Electric saws with cold bar oil in winter

southsoundtree

southsoundtree

Been here much more than a while
Location
Olympia, WA
I have a couple electric Echos. I realized that there is minimal heat in the saw too thin my canola bar oil.

Any additives to recommend for better flow?
 
Have you had any issues? We haven’t had any oiling issues with the 2500t, just battery charge tanking with the temps. If condensation gets in the canola and it’s maybe 20 degrees or less it has solidified on us.
 
I worked in a big Sugar Maple today in high wind, probably below 20F with the wind chill and the Canola flowed just fine for me. Haven't had an issue with it yet in Winter.
 
I use cano oil.


I've never seen winter blend in person, only heard people talk about it.



Normally, my work temps are above freezing.


I cleaned my bar groove, verified output at the case (not as much as I'm used to seeing, but that is more oil on bigger gas saws which would warm the oil), and then got little spraying off the nose of the bar.

The Echo dcs5000 tank seems slightly loose in the body of the electric saw, so even less heat from the motor to warm the oil than a tank with more contact.

I've not looked closely at my dcs2500t's. They have been acting up some (one for some rough treatment, somehow. I generally have very little equipment breakage as my main employee is very careful (sometimes to cautious).


I don't know if it any of it is a problem battery or cold weather-related.
 
Idea: find a chart or source of viscosities vs temp, also getting steel on steel lubricity is a stretch, but maybe you can find some sort of veggie oil to cut/thin it and assume still adequate lubricity.

I pondered the thin winter Stihl oil. Oil tank is on the crankcase so gets heated so pumping action should be no issue. So why thin? On average even under load the bar and chain stay cold. Lubing the bar groove is easy but getting the oil to work its way through all the links and pins must be the bottle neck or limiting factor. FWIW

edit - maybe your chem and physics still work - here's a try, doesn't appear to have a really thin oil except walnut thinner at 35F
 
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Side bar. I've been using canola for a while. My 261 burned up and the shop basically blamed the bar oil. So much hardened oil around the components increasing the load on the motor.

It is the first time the canola has been an issue and I did explain that the saw sat for a couple of months after breaking down before getting to the shop. I'm curious on a saw ran regularly, as mine normally are, if there is an additional drag on the motor from oil build up.
 
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Canola is pretty thin to begin with. I use to run cushion seal in all but freezing weather. And that stuff gets THICK.
I spend the $ on the green bottle stuff, I don’t run enough of it to really matter much. Mostly all pruning but a crew of 3.
I don’t hesitate running a tank of petroleum oil every once in a while. Maybe drain the tank fill with some diesel and let it sit overnight. Drain and fill with some 50/50 diesel bar mix and just run it for a few cuts. Drain and let it sit the next night.
Essentially just trying to flush the crud build up?
 
Been using canola in a ported 362 with a 28" bar for a while now with zero issues. I have learned though that letting the oil tank run dry can cause build-up on thw bar really quickly with any size saw. I refill every gas refill.
 
southsoundtree said:
What's your cleaning process and frequency.
Any picture of the burned up saw?
Click to expand...
I don't typically do much saw cleaning, I knock out my air filter routinely on jobsites and replace air and fuel filters as needed.

I am currently setting up my new job trailer that will have a generator and air compressor. Hoping to build the habit of cleaning my saws out better and more often.
 
I'll occasionally take off the starter cover, clutch cover, clutch drum, plastic covers that surround the clutch drum, plastic air/ top cover and use carb cleaner. A rat-tail saw file scrapes between fins.
 
Bart_ said:
edit - maybe your chem and physics still work - here's a try, doesn't appear to have a really thin oil except walnut thinner at 35F
Click to expand...
Not to be a smart a$$ but the temps in the paper I think are in degrees C? They're maybe looking at higher temps for things like bearings? There's all manner of chemical additives that can be used to reduce the pour point of oils but they're kind of impractical for small amounts of bar oils ($$$). I'd just stick with something like winter Stihl bar oil. Interesting question about electric saws and winter though (at -25C I'm sitting' by the fireplace).
 

freezing point of canola oil

A couple of years ago I started using exclusively canola oil in my electric saws. This winter I got lazy and have been storing them in the cold instead of bringing them in at night, only bringing in the batteries. I now see the error of my ways. The oil congealed at the temperatures we’ve been...
www.treebuzz.com
 
Pretty sure the paper is F as 35C is hot. The paper is about pumping in food processing plants so no additives are applicable. I think the Stihl medium (summer) has just the right amount of tackifiers to work right but it goes thick fast near freezing. Conversely the Stihl winter oil is watery in summer temps - that's how I discovered I grabbed a jug of it by mistake once - I opened and poured and WTF, too late. I risked one 50/50 tank rather than try to dump it out.

Lubricity might be an issue as local hot spots (like a bar doing a stump) might caramelize the cooking oil.

Preliminary reading says lubricity is good, high temp is good, but oxidization and going rancid are bads. Ie the cleaning comments.
 
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