Dolmar 7900 HD Filter Kit on Solo 681???

[parrisw]

Once the filter gets "dirty" It should filter a little better, once the fine dust gets trapped in the very small orifices. But ya that could be better.

 

[Termite]

Brad, I told you once before that I used filter oil on my saws because of this same problem. Well I thought the oil might be hurting the performance a little so on my 5100 (I have the HD filter on the 7900 now) so I washed the oil of in my parts washer and blew it out with air.
To my surprise, after cutting this time with no oil, the air horn had no dirt in it what-so-ever.
I can only guess that there is enough oil still in the filter to block those small particles.

 

[shwinecat]

I think Brad is right on the money by saying it should have been taken care of in R&D. They have to test these before mass production. It is hard to believe this past their standards.

 

[blsnelling]

Brad, I told you once before that I used filter oil on my saws because of this same problem. Well I thought the oil might be hurting the performance a little so on my 5100 (I have the HD filter on the 7900 now) so I washed the oil of in my parts washer and blew it out with air.
To my surprise, after cutting this time with no oil, the air horn had no dirt in it what-so-ever.
I can only guess that there is enough oil still in the filter to block those small particles.

I was hoping I wouldn't have this issue with the 681. In all honesty, if the oil works, I thinks it's a viable "fix". Some filters have to be oiled to work right. I know these weren't meant to be, but I'm going to give it a shot. I cleaned it up and lightly oiled both sides with K&N aerosol oil.

 

[Trigger Man]

Brad i have some foam filter oil made by bel-ray products, I use it on my atv filter it goes on tacky and it might just help with trapping dust. However I don't know if it would ruin the filter or not? Just an idea.

 

[johnnylabguy]

I was hoping I wouldn't have this issue with the 681. In all honesty, if the oil works, I thinks it's a viable "fix". Some filters have to be oiled to work right. I know these weren't meant to be, but I'm going to give it a shot. I cleaned it up and lightly oiled both sides with K&N aerosol oil.

Let us know how it goes Brad. I have a stock filtered 7900 with 2-3 tanks of gas through it. I hope when i pull the filter I don't see what you've seen but it doesn't look good from what others have said. I too think its BS to have to spend 70 plus bucks to make it filter the way it should from the factory.

I have a feeling a light coat of K&N will do the trick though. 10 million dirtbikes can't be wrong!

 

[gmax]

I think it's crap that you buy a new PRO chainsaw only to discover the air filter
is substandard, Solo can make decent filters.
These are pics of my 30 year old 655 woolen type filter , nothing but air passes
through it.
Manufactures seem to go around in circles, the latest isn't always the greatest

Brad, I would be sending your pics to Solo, see what they have to say.

 

[Tzed250]

.

This is not a comment about the 681, but about filtration in general.

A few members will make posts claiming the advantage of "better filtration" especially when talking about one saw over a Stihl.

The fact is that even after running in terrible conditions (dry-dead wood, less than totally sharp chain, same airfilter for twelve hours plus, etc.) my 044 has never had that kind of pass through into the intake.

I've never owned a Husqvarna, or any other "turbo" saw, but they must do a really great job of getting rid of junk before it gets to the filter.

The Stihl doesn't do a very good job of keeping particles away from the filter, but what it does do is keep the junk out of the intake.


That is filtration.

Are there options for filter media for the Solo pro saws?


.

 

[johnnylabguy]

Hey, don't get me wrong. That saw rips. I just think it needs a shot of filter lube and its good to go. I guarantee you there are 100's of stihls out there in our members hands that have that much dust in the pickup tube or more that cut every weekend(maybe not every day, but i've seen what the buddies I cut with, ride with, heat their homes with, do for filter maintenance.)

 

[Andyshine77]

Most of the older saws I've ran let significant amounts of fine dust past the filter, and they still seemed to last forever. My 361 was no exception to that rule, In fact it was just as bad or worse than my 7900 filters.opcorn:

I honestly don't think the really fine dust does much harm, but I still don't like it. Since I've started using K&N air filter oil on my 7900 filters, not one speck of dust has passed through them. I eventually plain on getting the HD kit, but honesty a firewood cutter will do just fine with the stock setup and filter oil. The mesh screen Dolmar now uses is a huge improvement over the older setup. Obviously the new Dolmar HD kit looks to be one of the best filter setups on the market.

 

[Justsaws]

.

This is not a comment about the 681, but about filtration in general.

A few members will make posts claiming the advantage of "better filtration" especially when talking about one saw over a Stihl.

The fact is that even after running in terrible conditions (dry-dead wood, less than totally sharp chain, same airfilter for twelve hours plus, etc.) my 044 has never had that kind of pass through into the intake.

I've never owned a Husqvarna, or any other "turbo" saw, but they must do a really great job of getting rid of junk before it gets to the filter.

.

The big stuff gets blown away but the fines pass through just like any other brand. For the most part it reduces the amount of clearly visible build up on the outside of the filter and gives people a false sense of a clean filter. It does work well for its intended purpose which is to lengthen the amount of times between cleanings.

Does the Dolmar kit fit the Solos? Did I miss the answer?

 

[tdi-rick]

And I'm sure most members recall the numerous posts by Aussies showing how even Huskies pass crap through their filters, and warranty is voided in some areas here if filter oil isn't used on larger Husky saws, how the Stihl HD kit was developed for Australia and South Africa because of too much garbage passing the stock filter, etc, how dealers discourage commercial customers in some areas from buying the MS361 because of filter sealing issues, etc. so the problem isn't just limited to one or two brands, they all have problems.

 

[MCW]

Well, no wonder you guys complained! The end user should not have to pay for an upgrade to fix this. This is not acceptible IMHO, and should be repaired at the manufactures expense. Yes, that's a little strong. But I don't see how this could have been missed in R&D. I noticed this from the very first tank of fuel.

For some reason I suspected this would happen mate. I am however surprised it has happened on wood other than the dead Aussie hardwoods that we come across here. That looks way worse than anything I saw with my stock, unoiled 7900 filters. I would push for warranty mate. A handful of Aussies have pushed Stihl Australia into supplying their HD Extreme Conditions filter kit for free. Some filtration systems are obviously better than others but all brands have had issues. Larger cc saws seem to have more problems and as BobL mentioned, and I believe he's right, is that the larger saws draw a lot more air and suck it in harder. The Dolmar HD kits really are awesome and if you can get one to fit that's awesome Brad.

Most of the older saws I've ran let significant amounts of fine dust past the filter, and they still seemed to last forever. My 361 was no exception to that rule, In fact it was just as bad or worse than my 7900 filters.opcorn:

I honestly don't think the really fine dust does much harm, but I still don't like it. Since I've started using K&N air filter oil on my 7900 filters, not one speck of dust has passed through them. I eventually plain on getting the HD kit, but honesty a firewood cutter will do just fine with the stock setup and filter oil. The mesh screen Dolmar now uses is a huge improvement over the older setup. Obviously the new Dolmar HD kit looks to be one of the best filter setups on the market.

Yeah Andy I agree. I was worried in Oz about the particles getting through because you could be sure that in that wood dust there was clay/dust/dirt particles just honing out your bore as you go
Filter oil will definately fix the problem as I had to do it on my stock 7900's filter(s) (maybe at the expense of some power) but the filters will block up 10 times faster. I kept 3 apares handy. The new Dolmar HD filter is worth it's weight in gold...

 

[Tzed250]

The big stuff gets blown away but the fines pass through just like any other brand. For the most part it reduces the amount of clearly visible build up on the outside of the filter and gives people a false sense of a clean filter. It does work well for its intended purpose which is to lengthen the amount of times between cleanings.

Does the Dolmar kit fit the Solos? Did I miss the answer?

To repeat,the fines have never passed through the HD filter system on my 044..


.

 

[MCW]

Fines passing through a filter then cutting dead Redgum are two different stories. If any filter system (like the new Dolmar HD) can pass the dead Redgum test then it is up there with the best. In fact I'm not even sure if I've heard of any non oiled stock filters passing the dead Redgum test, maybe the 372XP Huskies but not even sure about them? Where are ya Al (Aussie1)???\
My 390XP is held up in Customs so haven't had the chance to test the filter system on that saw out yet...

The fines that are passing through Brad's 681 filter aren't even what I would class as fine particles, they're huge. Redgum dust ends up more like a brown paste.

I've used the 7900 in green wood all day and the stock filter looked a treat, get it in dry, dead stuff though and it fails badly.

 

[Jacob J.]

I've tried ordering the Aus HD filter setup for the big Stihl saws here, but Stihl Northwest just tells me to go poop up a rope. That would be an ideal setup for cutting on the big forest fires here. I agree with Matt- those are some big chunks getting through that filter. In fact, the filter itself looks rather mealy.

Yeah all saws ingest a small amount of fine dust and debris over the course of being used and this is usually what kills the main bearings. Debris and vibration.

I have a feeling Brad you'll end up with a stack adapter and some sort of K&N type filter.

 

[blsnelling]

Since I've started using K&N air filter oil on my 7900 filters, not one speck of dust has passed through them.....The mesh screen Dolmar now uses is a huge improvement over the older setup. Obviously the new Dolmar HD kit looks to be one of the best filter setups on the market.

I didn't know you oiled your 7900 filter. I'm sure not surprised though.

I beliebe I'm going to glue in some kind of screen over my cover openings as well. I think that's a great idea on the Dolmar cover, and don't know why they didn't do that on the Solo as well. I'm not sure what to use. I've considered sacrificing an Outerwears. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[blsnelling]

I've tried ordering the Aus HD filter setup for the big Stihl saws here...

What does that filter setup consist of?

 

[Termite]

Filter oil will definately fix the problem as I had to do it on my stock 7900's filter(s) (maybe at the expense of some power) but the filters will block up 10 times faster. I kept 3 apares handy. The new Dolmar HD filter is worth it's weight in gold...


MCW, I thought the oil may have been hurting my performance also. That is why I washed off all visible oil in my parts washer on the 5100 filter. After cutting this time, I still had a perfectly clean air horn. Either the filter still has some oil in it or the parts cleaner dropped the micro level enough to keep out the dirt particles.
Does anyone know what the micron rating on these different filter media is?
As a side note when Cummins went to high pressure common rail fuel injection, they changed the fuel filter specs. from 10micron to 3micron but Dodge continued to install 10micron filters.

 

[Jacob J.]

What does that filter setup consist of?

It's a different style of HD filter cartridge and pre-filter. I've never seen one in person. I tried to get them for both my 066 and 460 because I do so much snag falling on the big fires. Stihl just laughed at me.

Dodge continued to install 10micron filters.

That explains a lot...