Useless Stihl flippy cap leakes then broke

[oldwoodcutter]

My pole saws fuel cap is the very devil to put on,takes anyone filling it 3 or 4 goes before it seats properly,even when the o ring,cap, and heck are spotless.

My topping saws also would test the patience of a saint, few weeks ago 1 was sent up to a climber who promptly covered his trousers in chain oil,he threatened to come down and throttle the groundie who has refilled it,a reliable man who normally knows what he's doing.

[NFG]

We see hundreds of Stihl chainsaws a year and the only flip cap that causes problems is the oil cap on MS181 and family models. The problem appears to be when the flip lid is not fully tightened before pushing the lid down. The are 2 recess holes in the cap lid that the flip needs to seat into, if it doesn't, it leaks

 

Hi

 

OK point noted, this was the fuel cap, it leaked like a sieve. I try my very best to align these things correctly but they constantly require removing & re-fit despite having permanent marker alignment marks.

 

The breaking of it could have been because it was quite cold today but fairly poor IMO, it just snapped with the minimal torque needed to turn it prior to flipping.

 

But according to some posters, with their ever sensitive 'problem divining rods' it is of course entirely my fault!

 

Anyway, looking at a non flippy husky tomorrow

 

N

[NFG]

I've never had a problem with them TBH. The old style screw type had a limited life span because people pushed too hard with the screwdriver and eventually pierced the cap.

 

I've enough old saws in various states of disrepair to have a stock of this sort of stuff.

 

I understand your frustration though.

 

Hi

 

I understand your frustration though, Thanks very much I appreciate your thoughts, have a virtual glass of Pineau from my barrel! (last but one post P3)

 

Ive never used a screwdriver to loosen a screw thread type bung, I line the threads carefully & torque sufficiently to seal, you get a feel for how tight these things should go & I dare say they are half the price to replace as a flip cap should one fail.

 

N

[Daythe trees]

I have a mixed opinion of them and carry a spare in my tool bag in the truck. Had an early ms 241 and one of the things disintegrated on it's third only fill, that was the last straw for that Friday afternoon machine and back it went. On a pole saw of a guy I subbie to the oil cap is the devil to put in and pops out even when it feels and looks right. I have seen a few others break also not by my hand.

 

However every other one I have used has been a treat to use. On the broken ones they seem to break behind the shim, can't help thinking maybe some of the batches of shims are the wrong thickness and stop them working efficiently and/or stress the shaft of the cap.

[CJM]

Hi

 

I understand your frustration though, Thanks very much I appreciate your thoughts, have a virtual glass of Pineau from my barrel! (last but one post P3)

 

Ive never used a screwdriver to loosen a screw thread type bung, I line the threads carefully & torque sufficiently to seal, you get a feel for how tight these things should go & I dare say they are half the price to replace as a flip cap should one fail.

 

N

 

I have a feeling you've never tightend or loosened a 660 oil cap by hand

[Ian C]

I think the new husky one are the way forward, flippy top so no tools but screw in......why complicate things for the sake of it?

[skyhuck]

I have a feeling you've never tightend or loosened a 660 oil cap by hand

 

Absolutely!!!

[GardenKit]

I am an engineer, and I also consider them a bad design.

 

After all, who designs something that can only be used properly by only one person in the UK?

 

The young designer at Stihl who came up with design for his bung still defends his idea.

 

In a recent interview the young Hungarian engineer said "I have taken the inspiration for many of my designs from my grandfather, the well respected Erno Rubik"

[NFG]

I am an engineer, and I also consider them a bad design.

 

After all, who designs something that can only be used properly by only one person in the UK?

 

The young designer at Stihl who came up with design for his bung still defends his idea.

 

In a recent interview the young Hungarian engineer said "I have taken the inspiration for many of my designs from my grandfather, the well respected Erno Rubik"

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your opinion, appreciated

 

I can understand the inbuilt difficulty with this, if only they'd stuck to making toys!

 

Incidentally, I had a look on the Husqvarna version of the 'flippy cap' today & I must say, the design & functionality of them is vastly superior to those on the Stihl.

 

 

N

Edited February 3, 2015 by NFG

[spudulike]

It is typical of German engineering to take a basic design and make it too complicated where it will fail for a multitude of reasons.

 

World War two, the Russians came up with the T34. it would run on anything, had an engine you could fix with one spanner and was as strong as a ton of reinforced concrete.

 

The Germans got a bit pissed off with their shells bouncing off the T34s so captured one and set about designing it better.

 

The Russians used their women and children to manufacture the T34 in somewhere called Tankograd and even moved the factory over a weekend when the Germans got a bit close.

 

The Germans came up with the Tiger Tank. Vastly superior but the issue was that they were much slower to manufacture and very unreliable due to their complexity...sound familiar???