my 036 rebuild cratered

[hawkins111]

Just had one of my rebuilds take a dump. I finally  got my Stihl clip ring tool with a #10 head and used it on a 036. I got the first one in no problem. The second one didn't go in, so I had to re-set the ring. The ring was compressed quit a bit. It was too small to fit properly in the groove. I got another ring and used a screw driver. It went in easy enough. I looked at the first ring and it looked OK, but maybe a little loose, but indexed correctly. The saw blew up after 3 hours of work. Ring came out and the wrist pin hammered the cylinder. So much for the proper tool. I think there is some difference between a Stihl clip ring and an NWP ring. I hope there is some help out there? Thanks, Tom

[Al_Smith]

Just a couple of things .Which way was the gap in the circlip  .It should been oriented either top center or bottom center .

I've found some after market pistons ,Meteor for example some times the clips  are hard to get seated .As such if I have them I use Stihl OEM circlips .The pistons themselves seem to be fine though it's just the clips that kind of suck .

[hawkins111]

I'm thinking the Stihl tool compressed the aftermarket clips too much. I had them open end down.

Tom

[Al_Smith]

FWIW I made up a bunch  of clip installers  for itty bitty clips for sizes like the Stihl 200T which worked well .They didn't squeeze the clip just shoved it home .

The plans were at the time to make several in sizes like 10 and 12 mm but my Monarch 10" EE lathe went on the blink and with working so much over time I haven't got back to it .

When I get a chance I'll attempt to post a picture of it .Very simple design anyone who wants to copy it feel free . I have no patent nor delusion of grandeur that I stand to make a million bucks from it .Anyone who does though remember old Al and send me a case of Budweiser from time to time . About  one a week would suffice ;D

[hawkins111]

How about some ideas for installing small clip rings??

[deerslayer]

Small clip rings:
1. safety eyewear.
2. fingers
3. very small screwdriver.
4. sometimes a very fine tipped precision needle nose pliers...

[ZeroJunk]

I have always put them in with a small screwdriver or really good quality small needle nose pliars. I find them laying around on the shop floor regularly as they are a perpetual motion machine as bad or worse than a metering valve spring if you let one slip.

I can tell you that some of the clips in aftermarket kits are not very well tempered or whatever and it seems they are not springy enough to recover from the necessary radius reduction to just get them in.

And, some of the kits have a different wire diameter than OEM to the point that an OEM clip in some aftermarket pistons will allow the pin to slip over it. So, an aftermarket clip on an OEM piston would not fit properly in the groove.

And, there have been aftermarket kits where the clips supplied never fit the groove to start with, although I thought that was behind us.

[5000+]

Why did you put the jug on if the clip seemed loose? If it was too loose, how it was clocked means squat.   Most aftermarket clips suck. They are also likely to be different gauge with a differing grove size and depth in piston. Even good quality clips will fail if poor installation techniques are used.

[SawTroll]

I have no personal experience, but the circlips that comes with aftermarket pistons have killed a lot of top ends trough the years - avoid using them if tou can!

[AdkStihl]

If the ring groove in the piston doesn't have the same radii as the clip itself youre asking for trouble.
The wire used in making the clips will vary in diameter from one manufacturer to the next.

[hawkins111]

I'll be finding out the dia difference as soon as my dealer opens Monday. I am using a NWP piston and cylinder. The clips seem soft and bent when installing them. As I stated earlier when using the Stihl clip ring tool with NWP clips, the clips were compressed too much. I will be getting a set of Stihl clips Monday. I'll keep you posted. Tom