Stihl should be ashamed of themselves.

[Chris1044]

Looks like there was a parts issue on the early serial number saws and they have improved it, but chose to not fix the old ones.
I got good life out of mine in spite of the issue. But I’m guessing it’s about half what I I should have done on piston #1. I’m gonna put a meteor in it I guess. Not willing to spend the money for the Stihl kit with piston and jug.

So you have a 500 which is low on compression after _____ hours?

Curious how much a piston/ring and jug cost? I would think availability is a real problem on them as well

 

[Gabriel1982]

Its a non issue! Tell ya what, if anybody wants to PM me a cell number to send a pic to so you can post it, I will go outside right now, pull my 3?4? week old 500i out of the truck, pop the cover off, and send you a pic to post right here. Ive probably cut 75000 ft or so with it now and Ive yet to take the cover off and look at the filter so you will be seeing it for the 1st time just like me. I AM NOT CONCERNED WITH THE FILTRATION AT ALL! Put up or shut up! as they say.

It hapened to me too today. The air filter somehow got loose or maybe I didn't screw it tight enough... If I ruined the Makita EA6100P cylinder or everything inside ,that's that... Although I use Motul 2T 800 offroad in it. Maybe it's not all destroyed. Doesn't sounds different and was used only half an hour... But it was "kind of" dusty along with oily stuff at the "entrance into carburettor"...
This air filtration must be chequed frequently since they're 2 stroke engines and any dust sucked inside the engine would act like grinding paste on all components inside the engine... Gave it a good clean up ,hope it's ok ,barely used 3 tanks of gas

 

[Huntaholic]

It hapened to me too today. The air filter somehow got loose or maybe I didn't screw it tight enough... If I ruined the Makita EA6100P cylinder or everything inside ,that's that... Although I use Motul 2T 800 offroad in it. Maybe it's not all destroyed. Doesn't sounds different and was used only half an hour... But it was "kind of" dusty along with oily stuff at the "entrance into carburettor"...
This air filtration must be chequed frequently since they're 2 stroke engines and any dust sucked inside the engine would act like grinding paste on all components inside the engine... Gave it a good clean up ,hope it's ok ,barely used 3 tanks of gas

Chances are your saw is fine. A little oily dirty residue is perfectly normal and Ive seen it in every saw Ive ever ran except this Stihl and its SPOTLESS.
As to the poster who said "its a month old saw, get back to me when you've wore a piston out", Id be willing to bet that unless you mill with yours or cut professionally, my month old saw already has more run time on it than the average person runs one in a year.
Ive never been a Stihl fan, but Im man enough to give credit where credit is due and Stihl hit a bottom of the 9th, grand slam, game winning, home run with this saw

 

[SamT1]

As to the poster who said "its a month old saw, get back to me when you've wore a piston out", Id be willing to bet that unless you mill with yours or cut professionally, my month old saw already has more run time on it than the average person runs one in a year.
Ive never been a Stihl fan, but Im man enough to give credit where credit is due and Stihl hit a bottom of the 9th, grand slam, game winning, home run with this saw

Who buys a 500i and isn’t a professional? I just finished my first 6 pack of rim sprockets last week on this saw. I don’t know how many hours that is. About 150’ of chain through it. I’m guessing the shop could hook it to the computer and tell me. But I’m guessing piston #1 ran Half as long as it would have with proper filtration. It still runs. But more like an 044 power wise.

So you have a 500 which is low on compression after _____ hours?

Curious how much a piston/ring and jug cost? I would think availability is a real problem on them as well

no idea of hours. But best guess is about half the amount of wood I’ve been cutting with similar saws. If I remember right the jug and piston I found was $400. Genuine Stihl. Piston lists for $65 at local dealer, but isn’t available.


don’t get me wrong, I’d buy another. I’m just very disappointed in the air filtration. I’d have traded it for a new one and let it be someone else’s problem if my dealer had one.

 

[Gabriel1982]

Chances are your saw is fine. A little oily dirty residue is perfectly normal and Ive seen it in every saw Ive ever ran except this Stihl and its SPOTLESS.
As to the poster who said "its a month old saw, get back to me when you've wore a piston out", Id be willing to bet that unless you mill with yours or cut professionally, my month old saw already has more run time on it than the average person runs one in a year.
Ive never been a Stihl fan, but Im man enough to give credit where credit is due and Stihl hit a bottom of the 9th, grand slam, game winning, home run with this saw

Couldn't "resist temptation" and removed the exhaust. There are some marks ,maybe scores on the cylinder but for my eyes are nothing. Probably wouldn't be felt with a finger/nail .
Will be a lot more carefull from now on.
These photos are the best I can do. This smartphone takes nice photos but doesn't focus like human eye...
Even video 4K doesn't show the cylinder as it...

 

[ken morgan]

Euell Gibbons... the health food/outdoors guy who died at 64.

He was a "guru" for healthy living and did TV commercials for Grape Nuts cereal in the early 70s. The irony of his dying at 64 was not lost on people even if the world wide web and social media didn't exist yet!

pretty sure he died of an inherited genetic disease of some sort and not due to his lifestyle or the type of food he ate.

 

[user 122190]

Who buys a 500i and isn’t a professional?

What do you consider a professional?

 

[Gabriel1982]

What do you consider a professional?

Aren't "professional" those that do a thing for a living? In this case someone that earns a living by using a gas chainsaw daily! Makes sense to buy the latest professional chainsaw,with all the improvements and the quality of a product a individual demands if he's gonna use it 8-10 hours a day,EVERYDAY! "Non-professionals just buy a chainsaw to use it 2,3,4 times a year and that's it. Someone like me
Although I kind of enjoy cutting big logs, makes me sweat and getting tired but I like it. May search for logs to cut down in free time! Second job

 

[user 122190]

Who buys a 500i and isn’t a professional?

Aren't "professional" those that do a thing for a living? In this case someone that earns a living by using a gas chainsaw daily! Makes sense to buy the latest professional chainsaw,with all the improvements and the quality of a product a individual demands if he's gonna use it 8-10 hours a day,EVERYDAY! "Non-professionals just buy a chainsaw to use it 2,3,4 times a year and that's it. Someone like me
Although I kind of enjoy cutting big logs, makes me sweat and getting tired but I like it. May search for logs to cut down in free time! Second job

By your definition then I'm definitely not a "professional", but I use my saw a lot more then 2,3,4 times a year, so I'm not a "Non-professional". And yet I own a 500i. Seems we are lacking enough descriptions for saw users. Or maybe everybody just needs to calm down, and breathe a little.

There is plenty of evidence that many saw users on this site spend more time buying saws then they do using saws.

 

[Gabriel1982]

By your definition then I'm definitely not a "professional", but I use my saw a lot more then 2,3,4 times a year, so I'm not a "Non-professional". And yet I own a 500i. Seems we are lacking enough descriptions for saw users. Or maybe everybody just needs to calm down, and breathe a little.

There is plenty of evidence that many saw users on this site spend more time buying saws then they do using saws.

I'm calm . Couldn't be more calmer. I would ve asleep by then
And yes, if you use a gas chainsaw more often then 2-4 times a year ,you do need a professional chainsaw. Just to make your life easier. I may fall into that category of guys that buy a saw use it 2-4 times a year then forget about it...
But I can't go around cutting trees at random

 

[user 122190]

I'm calm . Couldn't be more calmer. I would ve asleep by then
And yes, if you use a gas chainsaw more often then 2-4 times a year ,you do need a professional chainsaw. Just to make your life easier. I may fall into that category of guys that buy a saw use it 2-4 times a year then forget about it...
But I can't go around cutting trees at random

My neighbors and I cut about the same amount of wood a year. 2 of them have farm-boss/rancher saws and have a lot of problems with them, whereas my "Pro" saws are bullet proof. My sold 461 was a "pro" saw and ran perfectly for 5+ years. My ms290, a rancher saw, was constantly being diagnose and adjusted to keep running properly.

Pro saws are for frequent and sometimes heavy users. You don't need to be a "Professional" to justify owning a Pro saw.

In fact on this site, you don't even have to use the saw(s). There are plenty of "Collectors" on this site, that buy and buy and buy, to feed some pretend disorder called CAD.

 

[Gabriel1982]

My neighbors and I cut about the same amount of wood a year. 2 of them have farm-boss/rancher saws and have a lot of problems with them, whereas my "Pro" saws are bullet proof. My sold 461 was a "pro" saw and ran perfectly for 5+ years. My ms290, a rancher saw, was constantly being diagnose and adjusted to keep running properly.

Pro saws are for frequent and sometimes heavy users. You don't need to be a "Professional" to justify owning a Pro saw.

In fact on this site, you don't even have to use the saw(s). There are plenty of "Collectors" on this site, that buy and buy and buy, to feed some pretend disorder called CAD.

Hold on ,what is CAD? I bought ONE saw Makita EA6100P because I need one for cutting firewood a few times a year. At first I was set on the biggest Husqvarna I could find. But a friend who own a Makita Dcs-6400 convincend me to get a Makita. I was again set on Makita 7900... Almost gave up(because could not find a brand new makita gas chainsaw) ,but luck was with me and found the EA6100P. I wouldn't get another saw unless I would cut wood daily and needed a back-up tool on wich I can rely on!
I'm not into collecting things. Used to do that but I got bored,sold everything that could be sold, took to scrap iron yard the rest or out to trash. The older I get the less things I need or feel the need to own or have around. Lost interest in material things. Only like to have around things or people who make me feel happy. The rest is pointless $hit for me!

 

[SamT1]

What do you consider a professional?

Someone who runs the saw for a significant portion of their income.

It’s painfully obvious that most the guys here telling me it’s a non issue haven’t even cleaned their air filter until they saw this thread. Much less worn out a single rim sprocket (wear item).

 

[KarlD]

Someone who runs the saw for a significant portion of their income.

It’s painfully obvious that most the guys here telling me it’s a non issue haven’t even cleaned their air filter until they saw this thread. Much less worn out a single rim sprocket (wear item).

Been running my 500i ‘professionally’ for over two years.
What is 100% apparent is NOBODY is evidencing all these failed and or low compression 500i’s out there.
I’m done with this BS.

 

[Gabriel1982]

Someone who runs the saw for a significant portion of their income.

It’s painfully obvious that most the guys here telling me it’s a non issue haven’t even cleaned their air filter until they saw this thread. Much less worn out a single rim sprocket (wear item).

But it says even in the user manual for my Makita EA6100P to check or clean the air filter at various intervals of time/use...
Even replace it if necesary!
How can someone who bought a 500i not read the user manual before actually using it?!

 

[SamT1]

What is 100% apparent is NOBODY is evidencing all these failed and or low compression 500i’s out there.
I’m done with this BS.

I hearby officially release you from any obligation to read or comment in any thread you are done with.

 

[Huntaholic]

Someone who runs the saw for a significant portion of their income.

It’s painfully obvious that most the guys here telling me it’s a non issue haven’t even cleaned their air filter until they saw this thread. Much less worn out a single rim sprocket (wear item).

IF you've only ran 150 ft or so of chain through it and already worn out that many sprockets, Theres another issue with your saw besides a MINUTE sniff of fine sawdust getting past the filter! Ive never really kept up with how many chains Ive ran or how many sprockets Ive worn out before a saw is worn out. Your figures seem very excessive to me though. How many bars have you worn out? Something just doesn't add up.

 

[KarlD]

I hearby officially release you from any obligation to read or comment in any thread you are done with.

Thank you Sir

 

[SamT1]

I’m just running 18” bars 66dl. I’ve run 2 tsumura bars starting at .050 working my way to .063. When I bought the saw I moved a bar that was .058 to it and finished it off. I’m still running .050 chain on the bar on it currently. So say 3 bars spent so far
I’m running 8 pin rims.
I cut mesquite only. 75% of it has been dead long enough there’s no bark on it. I sneak some green stuff in when I can.
For what I cut the 18” bar and 8 pin rim loads the saw all it wants. I’ve already put 1 clutch on this saw. I run a mix of Stihl 33rs and the archer copy chain depending on what I can get a deal on.
I’ve run almost exclusively Stihl saws my whole life in exactly the same conditions. And it’s not fines coming through the filter. It is bigger stuff sneaking in under the base of the filter.

 

[PV Hiker]

... And it’s not fines coming through the filter. It is bigger stuff sneaking in under the base of the filter.

Then why won't you try putting some DOW-Corning

Silicone-Based High Vacuum Grease around the back side. I use it and get ZERO fines around it.​