Any one blow up their Dolmar PS5100 yet?

[Max sawdust]

Hi all,
Last November I bought a Dolmar PS5100.  Worked great and fairly happy with the saw, doing small logging jobs, firewood and notching rafters for log construction.  This fall I tried it for ripping the lateral in log construction and it stopped working.  Complete enine failure, apparently lower crank shaft failed.  (Saw was sent back to Germany for inspection, actual failure not known yet.)

Luckly I have a great local dealer, and got a new saw for free under warranty.

Just an FYI and interested if anyone else has had failures.

Max

[Al_Smith]

 I don't know ,never heard much about them giving up the ghost .

However those little handy dandy saws that run like a scalded ape don't do well on long extended cuts running like crazy on 50 to one mix . About like hitching a throughbred to a plow when a Clydesdale would do better .

[ladylake]

Most new saws are adjusted a little too lean these days thanks to the EPA. Factory RPM spec are a little lean and if you get gas with ethonal it just gets worse. If using a tack back off the RPM some, for sure when working the snot out a saw doing long cuts.   And they'll have better torque with a little more fuel.   Steve

[Al_Smith]

 Good point about having them set up a tad lean . I suppose it's not my call but some folks just think they have to running right on the edge . I'm not suggesting this is the cause for failure ,could be or could be something else .Who knows it's after the fact .

Madsens had a good little audio on how a saw should sound tuned in right ,pretty helpfull . Try it some time ,you might be surprised .It my sound a little sluggish but that "4 cycle " gurgle turns into power when the engine really gets under load .

I once watched a hotsaw in southern Ohio that surprised the dickens out of me as it was being warmed up prior to the event .Sounded extremely rich I thought but then I know the builder and he has forgotten more than I will ever likely know about saw engines . Well ,just as I said ,when that thing hit the wood and that pipe kicked in it was all power .Same deal on a work saw to a certain extent .

[SawTroll]

Good point about having them set up a tad lean . I suppose it's not my call but some folks just think they have to running right on the edge . I'm not suggesting this is the cause for failure ,could be or could be something else .Who knows it's after the fact .

Madsens had a good little audio on how a saw should sound tuned in right ,pretty helpfull . Try it some time ,you might be surprised .It my sound a little sluggish but that "4 cycle " gurgle turns into power when the engine really gets under load .

I once watched a hotsaw in southern Ohio that surprised the dickens out of me as it was being warmed up prior to the event .Sounded extremely rich I thought but then I know the builder and he has forgotten more than I will ever likely know about saw engines . Well ,just as I said ,when that thing hit the wood and that pipe kicked in it was all power .Same deal on a work saw to a certain extent .

Was that saw ran a lot on less than full throttle when making notches etc?

[Max sawdust]

Less than full throttle question...

Yes 50/50 Wide open and 1/4 throttle... 

max

[SawTroll]

Less than full throttle question...

Yes 50/50 Wide open and 1/4 throttle... 

max

Running on less than full throttle makes it run lean, as most saws have no "midway" needle.

Some saws are more woulnerable than others, as far as I know.

[Al_Smith]

 Well that's a point to ponder .Most if not all those little saws can be ran all ahead flank without  over reving them .

Of course being an "old schooler " I run them on 32 to one and never cooked a saw in my life . Now 10,000 people will chime in and say I'm so old fashion I should be riding in a horse and buggy but hey ,I never ruined a saw engine .

Enough of that ,sorry about the little saw .May it RIP .

[Rancher]

I run mine a little rich on the oil. I have to run lean since there is less oxygen up here at 10,000 ft.

[cheyenne]

I'm with Al i run all my saws 32 to 1 never blown one yet. Knock Knock Knock on wooden head....Cheyenne

[Cut4fun]

There was some kind of recall on the 5100S. It had to do with the intakes and leaking. There was a updated part to replace the old one. Thats all I can remember on this one sorry  .

[Al_Smith]

I run mine a little rich on the oil. I have to run lean since there is less oxygen up here at 10,000 ft.

Ah yes ,the Colorado mountains . Reminds me of the time,late 70's early 80's on a deer hunt west of Vail ,Wolcott[white mountains ] . We always took two saws to cut camp wood . A little Pioneer and my s-25 Poulan .We were about 10,000 feet and the danged things would boil the fuel in the gas tank . Other than that they ran fine . Of course we had to lean them up a tad .

I haven't seen anything like it ,before or since .

[ladylake]

They're not running any leaner up high, just less fuel to go along with less air resulting in less power.   Same ratio unless they're tuned too lean.   Steve

[Al_Smith]

 Correct ,of course the fuel oil mix ratio doesn't change just the amount of oxegon to burn the fuel .In addition to retuning the saws in those Colorado mountains we had to retune the Jeeps as well as retard the timing a tad bit at those altitudes .

It wasn't a big deal on the saws as far as power .We were only cutting maybe 8 inch aspen which compaired to Ohio oak is about like cutting balsa .

[snowman]

There was some kind of recall on the 5100S. It had to do with the intakes and leaking. There was a updated part to replace the old one. Thats all I can remember on this one sorry  .

My 5100 has been giving me trouble lately, can't seem to keep idle in adjustment. I'll call saw shop today and ask about this recall thing, good info, thanks.

[TexasTimbers]

snowman, please post the recall info when you find it out.

Mine has been giving me a little trouble with the idle too lately, but I think it is just because it's getting broke in better and I haven't tweaked it in 5 or 6 tanks.

[RSteiner]

Well that's a point to ponder .Most if not all those little saws can be ran all ahead flank without  over reving them .

Of course being an "old schooler " I run them on 32 to one and never cooked a saw in my life . Now 10,000 people will chime in and say I'm so old fashion I should be riding in a horse and buggy but hey ,I never ruined a saw engine .

Enough of that ,sorry about the little saw .May it RIP .

I purchased a 5100S back in June of this year.  I have only run about a dozen tanks of fuel through it so far.  Yesterday I cut for 8 hours with it going through 4 tanks of fuel.  The saw ran fine the whole time and I would like to do every thing possible to make that continue to happen.

After reading about using a 32 to 1 mix by some of you it got me to thinking.  The saw manufacturer says it will run on a 50 to 1 mix.  Putting a little more oil in the mix sounds like it can't hurt any thing.  The last two gallons of fuel I mixed was at a 40 to 1 ratio.  What are the potentail effects at using a little more oil in the fuel, what should one look out for?

Randy

[cheyenne]

All moving parts need oil. I use to burn 50 to 1 till my dealer who turned out to be a good friend told me to go to 32 to 1 and it has worked out fine. Have not replaced a carb or anything since in the engine. It may be me but my saws sound better, run better & seem to have more power & cut faster they also seem to run cooler, but it could be me or i'm getting old and sitting down more between cuts......Cheyenne

[tyb525]

I'm no expert on saws, but when my dad mixed gas he always mixed somewhere around 24 to 32:1. Recently I read in my Stihl manual that it was tuned for 50:1, so I tried that. I didn't like it. It ran too hot for me, and although it seemed to rev a little higher, it didnt seem to have as much torque. I've switched back to 32:1, and am happy with it.

[SawTroll]

There was some kind of recall on the 5100S. It had to do with the intakes and leaking. There was a updated part to replace the old one. Thats all I can remember on this one sorry  .

I believe that was about november 2006.

[RSteiner]

You guys have me convinced.  I am going to run a little more oil in the mix.  This is actually going to save me money.  I had been buying my 2 cycle oil in the one gallon mix size containers, a six pack is $10.00.  The 2 gallon mix size is $13.00 a six pack, that is twice the amount of oil for only 30% more money.   8)

Using the richer oil mixture does seem to make my saws run cooler and they do have a different / better sound to them.

Randy

[ladylake]

 Over here 40 to 1 mixed a little richer.  It's the amount of fuel going into the engine that keeps it running cooler, to little it burns hotter and heats up the engine. If adjusted a little to lean they'll get real hot on a long pull like ripping.   Steve

[SawTroll]

Over here 40 to 1 mixed a little richer.  It's the amount of fuel going into the engine that keeps it running cooler, to little it burns hotter and heats up the engine. If adjusted a little to lean they'll get real hot on a long pull like ripping.   Steve

Yes, more oil will make the fuel to air mixture leaner!   ;)

[RSteiner]

Yes, more oil will make the fuel to air mixture leaner!   ;)
[/quote]

I don't understand how the air to fuel ratio changes when the oil to fuel ratio is changed.   ???

I guess I assumed that the oil and gas together became fuel and that the carb adjustments determined the richness or leanness of the air to fuel ratio.  I can understand that the detenation charasteristics of the oil fuel mixture may change a bit as the oil to fuel mix ratio changes.

So, should the carb be readjusted to run a little richer if the oil to fuel mix is changed from 50 to 1 to 40 to 1?

Randy

[ladylake]

More oil will make the mix a little thicker and it won't flow through the jets as good.  Nothing wrong with more oil but keep your saw adjusted rich enough to keep from burning it up.   Steve