echo *CS-390ESX experience

[BishBashBosh]

Nearly a year of ownership, so a few observations:

 

+Generally well made light weight saw with good balance which is well suited to the 15" .325 NK set up it comes with.

+Surprising grunt for a 40cc saw which didn't feel undergunned when felling and snedding some decent sized willows (20" at the felling cut).

+Starts easily hot or cold, fairly frugal on fuel.

+Chain tension, oiler adjustments are accessible. (Oiler was set to max out of the box, chain would have been running dry for the last 1/3 tank of fuel for those who don't check such things).

 

-From new it was tuned mighty lean, the tacho was still climbing hard through 14200 rpm when I gave up that little test, book max rpm is 13500.

-Replacement bar. Finding a quality 15" .325 1.3mm NK bar has me beaten! Guess I'm going to have to go via my dealer/Echo.

-Exhaust issues. As GregM found...

... the exhaust gases are aimed straight at the chain brake. They can't have done much product testing not to notice that.

I had exactly the same problem. After a few hours of use the chainbrake handle was significantly melted (top photo below). Local dealer was excellent and chainbrake handle replaced, so I then tested it to see if it could have been operator error or not. Cutting biscuits off a 6" log with no obstructions near the exhaust the same melting started again. The saw was replaced without question.

 

As GregM said, it's not hard to see why this happens, the exhaust deflector just isn't big enough. In the 2nd photo below with the spark arrestor removed you can see the exhaust path is in line with the chainbrake handle, and the pattern of melting mirrors the exhaust exit. I've seen two other 390's with some melting of the brake, and that's out of a total of four, so the tolerance of exhaust path and handle appears to be too close.

 

Did the new saw do the same? I didn't give it the chance to, and "fabricated" a small extension to the gas deflector and it's been faultless even with the dawgs stuck into some ivy covered bar length wood and running at full chat.

 

Problems like that shouldn't happen, but the dealer response was excellent, and with a simple fix the problem's gone. Echo have known about this for a while so hopefully they'll add that extra 10mm to the deflector! Other than that the saw's been great, light, enough grunt and easy to use for extended periods. HTH

[BishBashBosh]

Photos disappeared with the forum update, so re posted here.

On 7/19/2017 at 18:38, BishBashBosh said:

... After a few hours of use the chainbrake handle was significantly melted (top photo below).

 

... the exhaust deflector just isn't big enough. In the 2nd photo below with the spark arrestor removed you can see the exhaust path is in line with the chainbrake handle, and the pattern of melting mirrors the exhaust exit.

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2017 by BishBashBosh

[wyk]

I can't confirm this, but SGFoley in Germany stated he ran a 501sx exhaust(without cat and baffle tube) in his 390sx.

[wyk]

Haven't had it for too long now, but purdy happy with it. The exhaust outlet cover does need to be longer. I assume this is simply robbed from the CS501SX and chunked on to the 390 since they look identical. With the cat removed, it doesn't spew it as directly upon the handle as stock(and not as hot, either), but I can still see it going to work on it. Otherwise, very, very impressed with this saw. A poster who has had one apart on another forum claims it is the same stroke(33mm) as the 501. I haven't tested it myself, but it would go a ways to explaining why these have so much mid range grunt.

 

Edited January 22, 2019 by wyk
'chinked' isn't a word unless yer racist

[BishBashBosh]

Rather a late reply, but here was my solution to the melting chain brake issue. There's nothing as permanent as a temporary fix that works!

It's a piece of baked bean can. I used a suitable sized socket as a mandrel and bent/hammered it roughly into shape, drilled a couple of holes and it attaches using the existing deflector's screws. The old deflector is still there beneath my "temporary" mod.

 Works a treat. One day I'll make a nice version out of some SS... probably.

 

[wyk]

If one is so inclined, removing the cat prevents the handle issue. The baffle the cat is part of causes the exhaust to exit more out the side, and ti also heats up the exhaust as well. I haven't had an issue on my 390 yet with it, but I have also added another exit to relieve the pressure from the one side.