spudulike

Exactly:thumbup: or is that:thumbdown: flippin VAT!

If you purchase from a US company, you pay their local duty in the US and then pay the VAT to the UK customs who return it to HMRC. I have just checked on their site and it does say if your UK company is VAT registered you can claim it back but if you import goods over a certain value and it is something like £20, you will be liable for import duty and handling fee - I also had this on a pair of Binocs I imported from the US. The Amazon scheme is faultless, I imported an X27 axe and paid the duty up front and it worked fine. Oh - I also had to pay the VAT on a Meteor kit that another ordered but was due to be delivered to my home address. Just speaking from experience Steve - got done once too often and is backed up by the HMRC website!

I thought you did pay VAT on imports from the US - EU imports are exempt! I brought a Tach in one and got his with 20% plus a tenner handling fee:thumbdown:

Carb accelerator pump, leaking welch plug, stuck check valve, resin in the low speed circuit, split fuel line, dirty fuel filter, bunged up gauze filter in the carb, airleak in the crank seals/manifold/impulse line.....take your pick - all will have similar symptoms!

Yup, damn annoying and really gets me down - shouldn't be so hard on ourselves but pride is at stake on these repairs. Just got to make sure it is 100% before it goes out again - failing twice would be REALLY bad:thumbdown:

You normally wind the cord on to the pulley so that on full extension, the pulley can still be rotated that little bit further clockwise - this is to ensure the spring isn't taking the impact of the starter and if done correctly, should pull the recoil rope in. A little light lubrication helps as well.

Thats all about kerf - thats how wide a chunk that bars take out of the wood - a narrow kerf bar and chain takes a narrower channel out so takes less power - it is however less forgiving on heavy logging and felling work. You can also get in to half skip and full skip chain where instead of having a full compliment of cutters on your chain, every other one or one in three is missing causing less drag and sapping less power - one way to get a lesser saw to pull a big bar. Not so common in the UK though!

I only wish I knew what I now know when I was 17 years old:001_rolleyes: The FS1E was bog apart from the baffles out and a funky glitter green paint job - think the little end was a bit rattly but it would do 50mph:thumbup: I was more four strokes in those days, had a :thumbup:400/4 which was gas flowed, high rise cams, K&Ns, clip ons and oversize pisons,,,,,oh, and an Alpha exhaust:thumbup:

It could be that the choke isn't sealing well or that the throttle isn't being opened enough on start up. A carb tune may help also - difficult to tell without seeing it.

It can be done by letting in new outlet to bypass the original one that has a deflection plate over the hole. PM me if you are interested but I am always busy!

It my be that the seal is Imperial and not metric?? Usually seals will be a tight fit on both the ID and OD. It is reasonable to force some of this down any cavity between the seal and the recess it fits in to - I am wondering if you have measured the crank recess and shaft diameter correctly. Some seals may be non standard sizing!

Semi hard - not like an epoxy - a bit like hot glue in hardness - goes off pretty quickly, fast solvents!

No not Time Sert - they use screw taps that are specific to their inserts - PITA in my opinion! The cheap stepped taps are pretty poor and brutal IMO - I will be using a HSS hand reamer for a much more accurate finish for the tap - the better the tapped hole, the stronger the bond. I also will use a decent high temp thread lock - it has worked damn well on a MS460 before:thumbup:

When the saw not running, the clutch drum should spin freely around the crankshaft, if the clutch drum binds on the crankshaft, the saw will struggle to idle and the chai will spin. Common faults will be broken clutch spring, Seized clutch bearing, twine or crap wrapped around the crankshaft end. I would pop the circlip off the end of the crankshaft, pull off the clutch, make sure the three springs are in place and complete, put a good coat of grease on the needle bearing, replace the clutch drum etc and ensure the thing spins freely. This will take you 15 mins and is pretty simple with a small screw driver and a pair of pliers. It is common for twine/string/line to get caught around the end of the crank with inbound clutches - much less common for a spring to go on a near new machine. Lets get to the bottomof the issue before condemning the machine:001_rolleyes:

[ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eclectic-Seal-All-Gas-Oil-Resistant-Adhesive/dp/B001U7EJVS[/ame] Do you guys know how to use google:001_rolleyes: You type what you want to find in that big blank box in the middle:thumbup1:

The 346XP thrives on revs and hits the top very fast, the 026 will have more torque but vibrates more IMO. It just depends on what you like. The 028 IMO is too old now to be a main saw or to be used for anything else than a backup or weekend saw - the 026 shares much with the 024, MS260, MS240 and as such, the spares are vey common and easy to get hold of. The answer is simple - if you must have a Stihl, buy the 026/MS260 but if you fancy something a bit more racy then buy the 346XP Silverside (50cc)

Amazon - it is the only stuff I have found to truly resist petrol!

Generally you have Husqvarna kit and then you have the McCulloch/Flymo/Partner re badged homeowner kit - a throw back from the Electrolux days. The exception to this is Jonsered where many share major parts and constrution. I don't know the age of the strimmer, some Partner kit is pretty good - picked up a stone cutter once - real nice build quality but best look at the style and design and compare to the manufactures mentioned and see if you can find a match. Personally I like the old Kawasaki straight pole strimmers - very pokey and strong!

Not sure where you have been, the 346XP is faster cutting and better AV than the 026:thumbup:

Use "Sealall" that will offfer a long term fix, bearing lock is for clearance fit items and not larger gaps - JB weld is also a good gap filler but is sod to remove

The low price reamer/ insert kits are utter crap, using a large drill to cut the initial hole is dodgy as the drill will snatch and open the hole up too much - not easy in a pillar drill either! I have invested in the tapered tap and bottoming tap sets and hand reamers to get the job done right - the inserts can work but need good threaded seats for strength plus a good thread lock compound. I have always frowned on helicoiled plug repair since owning a Yamaha FS1E and having it melt plugs due to a poorly fitted helicoil. Will post images once I get it back - one of the issues was that the plug came loose and the exhaust gases escaping past it damaged the metal arround the plug seat - the re-tap wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be! The next option is a carbon steel insert with 2mm wall thickness, if the tapped hole is good, it will be strong once done:thumbup:

That was planned - I now have tha capabillity to do 16mm, 18mm and 3/4" inserts, I find drills snatch when opening up the original hole so have invested in expensive reamers to do the job by hand and two taps of each type so the thread is good and deep. I am really pissed off it has failed but will do the re-repair for negligble costs as I don't agree for re-charging on failed repairs!

026 - spares much more available - guess you dont wanta 346XP NE then:001_rolleyes:

A day of mixed fortune, had a cracking start, one MS200T back together, ported and running well, a MS201 with running issues turned out to be a busted clutch spring, a bad running MS200T - carb clean in the cleaner and all good - all going well............ The 395XP I had repaired the spark plug hole failed:thumbdown: Bugger, I had suspected the repair might not last so have invested in taps and reamers to do the next size up and will do a repair when I get it back. This will be a carbon steel insert and will have more strength in it, I take failure on repairs I do personally and am really hard on myself when things don't work out but always say - it is not initially important how you get in to trouble but how you get out of it and then you put in to place an action to resolve the issue for the customer and then resolve he issue for the next time it happens. I will pick up the machine Tuesday and will get it repaired and out again for Thursday delivery and have more faith in the next repair I will do and the new kit I have purcahsed to do this sort of repair.

Purchased mine a nice new cordless Dyson vacuum cleaner - she did say she wanted one of those one teaspoon fat fryers though:blushing: