Stuck Sprockets on Stored Saws...

[Woodsnake]

Hello,

I have a Husky 336, and a 555, both excellent saws, and the sprockets on the bars are both stuck. I sprayed some PB Blaster and let them sit for a day and no luck. Maybe I need to soak them for a while in something? My family and I moved to the Olympic Peninsula from Wisconsin 3 years ago, and in Wisco we generally cut about 18 cords of wood a year, and my saws were in regular use. When we moved we've been building our own house so the saws have sat. They've been on a plastic shelf in a carport shelter all that time and now I pull them out, and anywhere where there is residue from canola oil (I use as bar oil) has turned black, and the sprockets are frozen. Any advice? Maybe heating them up? Soaking them in some kind of solvent?

Thanks.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

The canola oil has polymerized and basically turned into plastic. I hate to think what the rest of the saw looks like. Good luck cleaning that up. I’ve tried many different cleaners, solvents, etc so far nothing has been effective at removing that stuff. Bit of heat is probably your best option at this point. That and start using actual bar oil.

 

[altatim]

It takes an alkaline based cleaner to remove polymerized oils which is not good for aluminum or magnesium for that matter. Best to stick with oils that don't turn change state lol. Best to soak in some sort of organic solvent or get out a toothbrush and start scubbing with hot water

 

[Mad Professor]

The canola oil has polymerized and basically turned into plastic. I hate to think what the rest of the saw looks like. Good luck cleaning that up. I’ve tried many different cleaners, solvents, etc so far nothing has been effective at removing that stuff. Bit of heat is probably your best option at this point. That and start using actual bar oil.

Yup, Stihl bio-oil does that too.

I had to pry the chain from the bar with a screwdriver to get it out of the rails. No solvents I tried would free the sprocket tip. I didn't try halogenaled stuff like TCE/DCM.

I took a piece of scrap wood and beat the sprocket teeth with a hammer, bar in a vice. Eventually I got the sprocket to move, then turn.

It takes an alkaline based cleaner to remove polymerized oils which is not good for aluminum or magnesium for that matter. Best to stick with oils that don't turn change state lol.

Yes, stay away from that stuff unless you clean it all up.

Best to soak in some sort of organic solvent or get out a toothbrush and start scubbing with hot water

I'm an Organic Chemist, I tried about every solvent except halogenated ones, no go.

Chain I never got to free up all the way.

I didn't try using lye/oven cleaner, that might work. A good idea. Will put the chain in some drain cleaner/lye solution. Maybe boil it too.....

 

[Gord404]

oil pump is probably stuck as well and clutch- from my own expirance on getting in saws like that.- had a 440 come in that overheated,- couldn't hardly see the fins on the cylinder anymore and very difficult to get the crap out between the fins

 

[Woodsnake]

The canola oil has polymerized and basically turned into plastic. I hate to think what the rest of the saw looks like. Good luck cleaning that up. I’ve tried many different cleaners, solvents, etc so far nothing has been effective at removing that stuff. Bit of heat is probably your best option at this point. That and start using actual bar oil.

Oh, this sounds like fun. Well most of the black stuff on the saw fortunately, only on one of them, has a really thick greasy quality to it. I’m wondering about a power wash with warm water.

I’m curious why you suggest to stop using the canola oil other than this obvious problem. I’ve read on this and other forums about a lot of people using canola instead of regular bar oil and I’ve been using canola for years through an awful lot of chainsaw use, and it has worked great. The only problems I’ve had with it is you better keep your chains sharp because if you start cutting with a dull chain the heat can get the canola oil to turn gummy. Otherwise it has worked extremely well.

 

[Woodsnake]

Somehow all these follow-up comments were not here when I made my reply, so I didn’t have that information when I wrote that comment. I don’t think in any of these posts anyone mentioned anything about using heat to get the sprocket free, any more input on that possibility?

 

[cookies]

Somehow all these follow-up comments were not here when I made my reply, so I didn’t have that information when I wrote that comment. I don’t think in any of these posts anyone mentioned anything about using heat to get the sprocket free, any more input on that possibility?

try boiling the bar tips in water for 10 minutes then tap them with a brass hammer, strong commercial degreaser will break it down slowly, diesel seems to work if soaked in it. I would not go over 300 degrees for fear of making things worse by turning it into carbon, sticky goo mixed with the polymerized mess

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

I use canola oil to season my cast iron skillet. Put the oil on the skillet - a very thin coat - put it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. The heat speeds up the polymerization. Dip the tip in boiling water for a while like @cookies said. I freed up a frozen sprocket (not an oil problem, but dirt AND bar oil) by taking it off the saw, and 'rolling' or trying to roll the nose sprocket on a piece of medium hard wood. Did that a few times, and scratched the heck out of the wood, making grooves, and then the tip started to move. Back and forth until it loosened up.

 

[holeycow]

This infatuation of using a totally unsuitable oil as bar oil is ridiculous. The real detrimental environmental effect of a wee bit of regular bar oil spraying around is 0. You are not saving the planet using vegetable oil as bar oil. You are just wrecking your equipment.

 

[Woodsnake]

This infatuation of using a totally unsuitable oil as bar oil is ridiculous. The real detrimental environmental effect of a wee bit of regular bar oil spraying around is 0. You are not saving the planet using vegetable oil as bar oil. You are just wrecking your equipment.

I wouldn't call it an infatuation. While researching something else either on this site or another, I stumbled upon other sawyers, and not just a few, using canola oil as bar oil, some of them professional loggers. I used it for several years (at lest 6 seasons cutting wood start to finish from dropping trees, limbing, and bucking 18 cords a season) without a problem in the least, so your comment doesn't hold up to my direct experience. I'm not saying that I'm not going to change back to regular bar oil, as this circumstance sucks, and my saw use for now is going to be much more sporadic, but I am saying my experience does not reflect your statement. I'm surprised that this issue was not discussed when I did my prior research. At the time, there were enough people who suggested there was no ill effects, and over my time of using it quite a lot, I didn't notice any, and if I can make a better choice from a standpoint of sustainability I will.

 

[drumbum]

Get some Rooto lye crystals( drain opener) from ace hardware.
You can mix it strong or weak. Great for neutralizing acids too.

If it will strip a cast iron pan from polymerized oil "seasoning",....it should work on the canola.

 

[NSEric]

I wonder what soaking in hot water and dish soap will do to it?
It works for burnt oil on dishes.

 

[Mad Professor]

I use canola oil to season my cast iron skillet. Put the oil on the skillet - a very thin coat - put it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. The heat speeds up the polymerization. Dip the tip in boiling water for a while like @cookies said. I freed up a frozen sprocket (not an oil problem, but dirt AND bar oil) by taking it off the saw, and 'rolling' or trying to roll the nose sprocket on a piece of medium hard wood. Did that a few times, and scratched the heck out of the wood, making grooves, and then the tip started to move. Back and forth until it loosened up.

I use bacon fat only on my skillets. I won't eat canola oil, unless it is snuck in as an "ingredient".

Get some Rooto lye crystals( drain opener) from ace hardware.
You can mix it strong or weak. Great for neutralizing acids too.

If it will strip a cast iron pan from polymerized oil "seasoning",....it should work on the canola.

I'm trying that on the chain soon, will post results.

I wonder what soaking in hot water and dish soap will do to it?
It works for burnt oil on dishes.

Absolutely nothing.

 

[Chainsaw Pete]

I wouldn't call it an infatuation.....

It sounds to me like continuous use will flush out old oil and replace it with new. Infrequent use and storage of a saw with oil that will polymerize is probably the problem.

Get some Rooto lye crystals( drain opener) from ace hardware....

At least one member here cleans his chains in his ultrasonic cleaner using lye. This will not be a problem for a steel chain, or bar, but if aluminum is present, it will not like the lye. Any questions, PM @Sidecarflip.

 

[Sidecarflip]

I use lye crystals in water heated in my ultrasonic cleaner prior to grinding customers (and my chain loops). The heated lye solution removes all the accumulated swarf from the chains so they don't load up my CBN grinding wheels but.. If you use a lye solution, it will strip any and all oil from the chain loops as well and they will start to rust pretty quick so soon as I grind them, they go in a 5 gallon bucket of motor oil and then get drained before they go back to my customers.

I bet the lye solution would at least soften the gooey canola oil.

Guess I'm not 'green; as I would never use canola oil for bar / chain lubricant in the first place.