Chainsaw Repair

Hi,

I bought the CS250 for myself as a christmas gift

Been using it rather regularly for 5 months now.

I must say I really like it for the easiness of use and torque.

A few issues:
-Chain has really high kickback, might be due to high torque too.
-Chain tends to tension itself when blade bends slightly upwards during use. This can be avoided by pushing the blade upwards while fastening the blade screw thing.
-2.4Ah batteries do not last long per charge

In Finland the saw cost 600euros with one battery when I bought it. 200 more for a second battery.
So it is expensive. And in fact I bought it from Germany cheaper.
But say I would pay 400 for a decent gas saw and spend 400more on 200liters of gasoline...after that it is a winwin situation

Anyway, I wonder what cells are used in the 4.0Ah pack?
High power cells tend to have low capacity. A 18650 cell is often just 1500 or 1600mAh...

With the 2pcs of  2.4Ah packs I can cut maybe one cubic meter of firewood, then I take a break and do something else (such as carry logs or something else) later in the day I can cut another cubic meter.
As we only use about 10 cubic meters of firewood per year this cordless saw will not make my working days much longer on average:)
In fact I decided I will not buy any garden tools using fossil fuels any more. A small thing I can do for mother earth, my neighbours, lungs and ears

When just cutting down a small tree, this thing rocks. No filling gas, no starting, no stopping et.c. et.c.

I would like to build a 10Ah backpack battery, like Pellenc has. This is a must if taking it out to the forest.
But I have not even managed to open the original battery pack, seems both screwed and glued.

Anyone else built a better battery (and charger) for the CS250?

Also anyone done any service on the gear system in the saw?
I am wondering if cleaning and lubing would be needed after months of semi-heavy use

Thank you!

No way you can work continuously with 2 batteries, or more batteries and one charger for that matter.
Maybe with the fast charger if you work really slow
I'll buy or build a fast charger at some point. Charging high power Li-ion batteries at 0.5C is unnecessarily slow.

About 200€ is today the price for a 4Ah battery and that is already on my upper limit.
For 200€ you can get much more Ah if you buy just cells.
I'd like to have about 10Ah.

At least I will rebuild the packs when they get tired.
I do not like buying the entire pack if just the cells can be bought cheaper.

I was under the impression that the saw was brushless, but I guess I was mistaken then.
That explains the relatively high noise level.
This means that carbon brushes need to be changed at some interval.

New Lines of STIHL Cordless OPE Released

AI - 'integrated' (read 'built-in') battery for 'quick tasks around smaller yards and condominiums.' Series includes: string trimmer, leaf blower, and hedge trimmer.

AK - separate battery and charger 'ideally suited for frequent use around suburban yards.' Series: includes chainsaw, string trimmer, leaf blower, and hedge trimmer.

AP - 'professional-grade power  . . . for extensive use on a wide range of properties.' Series includes: 2 chainsaws, 3 string trimmers, 2 leaf blowers, 2 hedge trimmers, 3 pole pruners, 3 lawn mowers, cut off saw.

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/battery-products/

https://battery.stihlusa.com/battery-series

Could not easily find Amp-hour ratings for the AI and AK series batteries, but clearly they are designed for lighter duty use, and to fill out price points, where consumers may have been looking at some other brands. Likely to be of less interest to folks here, who have been looking at battery powered tools going 'in the other direction' - more power, longer cutting life, etc. But please add any information if you have it on these series of tools, or if you have the opportunity to try any of them out.

Philbert

I think that it is interesting how STIHL is going after the 'consumer' / 'prosumer' market, more.  Must have realized a limit in the 'pro' market and seen more growth?

Wonder if it will affect their reputation - some companies would have come up with another name for their lower end products: e.g. Sears has 'Craftsman' and 'Companion' (although Sears is a sad story by itself); Husqvarna uses the 'Poulan' line for their more mass marketed saws; Hilton also has 'Hampton Inn' (still a nice, value hotel); etc. GM tried to do this with 'Cadillac', 'Oldsmobile', 'Buick', 'Pontiac', 'Chevrolet', and 'Saturn', . . . .

Philbert

Yep big day today March 1 for Stihl.
Big big $$ in green consumer market.
Lots of YouTube vids released this afternoon.
I like how they added the exhaust sound to the chainsaw and polesaw