and today i have mostly been...

[Welly]

.....getting blown around by this wind! there's a Wooden structure* above and to the left of my office used for storage it stands about 4 metres above me and has a tiled roof which weighs heavy (think: very large Shed with a tiled roof). In the wind the whole building* moves in sympathy but I R NEVER seen it move this much, it's taken on a new range of movement/creaks too.

Two things could happen if* it goes: in one direction there's the Car Body Shop next door restoring a Classic 911 and rare BMW Alpenis B5 something. Or the other way is my office and the large Velux Window above my head

I R NURVUSS

[steve_earwig]

It's been damn gusty here today too, at one point I opened the yoyo door and it blew all the dust off the dash everywhere.

This morning I finally had a go at our vet Mirela's Modus' inoperable passenger window. I could never find a wiring diagram so I had to do it manually with a meter. The switch seemed ok but I couldn't work out the feeds. Ah, that's because the driver's side switch is buggered Inside there are 4 microswitches, 2 for each window, and the up switch seemed to make sporadic contact. I managed to open it up (without the contents going ping!) and found it's just the crappy way it's been made, obviously a dry joint inside somewhere that I don't have a hope in hell of getting too without rendering the switch completely dead. Damn French electrics SO I soldered a wire in it so now the window works fine from the passenger side but will only go down (eh? Yes, down) from the driver's side. I've got a part number from Goran, he can get us one for 24 quid (which is quite reasonable really) but I'll have to see if Mirela can live with it how it is (it's a tiny car and you can just reach across) or if she finds it annoying.

I had a helper* with me, Mirela's dog Oscar (Osi) climbed in the car with me, sat in the driver's seat for a while


and then climbed into the parcel shelf (his usual place) and proceeded to growl at me every time I walked past


This afternoon I grabbed the 2 Stihl chainsaws my dad gave me last year and took them up to Max's gaff. One is assembled, one needs the blade putting on. The assembled one is MASSIVE, with a 36" blade. We entirely failed to get it going though, although I'm not sure if this is because we don't know how to actually start it.



I've tried looking for a manual online but nobody seems to have one that I don't have to pay for (anyone?)

You'll also be pleased to note that the safety brake thing on the chain is, er, missing.

[lozz]

http://www.motoculture-jean.fr/upload/pdf/076.pdf

http://www.stihlusa.com/WebContent/CMSF ... Manual.pdf


http://www.reinsmith.net/content/outdoo ... %20036.pdf

[steve_earwig]

Cheers Loz, I've come across the first one earlier, it's close but not this one which is 096AV - I can't find the button of unknown function near the front of the beast. Second two, well, it's a chainsaw...

I'm really after the idiot's guide for it just now, so I know how to start it. What does that button do? Does it need priming? That's the sort of thing I'm after. I've never had chainsaws before so I know almost nothing (they ain't lawnmowers!) and Max has slightly more experience but that's 'cos he used to have one.

[lozz]

Ah rite,

theres not much on the net due to the age of thing,
they look agood old saw tho,

there is a chap on ebay playing with one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwyuzPi1Oo

[Welly]

Can you take it to an agricultural type repair place? you might have to buy one or two spares to appease them but also quiz them on how to start the f*cker?

[steve_earwig]

Ah rite,

theres not much on the net due to the age of thing,
they look agood old saw tho,

there is a chap on ebay playing with one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwyuzPi1Oo

Pull it with the choke on until it coughs, choke off and it just starts Fair enough, that works for most 2-stokes but I don't get what he's saying about the decompressor, it doesn't have one (then it's an AV super, they don't) but velocity compressor and something about a belt twice? No idea.

I should probably ask my dad but I suspect the problem is he hasn't used it since he moved up from East Sussex about 8 years ago, so maybe I should add it/them to the list of things needing new carb diaphragms My plan for these is basically to flog them because they're massively too big for anything we're likely to need a chainsaw for and get something smaller, maybe 20" (like the antique Homelite but lighter and safer).

Can you take it to an agricultural type repair place? you might have to buy one or two spares to appease them but also quiz them on how to start the f*cker?

The agricultural shops around here only sell stuff, they'd refer me to the repair place in town here that managed to break Goran's dad's Stihl giving it it's first service, are hugely expensive and sell cheapo cut it up yourself chain in Stihl boxes. No sir, they ain't coming anywhere near these

[lozz]

Have you checked theres a spark?

if so take plug out and drible a bit of petrol down the pot.

id take the chain off, itd be safer to play with then.

[steve_earwig]

That's sound advice there but me and Max are blind as bats so outside in the sun the fact that we couldn't see a spark could well be meaningless, the alternative is to hold the end of the lead and give it a pull but nobody fancies that. It seemed to be flooding itself with the choke on so I think there's enough fuel in there already. We did perhaps give up on it a bit prematurely but I thought if we weren't doing it right we were wasting our time and it might be easier to look it up on the 'net rather than guessing. Ho ho.

It's actually turned out to be easier to find info on the Homelite which could be as old as I am, which is rather annoying. Workshop manual - http://www.mediafire.com/?5o3oqnd76ee18r3

[lozz]

You shouid hear it spark..if you hold the plug close enough to metal.

if there's fuel there.. it will more than likely be missing a spark.

id say disconnect the cut off/kill switch..but id be removing the chain from it first.


something like that is worth repairing.. they will be a lot better than the 'modern tat. which most of them seem to have throw away engines.

[steve_earwig]

Having them running will be a major selling point, we definitely needs something smaller because they're just too massive to lop a few branches off or fell the occasional small tree. That's a good point about modern chainsaws though, I hadn't considered that they'd be disposable junk like everything else, although alarm bells should have been ringing when I was how many barrels and pistons there are for sale for more modern chainsaws.

It's hard to listen for sparks amongst Max's swearing. More fun tomorrow hopefully, meanwhile this afternoon I've got to go and see why all the equipment in Goran's dad's workshop is live...

[Welly]

Speaking of modern tat I have a 2-stoke McCulloch garden strimmer that doesn't want to break I run it on Super and a 1:40 mix of nice oil (Halfords Garden Machinery 2-stroke) it gets absolutely hammered in the Summer since I seem to have self-elected to 'strim' the entire streets' landscape where I live

I've never got by head around a piston/barrel with no oil sump, the fuel does the oiling, it shouldn't really work on paper.

I've often been tempted to strip the engine for a looky but when I do these things it never ends well.

[steve_earwig]

meanwhile this afternoon I've got to go and see why all the equipment in Goran's dad's workshop is live...

Cancelled for maybe the 100th time. His wife has had to change shifts so he's looking after his kids. But his parents are in the same house? A part of me wonders if he's got some fear of me in his house fiddling with his wires but then why doesn't he call in an electrician, it's not like they'll suck air through their teeth, condemn the lot and charge him a fortune, this isn't England...

SO anyway yes, 2-strokes, almost double the power of a 4-stroke for the same displacement, lighter, fewer moving parts (these 2 JLOs don't even have valves), higher-revving, no sump full of oil to worry about, will happily run upside-down (well, almost), quite a few advantages really.

I just don't seem to have much luck with them, the Husqvarna strimmer that's been a pain in the arse since I got it, although it seems much improved now I've replaced the carb, these recalcitrant Flymos, although to be fair the carbs on them are pretty knackered- That's probably the long and short of it really, most of the stuff I have is ancient, my dad's always been prepared to do a bit of tinkering to get them going but I just don't have the patience. Work or flying lesson you bastard.

I borrowed a McCulloch strimmer once, I couldn't even get it going If you want to know how they work buy one that doesn't and see why. There are loads on ebay, dead strimmers etc. spares or repairs for under a score. You might even be able to get one like yours to tinker with, hours of fun and experience to apply to yours should it ever throw a wobbly.

[steve_earwig]

these recalcitrant Flymos

And after saying that I went out, used one of the JLOs and it worked perfectly, no stalling, no sodding about. It was obviously a good idea to leave it in the shed next to the remains of the Mantis because it must have seen what would happen to it if it didn't play ball...

[lozz]

Luckily ive not had to mess with 2 stroke stuff for a while now.
my kids have out grown the Mini-moto phase (strimmer engine power'd monkey bikes)

Now there on to anything Gy-6 power'd/ Custom moped's.. 100cc suposebly on the v5s but theyre now 175.
Noisy fecking things, im just hoping they get fed up with them soon.
and move on to car's... oh wait bad idea that'd mean id be car less.