Converting from quick tensioner to standard

[stole]

Hi.

I have an old Florabest FKS 2200/8 which I'm hoping to re-purpose. I want to use it in a home made firewood processor. The saw is running fine, but the quick tensioner is broken.
I haven't found much about this type of tensioner, and it's hard to see where the problem is. To me it looks like the "sprocket"/"button" circled red, slips from the hole in the bar.
They have a similar looking tensioner at one of my local stores, but surprise surprise many of the reviews complain about how easy it breaks.

Does anyone know if it's possible to convert to a standard tension system, or a suggestion on how I can use the saw in a stand without the quick tensioner?

Pictures of my saw n this link.

 

[Michael E]

Converting means exchanging the clutch cover for a cover with built in manual chain tensioner. Those covers are model specific. I doubt that your saw was ever offered with a manual tensioner, and that usually means that you cannot convert it.

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

The saw's bar tensions the chain by moving in and out of the saw body. Your plastic tensioner uses a pin to engage the bar and the spiral to move the sliding part in or out. Manual tensioners use a screw to move a block with the pin machined on the face in or out to accomplish the same thing. In order to convert your saw, you will have to machine the saw body to accept either a homemade tensioning device or something you pirated from another saw.

If you happen to be a machinist and have a milling machine, this might not be a difficult task. For the rest of us, however, it would probably be faster if not cheaper to find a project saw and rebuild that for your purpose.

 

[stole]

Thanks for the replies. I had a quick look at it yesterday night, and it looks like the issue might be the screw that engages the spiral. It seems to be just worn enough that it disengages the spiral if the right force is applied. I've made a new screw and refreshed the threads on the wheel. I didn't have time to test it on the saw, but it looks promising.

I have 3 saws, where two are inherited and with quick tensioner. I'm not a fan of throwaway culture, but the quick tensioners gets me cloooose

 

[Michael E]

This won't help you, but I'd like to share two anecdotes. On the Partner 350 and all of its many siblings with other names (countless Electrolux gasoline saws around the year 2000, among them a Florabest variant), the chain tensioner assembly was located completely in the clutch cover. Those saws were sold with either option, quick or manual. You just buy another clutch cover on Amazon or AliExpress for less than 20 Euros and you're done. The Stihl MS 260 was also sold with either option, but the manual tensioner was included in the body. To convert from quick to manual, you had to take the saw completely apart and and exchange the crank case. Or, like I did, you use a file to the crank case, modify a Husqvarna part, fabricate a fastener and convert the saw to front tensioner instead of the usual side tensioner. Unfortunately, neither option will work for your saw.

 

[stole]

Interesting. My other saw is a Partner p620t with quick tension. There is a P520 for sale at the equivalent of 22 USD with a standard tensioner that might fit.

Since none of them is my main saw and my intention is to use them stationary I might just see about cutting a hole in the cover to fit a washer and nut