Properly maintaining and cleaning your chainsaw
Whether using a cordless, electric or petrol-powered chainsaw, it will be put under considerable strain during every use. Regular maintenance and cleaning are essential so that it can always deliver full performance. You may need to maintain and care for some parts and assemblies more often than others. In this blog post, we'll give you some guidelines to help you keep your chainsaw in top condition all year round.
Why it's important to maintain and clean your chainsaw
Properly cleaning, maintaining and caring for your chainsaw involves more than just keeping it free of dirt. If you care for your tool properly, it will work more reliably and last longer. It will cut better, which means that it will use less fuel or electricity. What's more, you can work more safely and with less effort. Like other manufacturers, we also include all the maintenance intervals for each saw in the operating instructions.
You can download the operating instructions for your Einhell chainsaw from our download centre. How often you should perform each of the following steps of course depends on how often you use your chainsaw. If you don't use your chainsaw as often, you won't need to replace the wearing parts as often. However, it's always important to remember to clean it after each use.
The right equipment for maintaining your chainsaw
As well as the right instructions, you will need the right tools to clean, maintain and care for your chainsaw. These include:
- a special chainsaw wrench
- a screwdriver
- a groove cleaner
- universal pliers
- a brush
- a calliper
- chainsaw cleaner
Maintaining and caring for your chainsaw after every use
Once you have finished working, you should thoroughly clean your chainsaw. To minimise the risk of injury, it is advisable to wear gloves when carrying out these steps. You can either blow away coarse dirt such as dust or wood shavings off with a compressor or remove it using a brush. Then remove the sprocket cover and also clean the sprocket, lubrication and tensioning mechanism of the chain using compressed air and a brush.
Also clean the groove of the chain guide. Check the oil hole on the chain guide for blockages and remove them if necessary. This ensures that the saw chain is sufficiently supplied with oil. If you have a petrol-powered chainsaw, you should also clean the cooling ribs so they don't get clogged.
Next, saw chain oil that stubbornly sticks to the saw can be removed using chainsaw cleaner. It is important to completely remove the saw chain oil because clogging up can affect the functionality of your saw. If, for example, the air filter of a petrol-powered chainsaw becomes clogged, the engine will have starting problems, performance will drop and wear will increase.
You can find chainsaw cleaner in all well-stocked specialist retailers. If you do not have a special cleaner, you could also use kitchen oven cleaner at least on the chain. Its grease dissolving power will usually be sufficient for any sticking oil. However, plastic parts should not come into contact with oven cleaner.
After your thorough cleaning, you should check the following parts and assemblies for tight fit, cracks, damage and functionality:
- Front and rear hand guard,
- Stop-start switch,
- Throttle lever and throttle lock
- Saw chain: Cracks, deformation of the teeth, irregular wear
- Chain brake
- Tension and tensioning mechanism of the chain
- Chain interception bolt
- Lubrication and oil flow of the saw chain
- Free running of the chain in the groove of the chain guide
- For petrol-powered chainsaws: Cooling, air filter, fuel tank
Regular maintainance and care for your chainsaw
So that you can enjoy using your chainsaw for a long time and so that it is always a reliable companion when working with wood, you should carry out regular checks and maintenance measures in addition to the normal maintenance measures after each use. Regardless of whether your motor is powered by petrol or electricity from a battery or cable, you should perform the following maintenance steps for every type of chainsaw:
- Check damping systems work and check for any damage
- Check whether burrs have formed on the chain guide
- Check whether the groove is sufficiently deep and evenly wide
- Check whether wear and run-in marks are visible on the drive pinion
- Remove and clean the lubricant filter
- Empty and clean the saw chain oil tank
- Check all cables and connections for fit and insulation
- Check the brake band of the chain brake for wear
For chainsaws with a petrol motors, you should also check the following points during maintenance:
- Check the starter rope and return spring work properly and check for any damage
- Clean the air filter and carburettor externally
- Beat out and wash the air filter
- Clean the spark plug and check the electrode gap
- Clean the cooling ribs
- Lubricate the clutch drum bearings
- Check clutch for damage, excessive wear and worn out springs
- Check fuel filter and replace if necessary
- Empty fuel tank and clean inside
In this article you will learn all about:
Become your own Enabler – with chainsaws from Einhell
As you can see, the maintenance and care of your chainsaw is done in a few easy steps. If you take a few minutes after each use to take care of your tool and regularly carry out major maintenance, your saw will be a reliable partner in every project. By the way: In our blog you will find many more informative guides and creative projects such as the Firewood Guide or the building instructions for a Swedish fire, which you can implement with your chainsaw.
Monika Aigner is a Project Manager for Media & PR at Einhell. Through regular internal product training, she possesses extensive knowledge of the functionality and application of various Einhell tools and garden equipment. Combined with clear instructions, she imparts this knowledge in her blog posts.