What's the most recent reed valve saw that was made?

[Mark71GTX]

Have you checked compression? You might need rings.

 

[Greenthorn]

Thought I read somewhere from somebody that the dolmar 5100 and 6100 had reed valves?

 

[ray benson]

Meanwhile, back to the Poulan 1800 ...
Ray, wow, an old service manual!! Thanks so much. Based on the instructions therein, I don't think my issue is the reed valve. It says that there should be no more than a maximum gap of .010" between the tip of the petal and its seating surface. Mine actually looks flush on the surface but it is definitely not more than .010. It also is not bent or damaged. My concern was that the valve was not opening to allow fuel from carb to cylinder. But I can push it open with light pressure. So, should I presume that it is, in fact, opening via the pulse action of the piston and cylinder and thus not preventing gas/air from entering?

View attachment 478376

Looks good. I have an old Homelite that had bent reeds. Turned them over but didn't trust them. So I replaced them.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

1996 is old? I have underwear and socks older than that!

 

[stubnail67]

Echo still has a couple of reed valve engine saws in production, CS-346 and CS-306? (Can't remember the exact model numbers this early in the morning). They are variants of the 300-301's-3400-3450's, etc.

They are decent little saws, but WAY down on power compared to thier piston ported counterparts. Rugged and reliable little saws otherwise, but not comparable anyplace to the CS-330/CS-360T, CS-370/CS-400 models that replaced them......Cliff

the 303 also

 

[stubnail67]

the 303 also

woops that would be a variant LOL

 

[fordf150]

Thought I read somewhere from somebody that the dolmar 5100 and 6100 had reed valves?

6100 has reeds on the strato.

hey @Chris-PA the dolly 3410 meets your requirements as well. reed valved with A/V and brake

 

[rmihalek]

Just had a Homelite 240 land on my workbench. Quick inspection revealed a beautiful exhaust side piston skirt and a reed valve intake,

 

[ackack]

It has been my experience with 2-strokes that a shot of carb cleaner through the throat of the carb will get a unit running, even if only temporarily. But sometimes it tends to wake things up so that gas can start flowing from the tank - especially on non-primer bulb carbs like the one on my vintage Poulan. If one tried this with a reed valve intake, would the reed initially prevent the starting fluid from entering the cylinder? But then the reed would open as the starter rope was pulled creating pressure from the action of the piston? Just curious.

 

[LegDeLimber]

A few drops of mixed fuel should do it. The fuel will sort of puddle on top of the reed
and weep around it.
IF everything else is good with your saw, this should be enough to prime it.

Actually..... If all is good, but just a a dry carb, You can hold your thumb over the carb bore and pull the recoil to prime it.
With the carb completely blocked like that, about three pulls of the entire rope length, should draw fuel and be close to flooding it.

 

[ackack]

So, the thumb technique mimics the choke, which in the case of my 1800 is simply a thin metal piece that slides over the carb bore, but with more effect because an even greater vacuum is created thus suctioning gas from the tank. Is that basically it?

 

[Mark71GTX]

Yes

 

[bikemike]

Don't try it on a echo 340T unless the b/c are off.

 

[Franny K]

hey @Chris-PA the dolly 3410 meets your requirements as well. reed valved with A/V and brake

Is there a rear handle variant to a 3410? Even still for performance the reed cage should kind of fill the under side of the piston instead of the opposite end of the crank cavity from the cylinder.

 

[fordf150]

Is there a rear handle variant to a 3410? Even still for performance the reed cage should kind of fill the under side of the piston instead of the opposite end of the crank cavity from the cylinder.

yes there was a rear handle version. PS-3410. I think 166 has one of them...

 

[nenicu]

In Italy McCulloch still makes reed saw's. McCulloch PM 374 in other thread. I editedv cuz i did't knew the name of that saw. They build on the same case a few models.

 

[ackack]

Thanks to help here, I determined that the reed valve on my 1800 is ok. So, today I rechecked everything, removed and reexamined the carb diaphragms and gaskets, needle, screen ... everything. Put it all back together and started yanking the recoil. Nothing. Gas is moving down the fuel line (on this model you can see about 8" of line between the carb & tank if you remove the handle top cover) and there is spark by grounding the plug against the cylinder wall. May check compression, as suggested byMark71, by borrowing a tester from Autozone. I haven't done so previously because the pull cord has good resistance and the piston looks good through the exhaust port (tiny scoring maybe, but no deep grooves. I've seen worse where a tool ran just fine). Exhaust port is clear as is the spark arrestor screen. Ring on the piston is not stuck, I poked & moved it with a small screwdriver when I was examining the exhaust port.

At a loss here.

BTW, what is a good # for compression on a Poulan 1800 ... anybody know?

 

[bikemike]

Is the flywheel key good? If it's broke you can get spark but if not timed rite may not get it to pop off

 

[ackack]

Good thought, Mike. I took the flywheel off when I cleaned the saw and lined the key up when I put it back. But I'm going to check it again just to be sure. The key is part of the flywheel (one piece) on this model so if it is broken, it's an expensive repair.

 

[bikemike]

Good thought, Mike. I took the flywheel off when I cleaned the saw and lined the key up when I put it back. But I'm going to check it again just to be sure. The key is part of the flywheel (one piece) on this model so if it is broken, it's an expensive repair.

If it is the case of broke flywheel, they can be found cheep as those saws are old and not real desirable to most ppl. It might be ok if it was puller recently. I'm still betting on carb issue even tho it pulls fuel but might not be delivering it.