06/09/02 - Start of Frame, More ICE Work, & Resolution to Carb Woes:

Okay, we left off last time with me stressing about my Hoser'd up carb.

I'm happy to report that everything is cool now, and Husqvarna REALLY rocks! :D I emailed the tech support dude Alan at Husky the link to the last build report, and he sent a reply saying "I have shipped you out a new replacement carburetor." How's THAT for customer service?! Alan had also tracked down the info I needed on the oddball left hand threaded shaft to make my shaft adaptor. It is a 10mm x 1.0 left handed thread. If you have a tap that matches that description, email me and you will be my hero :/ I have looked all over the net, and have came up empty handed so far. I might have to find another way of attaching the 1" shaft, to the engines shaft...

After talking to Alan at Husky on the phone (after I received his email I called him), he explained that there were two types of carburetors that can come on my saw. The one I have is an EPA compliant model, that reduces emmisions but it is impossible to remove the throttle return spring, and the carb still work. Plus, the emmision reduction features lower the HP rating! So, a new carb was in my future... Alan gave me the part number of a Non-EPA version of the carb, and a contact for a local dealer. The plan was to try and trade the new one Alan was sending, for a non-EPA model I could modify to have no return spring.

After receiving the replacement carb Alan sent from Husqvarna (did I mention he did it for FREE?), I took it to the Husky dealer he had mentioned; Sanders Equipment - Johnson City, TN - 423-928-1441. I spoke to Randy and Keith at Sanders Equipment, and while they didn't carry the part I was looking for, they were STILL super helpful. I learned a lot in the brief time I was there, and all I ended up purchasing was some 2-Cycle oil. They were great guys! A few of the tips they gave me were:

• Do NOT use synthetic 2-cycle oil, it actually lowers the performance of the engine slightly! In their tests, they had found that the same saw (trying synthetic, then using regular), the saw would cut through wood much easier, and had more torque with just regular 2-cycle oil. They also noted that when they put a tach on the saw when it had the synthetic oil in it, it dropped about 300 RPMs!
• EPA carbs SUCK. Lower emissions = lower performance, which confirmed what Alan at Husky said. Randy and Keith said that when they are faced with having to replace an entire carb on a customers Husky they are servicing, they will NOT use the EPA carb it came with. Instead, they order one of the Non-EPA carbs that are more reliable, and make the saw preform better.

Before leaving, Randy and Keith pointed me towards another local place that stocked a lot of Walbro (the actual brand of the carb I had) parts, to see if I could find the Non-EPA model there. So I left and rolled to Tri-State Air Cooled Engines - Johnson City, TN - 423-928-7107

I got to Tri-State Air Cooled Engines at about 5:15, and the door was locked. Just as I had pulled on the handle, found it was locked, and was turning to walk away, the owner opened the door to let me in! I feel terrible that I can't remember his name, as he was super cool and really hooked me up with the new carb.

He could not give me a trade for the EPA carb I had, but he did sell me the new Walbro Non-EPA carb we found AT COST! We walked back into their warehouse to try and find a match for the carb I wanted (the place was huge!) and couldn't find the specific carb that I had a part number for. Instead we found one that looked like it would work, and was for sure NOT an EPA carb. It actually had a larger diameter intake hole too, so I am hoping for a little more efficiency in fuel/air delivery into the engine! The throttle attachment was in a different place than my original carb, and the fuel inlet was a little different, but everything else matched up perfectly. So I purchased it (it was past 5:30 when I left, and the OWNER helped me with a smile on his face, till I walked out the door... Great people @ Tri-State ACE!) with plans to deal with the weird throttle arm and fuel inlet placement when I got home.

The last couple of days have been good in the way of receiving some materials I had ordered, too! The discs I will use to make VI's new weapons (purchased from http://www.sandsmachine.com/alumweb.htm) and the Tool Steel that will make the teeth (purchased from http://www.southtoolsteel.thomasregister.com/olc/southtoolsteel/). Man, I LOVE getting bot stuff in the mail! :D

The discs I ordered are made out of Mic-6 by Alcoa, and I am just a little worried about the material properties. Comparing the stats to something like 6061 isn't very impressive, but I think they will be sufficient. The main thing that attracted me to them, was the fact that they can be used with the current diameter of 14 3/8, and the price! I purchased four of these discs on eBay for $39.00!

I have started on the frame, but haven't gotten very far yet. I seem to be spending the bulk of my time on the ICE right now :) You will notice that I have made some pretty permanent mods to the saw in the pics below. I don't see me returning it for a refund any time in the future :)

Click Thumbnail For Bigger Pic:

1) Lets take a look at the difference between the old saw blades, and new discs.	2) 3yr Old for Reference and "Awwwwww"s	3) Remember, two of the aluminum discs sandwich together to make one weapon disc. So this is essentially an old blade on top of a new one.	4) Unga bunga! New disc heavy! Again, two discs make one, so this is the weight of one weapon disc (minus the tool steel teeth).
5) This is the new Walbro carb I purchased from Tri-State Air Cooled Engines	6) Starting on the mounting block for the gas engine. 5/8" thick 6061 T6 = hard stuff!	7) After I cut the measured chunk of Al out, I marked it for holes and went to the drill press.	8) Cutting fluid makes life a little easier.
9) Just checking to make sure my clearance holes line up with the bar mounting bolts... Yep!	10) Next I made the marks for the bottom holes that will be drilled and tapped.	11) Two new holes, after a visit to the drill press. Now to tap the bottom holes.	12) First hole tapped.
13) Cheap tap, and cheap tap handle, that suffered the same fate while tapping the second hole. One of these days I'll get a good tap set :/	14) Luckily, I had a matching tap to the one that broke, So I used my vise grips to remove the broken tap, and finish tapping the hole.	15) She's tapped Capn'!	16)Done deal. When I have the frame finished, here's where the engine will bolt on.
17) Speaking of the frame, I started construction of the new frame this week. This is the first bead I layed for the new frame.	18) Measure twice, weld once!	19) Okay, measure three times...	20)To get an idea of the difference in scale, here is the base of the new frame against the bottom of the old robots frame.
21) Chop saw, CHOP!	22) Oooh... Sparky	23) Using the grinder to clean the edges of steel up, after the chop saw.	24)Go, go, Gadget grinder.
25) Pieces of steel that get welded to the frame, to make the front of the robot.	26) Some more support pieces.	27) Setting up to weld...	28) Welding!
29) This is it so far on the frame, I know it's not much... But more to follow ;)	30) Back to the ICE. I took out the plastic air intake to remove some unused parts and make more room around the carb.	31) If that last pic was the before, then this one is the after.	32)I used an abrasive cutoff disc in my dremel to remove most of the plastic.
33) I also removed some material from the plastic assembly that the carb bolts to.	34) Outta there!	35) I needed a new way to shock mount the front of the carb, after removing the plastic from the breather intake assembly.	36) So I took a scrap piece of Lexan and started shaping a mount.
33) Pile of plastic that doesn't live on the saw anymore :)	34) I cut a piece of rubber to place under the lexan mount for shock absorption.	35) Lots of room around that carb now! So, next I installed the new mount....	36) Everything is attached, and looks secure.
37) I used my Dremel to make a hole in the saw under the throttle arm, to hook up linkage. I will connect the linkage to a servo to control the throttle remotely.	38) Purty hole, ain't it?	39) After I had everything mounted, I put the saw in the vise and started it.	40) After running the engine for a minute, the lexan mount broke! I was worried that this might happen, the bending really weakens the 1/8" stuff.
41) Aluminum should do much better :) So I made the same part, only out of 1/8" aluminum this time.	42) Finished part.	43) Here it is installed.	44) Last pic, removing some plastic from the area around where the fuel line hooked up.