Carb Kit or Chinese carb?

[Paddy1000111]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

I think the OEM Zama carb in made in China anyway .

Isn't everything now 😂 I think it will be interesting seeing what happens in the future with manufacturing. Only thing that makes cheap Chinese stuff rubbish is cheap labour, cheap materials, cheap equipment and low QC binning. If you take the equipment, materials, QC and quality of labour from somewhere like Japan or Germany and put it in China there would be no difference. 

A lot of big companies will be outsourcing to China and with material being standardized and all the work being done by CNC it doesn't really matter who presses the go button. It just comes down to the QC at the end of the day! 

I think when people say about losing jobs to machines, I bet they don't think that the people who run those machines can be anywhere and the quality of work will be the same. Yet another hit to UK manufacturing

[Stubby]

52 minutes ago, Paddy1000111 said:

Isn't everything now 😂 I think it will be interesting seeing what happens in the future with manufacturing. Only thing that makes cheap Chinese stuff rubbish is cheap labour, cheap materials, cheap equipment and low QC binning. If you take the equipment, materials, QC and quality of labour from somewhere like Japan or Germany and put it in China there would be no difference. 

A lot of big companies will be outsourcing to China and with material being standardized and all the work being done by CNC it doesn't really matter who presses the go button. It just comes down to the QC at the end of the day! 

I think when people say about losing jobs to machines, I bet they don't think that the people who run those machines can be anywhere and the quality of work will be the same. Yet another hit to UK manufacturing

If you ask the Chinese to make a chainsaw for £28 so that you can sell it for £58 they will oblige . If were to ask them to make one for £280 so you could sell it for £580 I feel sure they could do that as well .

Edited May 5, 2021 by Stubby

[Khriss]

My view is its 50 / 50 with chinese kit, got two cheap chinese saws still going well after several years. Fitted chinese replacement carb on 266, still ran well. Bit of a lottery. K

[Steven P]

Think you are right with the QC thing. A big name company will make stuff in China but have QC in place to ensure that their reputation for quality is kept. In this case the Zama carbs being made there. In the back of my mind though is that there is someone with a set of callipers taking measurements, running down the back streets to their mate with say, Zama carb measurements and saying "Make this".. dimensions the same but what they don't get is the materials spec. Same with a lot of their stuff I suspect... but in some industries they know all the specs and make reasonable stuff. I used to work with a company that imported Chinese stuff to a German spec, far cheaper and the quality was the same or better.. but they had the full spec.

 

The Japanese used to be the same - example here being their car industry, 1980s Nissan anyone? But their cashcow sorry, Cashqai is everywhere, Echo chainsaw anyone? (to keep it relevant). China will do the same, catch up and overtake us soon.

 

Where we get lucky and get a thing to Western quality my other suspicion is that these are made in the same factories, so a quality Chinese saw might have the same metal in their castings as a Stihl and same QC - different shape but made in the same factory over the weekend with the same metals.

 

(boringly back to my question, I have no idea if they are making carbs to just the same dimensions or if they are to the same full spec as the originals you see.. might be some parts are and some parts arn't at the moment)

[Paddy1000111]

On 06/05/2021 at 11:06, Steven P said:

(boringly back to my question, I have no idea if they are making carbs to just the same dimensions or if they are to the same full spec as the originals you see.. might be some parts are and some parts arn't at the moment)

From what I have seen in the carbs they are mostly the same measurements etc. It's more the finish quality. Zama may drill a hole and then ream it for accuracy, cheapo carbs will just be drilled. Zama will have someone going through each cast body and face everything properly and grind any imperfections off, cheap carbs will be slung together and the seals will do the job. The springs are cheaper/thinner/weaker on the inlet needle. The tip of the inlet needle will be made of inferior rubber/inferior coatings. Any chrome plating will be done cheaper/faster so it won't last as long meaning little flakes might break off the inlet needle and get stuck in there. The rubber on the diaphragm will be cheaper and won't last as long. The bores for things like butterfly valves and stuff won't be machined as nicely so the butterfly can get stuck in position (happened to me) or they won't close fully. The bores of the L/H jets and the finish on the needles won't be machined as nicely or as accurately so adjustment gets a bit janky as the tips of the needle may not be true so it opens and closes leading to hard adjustment. 

 

There's lots of differences but they are the same size/shape. Everything is done quicker and cheaper meaning lower quality, less longevity and harder adjustment. There's a reason why carbs differentiate in price so much 

[devon TWiG]

I have a husky 357xp that will not run at the moment and after tackling basics , plug etc I have obtained a cheap carb to see if that will do the trick ...will fit and test tomorrow ...

[adw]

There was an earlier accelerator pump carb ( Walbro ) this was replaced by the Zama without accelerator pump, this made the 357 run so much better, it will be interesting  to see which carb turns up, there were a fair few changes over the years to improve running, the auto deco valve was replaced my a manual valve, the inlet boot Gained a metal clip to improve sealing, why are you changing the carb anyway? there are plenty of other reasons for incorrect running.

[spudulike]

I think we can be rest assured it will be neither the Zama or Walbro carb. The last Zama one I got cost a fair bit of wedge but a few years back, they were just over £40 from L&S.

The Zama doesn't flow as much fuel but it is very stable, the Walbro is impossible when the accelerator pump fails.

Not sure I like these cheap carbs, they seem to have a tiny part of the low speed adjustment on the L screw where the sweet spot is where an OEM one has 1/4 - 1/3rd of a turn at least. It can make for a very unstable saw on idle.

[Stere]

 

£100 for the proper  carb?

 

Carburetor C1M-S261E for Stihl BG86 Blowers - Genuine Part - 4241 120 0623 | L&S Engineers

WWW.LSENGINEERS.CO.UK

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Carburetor C1M-S261E Genuine Stihl Part OEM No. 4241 120 0623 (Replaces 4241 120 0616) Suitable for the Following...

 

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/have-any-issues-w-stihl-bg86-blower-adjustment-problems.247829/

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Stere

[devon TWiG]

fitted carb this morning and saw is running fine again !!   time will tell on quality of carb but issue sorted ....