Loctite?

[Jed]

I'm just curious as to how many of you guys have a 044/440 that's falling apart at the seams. I'm one of those goofy arborists who pounds out a mismatched undercut with the dogs, so I gave up on the dog screws long ago, but now I've got new problems. Two years ago, the caribeener on my lanyard ripped right through the handle on the darn thing so I had to replace the gas tank. To weeks ago I ported the cylinder and muffler, and it seems like just from taking the thing apart those two times: none of the screws that hold on the orange shrouds will stay put. An older guy at work told me to put some Loctite 271 on em' but I'm scared. What do you guys do?

 

[SkwerI]

I don't know what 271 is, but are the screws going into plastic or metal? On screws going into metal you can use the blue Loctite. The red requires heat to break loose so that's for semi permanent connections.

 

[Al Smith]

If you ever want to get it apart again don't use red Loctite .Buuuut keep in mind a screw that is not tightened to torque will fail faster than a properly torqued screw which includes backing out . A screw is like a big spring under tension to put it simpley .

 

[cybergeek23851]

At the most, I'd use Loctite 242. This is the BLUE low strength thread locker. Like Al said, don't use the red (Loctite 271). That takes an application of heat to break it down to unfasten, as well as the green (290)

 

[Jed]

As usual: thanks tons Al and Skwerl. Thanks cybergeek. BLUE!!! Got it. Will do.

 

[sotc]

Or torque them a little more, think about how the screws tend to snap free the first time you remove them, takes a bit of effort

 

[Jed]

Yeah.... Thanks Willie: I'm thinkin' that you and Al are right about the tension thing. His "spring" analogy really made sense to me. I'm always (absurdly) scared of over-tightening stuff--as if everything were made of plastic!

 

[Al Smith]

No big deal .The geometry of screwed fasteners is something I do on an every day bassis.

---Ha bet a lot of people thought all I did was change light bulbs -----

 

[rskybiz]

Al I bet yours are almost all T handles

 

[Al Smith]

Some yes but for what I consider critical I use a torque wrench .I have three little 1/4"

A Snap -on dial ,Wiha torque beam release and a regular torque beam of which I forgot the name of .

Oh Torque wrenchs .Lawd only knows I have a ton of them .From those itty bitty ones to 250 foot pound half inch plus the mulitplier to take it to over 600. Of course I don't use those things on saw engines .

 

[rskybiz]

Sorry to Hijack for a moment, I just know that when I discovered those T handles life got easier

 

[Al Smith]

Good info,no need to apologize for a good piece of information .

 

[sotc]

I use a torx bit in my cordless drill or impact when I do several of those screws.

 

[GASoline71]

044/440's "shouldn't" be falling apart at the seams. They are one of the more forgiving saws in Stihls lineup with the older rubber anti-vibe system. Like Willie said earlier... maybe just a hair more on tightening the fasteners. Most of the fasteners on Stihl saws have "teeth" on the underside of the bolt head so the have a little bite to them.

Gary

 

[Al Smith]

Stihl uses wide headed torx type fasteners which are superior to standard grade 8 socket heads .The widder head does two things .First it gains better "purchase " on the part thusly making it less prone to backing out .Plus the torx design is less prone to failure than a socket head .

What happens on an improperly torqued fastener is also two fold ,.First due to the fact it is like a spring improperly tighten it has the abilty to stretch .With this ability to stretch it acts like the fulcrum of a class 3 lever if you remember high school physics .

Even with very little movement in the fulcrum or point of attachement it has more mechanical advantage to act in such a way it attempts to pull the fastener out of the threads and eventually there will be a thread failure on an undertorqued fastener .----clear as mud ----

 

[Jed]

Al: Do personally, ever put loctite in anything?

 

[Al Smith]

Seldom and usually not red . Every so often on a nut that keeps loosening I might use it but it takes heat to release it .About like installing a rivet .

Now I did red Loctite a seal in an 038 Mag that keeps blowing out for reasons unknown to me .I have no idea what could have caused the seal pocket to erode other than over 20 years of hard service for a tree trimming company .I'm surprised it lived that long .

Oh before I forget I have used the red stuff to repair carbs on the 200T's with semi successful results .

 

[bill22]

Yeah, I did that to mine after you recommended it when I put a tank vent and carb kit in it. Worked great, Thanks Al.

 

[Al Smith]

I still don't know how a person could tear a tank vent off a 200T unless someone had it apart and didn't know how to reassemble it .Stihl did an excellant job of tucking that thing out of the way in such a way as to protect it from some such thing . Nothings impossible I suppose .