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Is a Spark Arrestor really Necessary?

#1

D

deminin

Yesterday, I tried to fire up my FS45 trimmer, and it was very hard to start...15 or 20 pulls to get it going, and then, it barely ran....giving it any throttle killed the engine, and it was spewing some black stuff out of the exhaust. I finished my trimming with my other weed whacker, then decided to repair the fs45 today. I checked the obvious...plug, air filter, even changed the fuel filter....no help. Then I pulled the spark arrestor, and it was completely clogged. I tried burning the carbon with a torch, but had minimal luck. I soaked it in some gasoline for 1/2 hour, dried it off and torched it again...still couldn't see much clean screen. Finally, I removed the screen, reinstalled the spark arrestor plug, and then the trimmer started right up on the 2nd pull, and ran better than it has in months.

My question is...is this screen Really necessary...other than to satisfy some government regulation?? Before I spend $20 for a new arrestor, which may clog up again in the future, I would like other opinions on this.

Thx, in advance.


#2

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

What oil to gas ratio are you running?
there are also a few OEM stihl arrestors on ebay for about $10-$13


#3

cpurvis

cpurvis

Is it really necessary? I don't think so. My 'cleaning' consists of throwing them away.


#4

D

deminin

Scrubcadet10 said:
What oil to gas ratio are you running?
there are also a few OEM stihl arrestors on ebay for about $10-$13
Click to expand...

I run a 50/1 ratio in ALL my Stihl tools, and I run premium unleaded 93 octane gas. I saw the arrestors on EBAY and Amazon, and the "price" isn't any big deal. I just wonder if these things are really necessary....they look like just another reason for engine troubles. I suppose that if a person was doing some chain sawing or trimming in a drought stricken area with dry vegetation all around, they might need that small bit of extra caution, but around my area, finding a day or two without rain is often difficult.


#5

D

deminin

cpurvis said:
Is it really necessary? I don't think so. My 'cleaning' consists of throwing them away.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to think the same. I've got 2 chainsaws, 2 weed eaters, and a cultivator...all Stihl. After seeing this, anytime I have an engine issue, the arrestor will be one of the first things I check....and probably toss.


#6

Fish

Fish

Most of the stuff running here in Ky. have no spark arresters. If yours get clogged, also wash your air filter with hot soapy dishwater.


#7

Fish

Fish

deminin said:
Yesterday, I tried to fire up my FS45 trimmer, and it was very hard to start...15 or 20 pulls to get it going, and then, it barely ran....giving it any throttle killed the engine, and it was spewing some black stuff out of the exhaust. I finished my trimming with my other weed whacker, then decided to repair the fs45 today. I checked the obvious...plug, air filter, even changed the fuel filter....no help. Then I pulled the spark arrestor, and it was completely clogged. I tried burning the carbon with a torch, but had minimal luck. I soaked it in some gasoline for 1/2 hour, dried it off and torched it again...still couldn't see much clean screen. Finally, I removed the screen, reinstalled the spark arrestor plug, and then the trimmer started right up on the 2nd pull, and ran better than it has in months.

My question is...is this screen Really necessary...other than to satisfy some government regulation?? Before I spend $20 for a new arrestor, which may clog up again in the future, I would like other opinions on this.

Thx, in advance.
Click to expand...
Hell, I sell the whole muffler, bolts and gasket for $15 on e-bay...


#8

B

Born2Mow

Clogged 2-stroke exhausts were common back when you would run pre-mix dino oil at 25:1. These days they are basically a thing of the past if you run synthetic at the very high ratios they now recommend.

So your pre-mix ratio is wrong, your High jet is adjusted WAY too rich, or your air filter is clogged.


#9

S

slomo

Fish said:
Hell, I sell the whole muffler, bolts and gasket for $15 on e-bay...
Click to expand...
I sell a throw-a-way kit for free. :cool:

slomo


#10

B

bertsmobile1

deminin said:
I run a 50/1 ratio in ALL my Stihl tools, and I run premium unleaded 93 octane gas. I saw the arrestors on EBAY and Amazon, and the "price" isn't any big deal. I just wonder if these things are really necessary....they look like just another reason for engine troubles. I suppose that if a person was doing some chain sawing or trimming in a drought stricken area with dry vegetation all around, they might need that small bit of extra caution, but around my area, finding a day or two without rain is often difficult.
Click to expand...
From the point of engine running & backp they are not necessary
And yes they are required by law in just about every forest & government park world wide for very good reasons.
Down here they are required to be fitted on all construction sites as well.
Never heard of a forest fire being started by one but I have had a few piles of sawduSt start to smoulder when cutting up logs for fire wood so I suppose it can happen.


#11

R

rgrottk

deminin said:
Yesterday, I tried to fire up my FS45 trimmer, and it was very hard to start...15 or 20 pulls to get it going, and then, it barely ran....giving it any throttle killed the engine, and it was spewing some black stuff out of the exhaust. I finished my trimming with my other weed whacker, then decided to repair the fs45 today. I checked the obvious...plug, air filter, even changed the fuel filter....no help. Then I pulled the spark arrestor, and it was completely clogged. I tried burning the carbon with a torch, but had minimal luck. I soaked it in some gasoline for 1/2 hour, dried it off and torched it again...still couldn't see much clean screen. Finally, I removed the screen, reinstalled the spark arrestor plug, and then the trimmer started right up on the 2nd pull, and ran better than it has in months.

My question is...is this screen Really necessary...other than to satisfy some government regulation?? Before I spend $20 for a new arrestor, which may clog up again in the future, I would like other opinions on this.

Thx, in advance.
Click to expand...
Unless you in a fire zone with 4 foot high dry grass (Africa) you don't need a spark arrestor.........


#12

D

deminin

rgrottk said:
Unless you in a fire zone with 4 foot high dry grass (Africa) you don't need a spark arrestor.........
Click to expand...

That's the way I see it. Yesterday, I went through all my other Stihl stuff,...2 chainsaws, my bigger weed eater. and small cultivator. The only one which showed any buildup was the MM55 cultivator....but torching it, and cleaning with a wire brush took care of that. My old fs45 is about 10 years old, and I'd never cleaned it, so that's probably why the buildup was so bad. In the future, I'll add this task to my yearly maintenance, and if I find these arrestors deteriorating, I'll just remove them. In this area, the only time we have any dry grass is in the Winter....and I seldom do anything with my stuff, during the cold months, other than do some good Winter prep and storage, so they work next year.


#13

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

rgrottk said:
Unless you in a fire zone with 4 foot high dry grass (Africa) you don't need a spark arrestor.........
Click to expand...
or California


#14

S

slomo

I remove them because the engine sounds better. Like to wake up the neighbors at 06:00am. The ones that "allow" their dogs to crap on my grass.

slomo


#15

R

Rocky J

I took mine out because it was plugged up ,then mine ran such a high RPM it made my hand itch and almost felt like I was getting shocked . I was afraid it was going to scatter parts and take out my manhood so I cleaned the screen and put it back in. I know on the older 2 stroke mopeds they welded a washer in the header pipe to restrict the exhaust to control the top end RPM's


#16

Hammermechanicman

Hammermechanicman

Born2Mow said:
Clogged 2-stroke exhausts were common back when you would run pre-mix dino oil at 25:1. These days they are basically a thing of the past if you run synthetic at the very high ratios they now recommend.

So your pre-mix ratio is wrong, your High jet is adjusted WAY too rich, or your air filter is clogged.
Click to expand...
Not really. I see stihl trimmers and blowers all the time running E free gas with the HP ultra oil at 50:1 with clogged arrestor screens all the time.


#17

S

slomo

Toss the stinking screens unless you are a logger in a forest or similar tree huger place.

slomo


#18

B

Bange

Be careful with Murphy's law ...


#19

B

bertsmobile1

For all you who think they are useless, fire up your tools late at night & watch just how many burning embers fire out of the exhaust,
A lot more than most would expect.
Now weather they are sufficient to actually start a fire, I would leave that to the experts but by virtue of the fact the bone lazy politicians have passed laws requiring them to be fitted , it must have happened at least once .
Down here only chain saws, water pumps & generators are required to have spark arrestors fitted


#20

M

mecanive

in my mind the spark arresoor have 2 jobs first ont prevent fire second give an acceptable level of noyse the most cause to clug the screen is une some ethanol gasoline always une super gaz with no ethanol


#21

B

Born2Mow

Unless you in a fire zone with 4 foot high dry grass (Africa) you don't need a spark arrestor.........
Click to expand...
Scrubcadet10 said:
or California
Click to expand...
Spark arrestors have been shown to cause cancer in California. :ROFLMAO:


#22

Hammermechanicman

Hammermechanicman

Born2Mow said:
Spark arrestors have been shown to cause cancer in California. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I hear you need a spark arrestor on a battery powered chainsaw in California.


#23

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

LOL!


#24

G

genevaemery

You don't need the spark arrestor to stihl tools at first, but it will make your job so much better. Although it isn't the same as driving without an air filter, it does help keep dirt and sawdust from being sucked back into the engine. Any dust or dirt that enters the piston may cause it to score.


#25

cpurvis

cpurvis

genevaemery said:
You don't need the spark arrestor to stihl tools at first, but it will make your job so much better. Although it isn't the same as driving without an air filter, it does help keep dirt and sawdust from being sucked back into the engine. Any dust or dirt that enters the piston may cause it to score.
Click to expand...
I'd like to hear an explanation of how dirt and sawdust gets sucked into the engine through the exhaust.


#26

S

slomo

cpurvis said:
I'd like to hear an explanation of how dirt and sawdust gets sucked into the engine through the exhaust.
Click to expand...
Okay, add me to the list.

slomo


#27

Hammermechanicman

Hammermechanicman

I guess i need to get plug up them big holes i put in a few chainsaw muffkins


#28

mitchstein443

mitchstein443

I got to page 2 and stopped reading responses, but want to make sure one of them hit on this point.. if not here is new information..

If it was equipted with one from the manufacturer is is required by law and INSURANCE rules..

Here's what has happened to a homeowner..

He was weedwacking, his weed wacker set a pile of leave to smoldering which he didn't notice, he got done wacking off and put his tools away and went inside the house..

the leaf pile caught fire and burned his shed all up, when he went to file a claim with his home owners they wanted the weedwacker for investigation, first thing the adjuster said was, where is the spark arrestor, home owenr said huh? then said after being told what it was, "I was told it was not neccesary to didn't replace it just removed it". the adjuster said thanx and left..

his claim was denied for not using proper operating tools that caused the fire...

He was pissed, he hired a private guy to investigate and a lawyer to sue the inurance company, the lawyer said "don't waste your money, it doesn't matter what started the fire, the spark arrested was missing and therefore the insurance company is not liable to you any longer..

So to me, the arrester is important.. if your running a landscaping company it might just void your business insurance if it is missing or your homeowners insurance...


#29

cpurvis

cpurvis

mitchstein443 said:
I got to page 2 and stopped reading responses, but want to make sure one of them hit on this point.. if not here is new information..

If it was equipted with one from the manufacturer is is required by law and INSURANCE rules..

Here's what has happened to a homeowner..

He was weedwacking, his weed wacker set a pile of leave to smoldering which he didn't notice, he got done wacking off and put his tools away and went inside the house..

the leaf pile caught fire and burned his shed all up, when he went to file a claim with his home owners they wanted the weedwacker for investigation, first thing the adjuster said was, where is the spark arrestor, home owenr said huh? then said after being told what it was, "I was told it was not neccesary to didn't replace it just removed it". the adjuster said thanx and left..

his claim was denied for not using proper operating tools that caused the fire...

He was pissed, he hired a private guy to investigate and a lawyer to sue the inurance company, the lawyer said "don't waste your money, it doesn't matter what started the fire, the spark arrested was missing and therefore the insurance company is not liable to you any longer..

So to me, the arrester is important.. if your running a landscaping company it might just void your business insurance if it is missing or your homeowners insurance...
Click to expand...
I got to paragraph 2 and quit reading this.

It sounds just like the old hogwash that if you use handloaded ammunition in your gun and have to use it to stop a criminal from doing harm to you or your family, YOU will be the one going to jail.

For one thing, is a person who buys a used two-cycle piece of equipment expected to disassemble and verify the presence of this spark arrestor, of which few people are even aware of its existence, let alone where it is located?


#30

7394

7394

Agreed 100%.


#31

B

bertsmobile1

It will depend very much on the insurance company and your previous claim history and the fine print on the policy .
Some will go to any length to avoid paying a claim .
And some will try any ploy to trick you into not mounting a claim ,
Down here we have contributory neglegence that can and often is used to reduce the amount paid out.
But to not pay at all the insurance company has to prove malicious intent


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