Defdice, it sounds like the exact same trouble I had. That bugged me that there was that much dust getting onto the airbox to begin with. I suspected the chain cover was leaking on the topand being so close to the bottom of the opening in the airbox, that that was where the problem was. Echo bought the saw back before I could scope it out further. I stumbled onto another 4910 on fakebook for a reasonable price and bought it. This one does not leak at the top of the chain cover and does not pile dust on top of the filter and plug it tight. A minor muffler mod and removing the carb limiters, this thing is a beast for a 50cc saw. It seemed to pull the 18" bar better than the Stihl 261cm. I just like the feel and the way it cuts better than the 261 and sold it to a friend. Just a couple ergonomic things aboujt the stihl i didn;t like.