I picked up some degreaser and already have carb cleaner on hand, does anyone have an Official Guide To Cleaning Your Chainsaw During the Off-seasons?
What's an off-season? Just kiddin' of course-- there's not an official guide, but most people agree with dumping fuels, giving the saw a good cleaning with air then degreaser, taking off anything you're confident you can put back on, and checking all the usual (fuel filter, lines, carb, etc.). How long are you planning on storing the saw? If it's the 034S, then I should take pics of my recent tear-down. I'm popping the piston off tomorrow and putting in a meteor. I've cleaned about a pound of gunk outta that saw... The trickiest part is cleaning under/around the coil and in the crevices of the plastics. I use a piece of plastic to scrape away most of the gunk.
I plan on doing both of them some day that I am snowed in. No guarantee that they will be stored for any period of time-- I am a vulture waiting for road kill!
Almost any of my saws (generally 1-2 of them depending on size of material or job) get used 2-4 days per month,year round no matter what the weather. My usual routine is after a cutting session whether 15 minutes or 6 hours is as follows: 1. Safety glasses 2. Old cap 3.Old beat up hooded sweatshirt. 4.Air compressor 5.Holding saw with left hand over open trash bin,air nozzle with right. 6.Clean all inside areas,starter housing,clutch cover/sprocket,remove & replace air filter cover gently removing any dust/debris. 7.Wipe down afterwards with old t shirt or rags.
This is what I do. Watch using Carb cleaners, Brake parts cleaner, and the like. They will make some saws "lose" there color. Especially Husqvarna's. The metal painted Orange parts and Brake parts cleaner??? Make a very "white/orange" color. Compressed air is my favorite tool and a simple cleaner like Fantastic or Simple Green works well on tough spots.
Yep blow it out. Then every so often take chain cover and recoil off as with bar and blow out. Then use simple green or purple power or like. Let sit then wash off with water. Then re assemble and run to evap excess moisture. Stay away form Carb though. It can just be blown off.
Make sure to plug the intake and exhaust ports if they are exposed. Blowing out all the crud, you don't want to chase it into the engine.
Easiest way to clean a saw is to not let it get too dirty. I blow mine down after every use (unless it is an odd-ball 2 minute type situation). I made the mistake of using brake cleaner once. It is HARD on the paint...takes all the shine out of it. I have a can of ATV plastic cleaner/protector that works pretty good on spiffing up the plastics on a saw, but I only do that about once a year. My saw is pretty ugly (was that way when I bought it) so I don't get too carried away with cosmetics, but it runs like a wild animal .
