More 'Fear Factor' for you...
All good fear factor ponts, but the IEM has been in test in Europe for over 18 months... If you're worried, let someone else be the early adopter, and wait and see... This sounds much like the 361 and 441 early days.... and Stihl got those right.
Wow. 18 months... I remember the K-Cars getting great reviews in the rags for at least that long. The first of those had electronic carbs too. I've had more than my share of working on electronic carbs. Granted, I have more faith in Stihl than the early eighties auto makers...
The 361 and 441 didn't introduce anything as radical as the IEM. The flak with them had more to to with the 'why fix what ain't broke' question. Stratified Charge is fine with me (as long as I'm 'allowed' to adjust the carb to where it runs right). I don't particularly mind a different method of porting. Otherwise, I'd be against any 2-stroke that had transfer ports!!!
If the IEM delivers, it will mean less end-user issues rather than more. Best thing that ever happened to cars was computer controlled injection...
Less end-user issues with the 'Home Depot' consumer types (that Stihl is supposedly avoiding with their marketing decisions) seems more on target to me. It'll more efectively get rid of the pesky 'issues' that limiter caps and fixed jet carbs couldn't quite take care of. Gotta keep the rubes from tinkering with the mixture parameters. I take it you never change the limiter caps from their factory positions on the needles.
They talk about never having to adjust the HSN again. Whoopie. For an "I just put gas in and pull" easy2start-lovin' schmuck (and understandably you dealers that have to service their saws), that sounds like a good thing. For me it means that the user is forced to run the fuel mixture parameters that the manufacturer builds into the system (by choice and/or by mandate from the EPA). Don't be shocked but I (and probably one or two A/S folks)
actualy like to be able to tune my/our equipment to where I/we believe it's running
at its best, NOT where someone who's hundreds or thousands of miles away (and cares-or is forced to care more about emissions than saw longevity or performance) thinks it
should be.
BTW-your automotive point is a matter of opinion. Some of us kooks still run carbureted trucks (and mechanicaly injected diesels) by choice when 'allowed to' by the powers that be. Granted, EFI is probably best for the family car (turn the key, push the 'go pedal'...), but not necessarily for the guys that like to tune and repair their own equipment. The vehicles that I use in the back woods are almost all mechanical, with the exception of a Pertronix module (which I can quickly replace with a set of points in the field if it fries). Do I have EFI vehicles in the stable? Yes (including the family car and my commuter), largely because my state just about FORCES me to with ever tightening smog laws, but that's definately another thread. For example, my friend is being forced by the smog-nazis to stop driving his good running, un-tampered-with '86 FJ60 because it won't pass a test it was never designed to take! Ah Kalifornia...
BTW - the fuel is clean in the carb... that's what fuel filters and inlet screens are for. If you leave fuel in the carb for a year, that's another problem.
Have you worked on EFI automobiles much? Clean fuel for a carbureted engine is NOT suficient for an injected (or solenoid controlled) engine. Take a look at a carbureted car's filter and compare it to an EFI filter. A carb-spec filter is small and much more porus than an EFI filter (which catches much smaller crap). EFI systems usualy have a powerful in-tank pump that pushes the fuel through those large, fine filters. Injectors (magnetic valves) are much less tolerant of small amounts of water and fine particals than any conventional carb. The junk that buggers up injectors is often too small to see with the naked eye.
The magnetic valves in those damn computer controlled carbs in many early '80s cars had many problems with dirty fuel. Not dirty because it 'sat for a year' (and BTW- modern Cal-spec fuel goes bad in 30-90 days, read the service bulletins) but dirty because of the crap that just plain finds its way into pump fuel (water, particals finer than what gets stopped by normal filters). I'd be very surprised if a chainsaw clunk-type filter (or the screen in many saw carbs) is any where near as effective as a true EFI filter setup. How much crap have you seen accumulated inside the fuel tanks of the many saws you've serviced over the years?
33 times a second is actually quite slow in comparison to the pressure changes and diaphragm movements inside the carb.. And if the IEM fails, it covered by a lifetime warranty for the original owner. The solenoid is replacable and the carb can be kitted.
I think you'll see this or similar on many more saw in the future.
I conceed to the 33hertz point. The Stihl guys aren't stupid. They've probably engineered the system where there won't be more problems than their warrantee program can handle. However, I like to be able to work on my equipment in the field. Taking the saw back to the dealer isn't an option when I'm six hours into the sticks on a jeep trail (I sometimes collect firewood on NF land as well as private ranches).
I can see that mine is indeed the kook point of view however, as my points are percieved (and dismissed???) as 'Fear Factor' in nature. I figured as much, and donned my foil cap PPE from the get-go. My favorite vehicles are my old International Harvester Scouts, my '71 International Harvester Crew Cab 4X4 3/4-ton pickup (still gotta take some pics and post
that rig in the 'Quad Cab' thread...), and my mechanicaly injected (International 6.9)diesel Ford pickup, so you've gotta consider the source (hint-look at my username).
Oh, and despite this all I wanna buy an MS361 soon as the CFO lets me! I better do it before Stihl decides
that great saw needs IEM and a cat!!!
Regards,
-Aaron
