GardenKit

Aww, shucks....was I right? Was only guessing! Or maybe I have just been around a while.

Just have a look at my post on the bench thread, re the correct carb kit. What kit was used here?

I recall that the 260 uses a WTE carb (we are all much more familiar with the WT) and the diaphragm kit for that is a K10-WTE, but many suppliers supply a K20-WAT in error. The difference is that the nipple in the centre of the metering diaphragm is flatter on the WTE one. A WAT one with a more erect nipple will cause over fuelling. According to Walbro though, you still use the WT gauge , but just lift the arm a little more afterwards. Another thought, but maybe a wild one, is this. You said it runs OK with the bar off. Could it be, by any chance, that clamping the bar up causes a crack in the crankcase to open? I seem to recall that this saw had some strange sort of damage done to it a while ago, or am I mixed up?

Aspen does not 'gas off' like petrol due to the lack of solvents, so it will not build up gas pressure in the tank. And, as gas pressure is not needed, this is a good thing as there is also less chance of vapour lock in pipes. Your problem sounds like a fuel supply issue though, you have not by any chance got a pinched hose have you?

Breathers come in different forms, some of the early ones were little more than restrictions in a pipe which allowed pressures to equalise but stopped fuel sloshing out. They worked both ways. Modern ones tend to work only one way and prevent fuel escaping whilst allowing air in to equalise the pressure inside the tank with atmospheric pressure thereby relieving the vacuum caused by the depleting fuel quantity. Most machines do not pressurise the tank, and indeed do not need to, as atmospheric pressure is sufficient to push fuel up the pickup hose to fill the vacuum caused in the fuel pump chamber by the pump diaphragm. They do however pressurise to an extent by the vaporisation of the fuel as it gets shaken about and warmed up. it is this pressure that pushes the fuel out of loose pipes etc whilst servicing. This apparent pressurisation is not required to enable the engine to run.

My bench is still pristine clean, I checked it this morning, not even any dust! That will change when I go back in on Thursday though, PAT testing is first priority, BORING. Spent most of the holiday with sander and paintbrush at home, and was getting pretty fed up with seeing brilliant white so went down the road to check on our new 'investment' property only to find some of the fencing panels at the back had blown down and disintegrated (why could we not have had a storm before we exchanged contracts?) Easy I thought, just need to get 3 panels, replace 4 broken posts, surely thats only 1/2 a day. Ah, but maybe I should just take down those four small trees (about 6" at base and 15ft high at most) that had self seeded behind the fence and were obstructing a footpath, only take 1/2 an hour to cut them down without the fence panels I thought. Which was right, they only took 1/2 hour to drop, but another 4 hours and two van trips to dispose of the arisings which included some of the longest and thickest brambles I have ever seen. Then I found the 4 broken posts had each been bedded in around 100kg of concrete. Oh well, happy days. Give me spanners and grease any day.

The Mountfield Sp555 is indeed from the Stiga stable and is excellent value at around £569, the first things to wear out will be the plastic wheels. Stiga's own PRO55 4S is a better bet as it has the same chassis, but benefits from AV mounts, 4 speed transmission and metal wheels with precision ball bearings, but falls outside your price bracket at £899 retail For around that money you can have a Kaaz or JD, Stiga's new model Turbo Power 53SB is an excellent value 53cm mower with ally deck and Briggs 675XVS 190cc engine, with double ball bearing wheels and will set you back £559. I have sold several of these and they have been fine. They are complete with mulch kit.

Not so for Pro users, only 1year warranty as standard. 2 years for domestic users only, but a 201t is a pro saw. Exceptions to the rule are made only at the dicretion of Stihl.

Thats great Steve ( well, the bit about the posts, not your boxers!) How many years has Arbtalk been around?

Before you get too carried away with air leaks etc, it will be worth checking that the throttle butterfly is fully closing and that the throttle shaft arm is fully against the LA screw. I have had butterflies come loose when the little screw in the centre loosens.

They are generous enough to donate it to a worthy cause in good faith. No need to harass them IMO.

And not before time:biggrin: To be honest, I started to use/sell aspen for many reasons, but one was the fact that the workshop and adjoining showroom and office always reeked of petrol fumes and exhaust fumes, and many customers commented on it. Nowadays all petrol is removed outdoors and all serviced or repaired machines are fuelled with Aspen. We can run machines indoors without smell, and if a carb has to come off again and fuel is spilt, there is no nasty smell. This makes a more pleasant atmosphere for us, and for our customers. Its like a breath of fresh air. Also, I had suffered from nasal congestion for years, which cleared up within a few months of switching to Aspen. So my staff (family) are happier and healthier, the customers are happier and we make money from the sale of Aspen. Win, Win. Oh, and if you do stock it Rich, do as Dan says and stick to the 5litre cans. The 1 litre ones just do not sell, but you do end up giving them away which is kind of defeating the object.

Nothing to worry about there Rich, Dan obviously though you were the man for the job:biggrin:

Not sure exactly how long Rich, but it has been around for many, many years. I had been aware of it for perhaps 8 years before i started selling it over 2 years ago. Aspen has never damaged an engine. Engines using aspen may have failed though, through air leaks etc, just as they would on petrol.

Sorry, time to put the record straight here. Firstly, Aspen does not, and can not, dissolve anything. It contains NO solvents so it does not decompose fuel lines, neither does it dissolve resins or the inside of fuel tanks. What it can do, is bring to light problems caused by the solvents in petrol. These solvents will have softened fuel lines and caused them to swell. Remove the petrol and they will shrink, sometimes to smaller size than when original, hence leaks. Resins that have been built up in fuel tanks by petrol will slowly 'dry up' and disperse when petrol is not used, so the use of Aspen encourages the fuel system to clean itself up merely because petrol is no longer being used. Aspen itself can never harm an engine. The crank seals will not be affected by the Aspen, if they were developing faults then they would have caused issues anyway, even had petrol carried on being used. The MS200T is very well known for being a fickle beast. Carb problems are more common on the MS00T than any other saw I have ever worked on. (probably due to the rubbish ZAMA carbs that Stihl use because they own Zama) Also a bit confused as to why your mechanic needed to put a new pump piston kit into a new carburettor on your first saw as the new carb comes with a new pump. (edit, sorry just read your last post re this) Once you have fixed your pre existing problems your saws will perform very nicely on Aspen.

Trying to resist the temptation to go to the workshop. I don't really want to mend anything..........but the bench may need dusting:biggrin:

With more people running diesel cars these days this is becoming quite a regular occurence. I had one guy suffering from dementia who put diesel in his mower three times in as many weeks until his wife took over cutting the grass.

My first thoughts, had you not been using Aspen, would be contaminated fuel. Of course, this still could be the case depending on your fuel management. Is it possible that some chain oil has been added to the fuel tank in error, maybe just a little before the mistake was realised? In any case, I think my first action would be to drain and flush the fuel tank, refill with fresh Aspen and try again. Good luck. Barrie

........ That would be a cardinal sin.

Food is banned from my workshop as it might contaminate my bench.

Wishing all 'the benchers' a very happy Christmas. Remember, in the interests of your important body parts, don't drink and bench. Barriie

Ballibeg will shortly have some old spanners for the restoration of his old equipment:thumbup1:

That explains the last 40 years then!

The spanners I mentioned yesterday. Whitworth sizes, so probably only of interest to vintage enthusiasts. They will be in the scrap bin on the 2nd if no one wants them.

And a very Happy Christmas to you all from us at Garden Kit. Have a good one and drink too much.