Husqvarna 562XP winter kit tips

[Joab]

One mild annoyance I have with my 562XP is the winter kit. In general, I think it's great but my two complaints are:

1. the instructions that it comes with don't describe what all the parts are for.
2. the air plug that closes off the hole from the air box to the cylinder is just a loose thing that you need to keep track of when you take it out -- as opposed to a lot of saws where there is some kind of plastic sliding panel that is open when inserte one way and closed when inserted the other way (but always in the saw).

With regards to point 1. You can use the blue cover (for below -5 celsius or work in loose snow) with or without the screws. If you don't use the screws it just snaps into and out of position. If you plan on using the saw for things like limbing or in otherwise harder use conditions, the screws will ensure it doesn't unsnap itself.

To use the screws, you need to do a little prep work that the provided instructions don't explain.

First you need to drill or poke a small pilot hole in the divot covering the a provided hole in the starter cover (the one that lines up with the lower screw hole in the blue cover). You also need to poke a hole in the sticker in the opposed, upper corner.

This is the lower screw hole divot - it's only thin and you just need drill a small pilot hole (not tiny, just about the same size as the hole around back or slightly smaller):


And this is the lower hole from the back:


The upper hole from the back -- you're just punching a hole in the sticker here:


From the front:



Once you make those holes, then you put the screws in the holes with the o-rings on the end of the screws and then screw them into place. Hand tight until the blue cover is snug. The small o-rings just retain the screws in the holes in the blue cover when you take the thing off and throw it in your toolbox.

 

[Joab]

With regards to point 2 above. It's been cold -- so I had removed the air plug -- but then it turned warmer then next day I was out and I wanted to put it back in. Naturally I had left it in the toolbox in the truck and had to walk back. This is a minor annoyance, but still annoying and so I was having a close look at the inside of the airbox to see if there isn't a good place to tuck it to avoid finding myself without it again. I discovered that there's actually a nice little pocket in the plastic of the right size where you can securely tuck it quite nicely -- I don't think it's an intentional part of the design, but it's a very convenient fit.

 

[Joab]

Had a little trouble with pics on the last post -- here they are. Hopefully self-explanatory. ( The plug I'm talking about, open for temperatures below freezing, closed for warmer, convenient pocket that fits the smaller or larger plugs -- whichever fits your saw).

I'm hoping this is helpful.

 

[Brent Nowell]

Ha! Always wondered what that hole was for, to hold the plug!!

There is a recess on the 372xp similar to that but near the spark plug, I always thought it was for holding a folded up permit or something for woodcutting?

 

[Derf]

And I thought I was being clever when I put my cover in that spot. Now that I see someone else does it I feel like it’s meant to be.

 

[Brent Nowell]

It seems like really all the external cover does is prevent the engine from overcooling. Considering a lot of members here run them even in -10C without the cover, does it even make that much of a difference? A little bit of overcooling would make a slightly rich condition and maybe a loss of top end power, not really a big deal.

maybe the kit is designed more so for snowy conditions in which snow is ingested into the intake. The cover helping keep engine temps up melts the snow, and the plug removed in tandem helps prevent the vapour from icing up the filter.

 

[Joab]

It seems like really all the external cover does is prevent the engine from overcooling. Considering a lot of members here run them even in -10C without the cover, does it even make that much of a difference? A little bit of overcooling would make a slightly rich condition and maybe a loss of top end power, not really a big deal.

maybe the kit is designed more so for snowy conditions in which snow is ingested into the intake. The cover helping keep engine temps up melts the snow, and the plug removed in tandem helps prevent the vapour from icing up the filter.

I think the blue external cover probably helps in extreme cold -- but I don't really know if that starts to be a problem at -15 or -30 because I've almost always used it when it was cold to avoid issues. I haven't tested to know if the saw runs just as well without it.

The only time I've had trouble running without the (blue) cover was a day recently when I was limbing fallen trees with 4 or 6 inches of snow sitting on them -- it wasn't particularly cold, but the saw wouldn't stay running at idle. Putting the cover on remedied the issue.

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[Derf]

The flywheel behind the cover sucks air in and feeds it to the carb box before sending it through the filter.
The external blue cover is to help prevent snow from being sucked into the intake. It is most useful when the saw is put down in non-packed snow, or is operated in areas of lots of falling snow, such as cutting down fir trees laden with snow on their branches that is knocked loose when working under the branches.

The plug is to send warm air (from over the muffler and/or cylinder) to the carb box to prevent the carb from icing. It’s useful to remove the plug if using ethanol gas that has absorbed some moisture while in storage, or when the relative humidity is high and it is also cold enough out that moisture in the air will freeze when rapidly accelerating through the carb.

 

[Joab]

The flywheel behind the cover sucks air in and feeds it to the carb box before sending it through the filter.
The external blue cover is to help prevent snow from being sucked into the intake. It is most useful when the saw is put down in non-packed snow, or is operated in areas of lots of falling snow, such as cutting down fir trees laden with snow on their branches that is knocked loose when working under the branches.

The plug is to send warm air (from over the muffler and/or cylinder) to the carb box to prevent the carb from icing. It’s useful to remove the plug if using ethanol gas that has absorbed some moisture while in storage, or when the relative humidity is high and it is also cold enough out that moisture in the air will freeze when rapidly accelerating through the carb.

That's good information. I had a similar understanding of the purpose of the blue cover (although I don't articulate it as well); but I haven't ever thought of ethanol fuel being a factor in cold weather carb performance.

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[Joab]

That's good information. I had a similar understanding of the purpose of the blue cover (although I don't articulate it as well); but I haven't ever thought of ethanol fuel being a factor in cold weather carb performance.

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It occurs to me -- I didn't explain my complaint about the lack of instructions on the parts.

The instructions from Husqvarna do explain what the blue cover and the black plug are for and when to use them - at least at a basic level.

What I meant is more that they don't explain why there are two plugs and what the screws and o-rings are for -- that's my minor complaint.

I discovered some time ago that the some saws had the smaller hole in the air box and some had the larger - the kit includes both but you only will need one or another.

The screws and o-rings aren't useful without the minor prep work described above.

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