Dolmar Red Coil: finding OEM vs. Chinese clones.

[eugene89us]

I have pretty much lost any hope of locating a spare Dolmar high-speed coil. However, I understand that lower speed red Dolmar coil with part number 181 143 204 will work with Dolmar chainsaws prior to 2010. Does anyone have a spare red coil they may be willing to give up? If not, any prior experience with any of the Chinese clones on the internet? I understand Dolmar 510 was also running the same 204 red coil.

 

[eugene89us]

Took a bit of persistence, but found a gently used 204 coil. The shop that sold it to me states it was brand new and was fitted to a machine, but was taken off after a brief testing with it. There are certainly marks of that being the case (including flywheel that was likely placed too close to armature), but coil was tested to be working. Interestingly, compared to Chinese coil for half the price, the actual geometry of 204 coil is flatter than Chinese. It will still work, no doubt, but different than OEM.

I still don't know why everyone, me included, is worry about future of repair for pre 2010 models. There is a lot of talk on these forums - most here do not seem to have much drive to find alternate solutions, but Germans actually tested old machines with new 214 black coils. They work just fine. All you have to do is sever/grind the key on the flywheel and move it precisely 90 degrees clockwise. The black coil will then work as a replacement to 204 coil. I am running 110 coil now, so certainly there will be speed limitations going to post 2010 coil, but if you're in a bind - 13,500 rpm is good enough to make it work again.