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Hi,does anyone use one of these to tune there chainsaw?I bought one and can set the idle but when I try the high revs the screen just goes blank/turns off.Any idea what may be wrong?I have set it for the one cylinder setting

Andysp said:

Hi,does anyone use one of these to tune there chainsaw?I bought one and can set the idle but when I try the high revs the screen just goes blank/turns off.Any idea what may be wrong?I have set it for the one cylinder settingView attachment 42937

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Did you purchase on that will go to the RPM's you can achive on a chainsaw?

the one is the picture looks like the hour meters for lawn mowers which would be below around 4000 rpm, whereas the normal chainsaw will turn 13,800 or there abouts. My tach for chainsaws goes to 20,000.

Most of those tachs use the same chip.
When it get overwhelmed the screen goes blank.
I use a Tiny Tach and if I get too close to the spark wire it does the same thing.
Like Illengine, mine is supposed to be good for 20,000 rpm.

Andysp said:

Hi,does anyone use one of these to tune there chainsaw?I bought one and can set the idle but when I try the high revs the screen just goes blank/turns off.Any idea what may be wrong?I have set it for the one cylinder settingView attachment 42937

Click to expand...

There is a setting for 2 stroke and 4 stroke....... Read the small booklet well Mon Ami ~!~!

I know someone who uses a Tiny Tach and he swears by it. I was thinking of picking on up for myself soon.

Bluedew said:

I know someone who uses a Tiny Tach and he swears by it. I was thinking of picking on up for myself soon.

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I have 3 different tachs
The one with a RF antannea is the most reliable & most useable as your eye can smooth out a fluctuating needle easily but rapidly changing numbers are bit more difficult.
The tiny tach is also sensitive to the distance from the plug and the type of plug so you can get a lower reading if you are too far away.
However the max rev function is really handy.
If they made one which recorded max, min & average it would be great.

Not sure I understand why you would use a tach on a chainsaw. Adjust the idle just below the clutch grab point, adjust the carb for good response and max power under load. School me on this, always ready to learn something.

tom3 said:

Not sure I understand why you would use a tach on a chainsaw. Adjust the idle just below the clutch grab point, adjust the carb for good response and max power under load. School me on this, always ready to learn something.

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Because when set by ear, you can often be way above the recommended max top speed.
Same for idle speed.
To cover my backside , I record these speeds on the worksheet.
Keeps the insurance company happy.
Just like always using a tension wrench for doing up blade bolts.
I could probably do them to the right tension with my eyes closed but the wrench gets used every time

tom3 said:

Not sure I understand why you would use a tach on a chainsaw. Adjust the idle just below the clutch grab point, adjust the carb for good response and max power under load. School me on this, always ready to learn something.

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I used to sell and work on a brand of chainsaw called Solo. If you set the saw by ear where it sounded great, normally when you would put a tach on it would read around 13.500-13.800, but the thing was max rpm on that saw was 12.500, and when set to that level actually actually have a slight 4 stroke sound. Also a lot of new 2 stroke saws have a spark advance timing with rev limiter build into the ignition module. You can set the saw too lean to where without the rev limiter would just scream, but the rev limiter can disguise a saw that is too lean, but some saws will sound like they are too rich and 4 stroke above the rev limit. Also a tach can be used to diagnose a faulty ignition module because the new spark advance modules with rev limiter will go bad and you will never see a loss of spark on a spark tester, but the tach will give goofy readings.

bertsmobile1 said:

I have 3 different tachs
The one with a RF antannea is the most reliable & most useable as your eye can smooth out a fluctuating needle easily but rapidly changing numbers are bit more difficult.
The tiny tach is also sensitive to the distance from the plug and the type of plug so you can get a lower reading if you are too far away.
However the max rev function is really handy.
If they made one which recorded max, min & average it would be great.

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What brand is your RF tach. Is it the Dixon ?

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.I bought the wrong one orderd this one hopefully it will do the job.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gauge-Ch...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I use this one no problem, but only on four strokes most of the time around 3000RPM. Tested on an Honda GX25, ok 7000-8000RPM but never tester on higher speed engines.

The contrast is quite bad in front of, better at an angle and the battery is soldered in. But for the price... perfect for time to time use.

For a pro, a wireless one like this is way better I think :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX5Q7IwhglQ

Andysp said:

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.I bought the wrong one orderd this one hopefully it will do the job.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gauge-Ch...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

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Andy,
Any unit with a wire that you wrap around the spark plug is designed to be mounted to the engine.
These are difficult to use on hand helds and even harder to use in a workshop due to the nature of the pick up.

You either need to use one that clips over the spark plug lead, like a timing light or is non contact like the one in the video.

Next, the Magic Pudding is a childrens fairy tale.
In the real world, you only get what you pay for.
If you pay nothing, that is what you get.
Click on the see other items for the vendor in your link and look at what else they are selling.
They are a disposal site that have absolutely no idea about anything that they sell apart from the price mark up.
So you could be buying a good one that was wholesale surplus or a faulty one that was rejected by the customer , etc,etc,etc.
Now if you are a gambling man then go ahead, and while you are there, buy 300 spins at an online casino, you have about the same guarantee of coming out ahead.

I use the Fast Tach as seen on this page https://www.tinytach.com/handheld-tachometers
Note this company sells NOTHING ELSE but service equipment so there is a 99.9% chance everything they sell will be good quality and actually work properly and if it does not they will fix it.
I bought this one because it is small & I am a mobile mechanic so it fits easily into my on site tool box.
The one that came with the business is bulky so is only used in the workshop https://www.stens.com/751-180-wireless-tachometer
And there is a Strobe/tach I bought decades ago to tune motorcycles with but it is only good to 10,000 rpm ( it was also a months wages ).

Click on the Chainsaw Tools link https://www.tinytach.com/chainsaw-tools & you will find a lot of very useful tools for working on chainsaws, in particular the vacuum/pressure pump which is an essential piece of kit unless you feel like pulling apart a perfectly functioning carb 30 times for the fun of it before you find the split under the fuel tank gromet.

To be complete, I just remembered I modified mine with a ground wire and a clamp to put on ground, to better pick signal on engines with points (those with electronic ignition seem to works better).
Used solid coper wire for the end to wrap around ignition cable, so when you wound 5 turn they stay on. I still use it as a portable tach, but for my own use (perhaps once a year) its ok.

Thanks for that all good info.

I ALWAYS know when I have over exceeded the absolute maximum RPMs of an engine, .. either the piston blows the plug and cylinder head off the top of the engine, or I get a HUGE unnecessary "inspection-port" at the lower end of the engine, NO PROBLEM, ...just costly ! .. :laughing:..:laughing: