for around £7.85 but I'm as sure as I can be that there is a cheaper source out there somewhere!  The Homelite number is UP06862.  Any parts spotters amongst you know of a cheap source?