Echo Pro-Lite Bar

[radio]

I picked up an Echo cs-361p today and put about 10 minutes of time on it. Started it up and let it warm up, revved it a bit, put the tach on it to verify low and high settings, made 3 cuts into a 19" poplar that I had put on the ground yesterday. When I took the bar/chain off I noticed a sliver of metal hanging on the rear of the bar. On the rear 3 or so inches of the top and bottom a channel had been grooved into the bar. The metal sliver was the outside rim of a portion of the wall of the channel.

The bar is a 14" Echo Pro-Lite #14A0ES3752 which I assume it a re-badged Oregon Pro-Lite. The chain looks like an Oregon 91px chain, Echo #91PXL52CQ. This is the first time I have had a bar/chain combo where the width of the chain links riding on the bar are narrower than the bar width. Is this normal to see this type of wear with almost no use with this bar/chain combo?

I have never had to dress a bar before. It seems like this bar might wear out real fast.

 

[jakethesnake]

I've never noticed anything like that I'd like to see a pic really doesnt make much sense almost sounds like the chain is tracking a lil crooked

 

[radio]

I've never noticed anything like that I'd like to see a pic really doesnt make much sense almost sounds like the chain is tracking a lil crooked

I'll get my camera out and see if I can get a good pic or 2.

 

[radio]

Ok, it's kinda difficult to get a good macro shot but hopefully it's clear enough.

The rear of the bar is on the left:



Just further forward:

 

[jakethesnake]

It's a new bar? If so it may just be breaking in so to speak

 

[radio]

It's a new bar? If so it may just be breaking in so to speak

Yeah it's new. I just put a new Oregon Pro-Lite on another saw this week. I'll go and check that bar for comparison.

 

[CR888]

Yup, just some wear as its new IMO. The paint will wear off the rails and I think some brands spray a paint like sealer in the rail to protect them and it comes of from use. Make sure its oiling well and run it.

 

[radio]

Jake, Cr888,

The other bar is not showing the same type of wear, I looked at both of them under a 3D microscope. But ... where the paint has been already worn off on both bars you can see that the surface was not machined but the laminate layers were stamped leaving an uneven and irregular surface. I never noticed this on Husqvarna but I also never looked at bars this closely before.

Thanks and I agree, need to let the bar wear in for a while before making any assumptions.

 

[Jon1212]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If your chain tension is correct, which it should be, just run the piss out of the mf'er. No need for 3D microscopes.

Not all bars are "finished" the exact same, there are tolerances. I've had some bars peel a little from the inside of the groove, and I've had others that had a little pinch point that caused the chain to hang up.

 

[radio]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If your chain tension is correct, which it should be, just run the piss out of the mf'er. No need for 3D microscopes.

Not all bars are "finished" the exact same, there are tolerances. I've had some bars peel a little from the inside of the groove, and I've had others that had a little pinch point that caused the chain to hang up.

I only used the 3D microscope because I really couldn't see it up closely even with glasses Besides, it was only 10x magnification and I probably saw it as well as my friends can with their naked eyes. I guess the point is that I never realized how uneven bar edge surfaces were because I have actually never looked at them before.

And yep, I always just tensioned them properly and ran them.

 

[jakethesnake]

Like john said scold it for a while it'll "true" up