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Husqvarna 395 Chain Tensioner Issue

Carhartt

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Does anyone have any problems with OEM chain tensioner? I have replaced this for him 3 times already on fairly new saw (less than 2 yrs old). OEM Husqvarna kept snapping the tensioner finger. So last time I replaced with a STIHL finger (2 wks ago). He dropped it back off yesterday with the threaded tensioner snapped in three and the Stihl finger bent. This guy has many Husqvarna's and has been known to tension his chains. This is a 36 in bar and skip tooth chain. Am I missing something? He wants to blame crappy parts and me a little bit for choosing them. Ill include most recent pic.
 

jacob j.

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Try an HL Supply tensioning screw and an OEM tension stub. The HL Supply screw is a little softer than the OEM one and more forgiving, so
less likely to damage anything else.

It sounds he may be tightening his chain when the saw is running and everything is warm/hot and then leaving it as is, so that
when the chain cools down and tightens up, it damages the tensioner. This happened a lot on on the older saws with .404"
chain and bars 36" or longer.
 

Carhartt

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Saw is in used shape but not heavily treated poorly. Not used on ever job, just big trees and stumps.
 

Carhartt

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That stub is Stihl not Husky. He kept snapping the Husky stubs. That one us slightly bent also.
Very doubtful on bore cutting.
 

jacob j.

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That stub is Stihl not Husky. He kept snapping the Husky stubs. That one us slightly bent also.
Very doubtful on bore cutting.

I don't know that you could find a better part than the OEM Husky stub. If he was breaking those off, then he's got something weird going on.
 

PogoInTheWoods

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How 'bout a pic of it installed on the saw? The stresses required to break that bolt precisely on either side of the tension stud would seem to be related more to fitment issues than materials themselves. Would also seem like they would need to be lateral stresses vs. lengthwise end-to-end stress.
 

Nutball

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I've done it too a few times when running an extra long bar on things, just back off the screw a little after tightening the nuts.

It makes a person wonder what is going on. A guy I know switched to Husqy because Stihl tension pins kept breaking on a 660 and 661. I had never had that happen all the times I used his saws and was working for him. The problem came back after I left, and I never backed off the screw on those.

My 395 has a different issue: I can't access the tensioner from the side, and it's a chore to swap chains.
 

Nutball

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I've always wondered how much a bar might creep just from vibration, tugging on a pinched bar, heat expansion, and oil on the bar mount. I've never noticed any creeping, but it wouldn't take much to potentially break an already tight tensioner.
 

rogue60

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When he picks the saw up give him a scrench and see what he does he might not be lifting the bar up when tensioning the chain and doing the bar nuts up tight?.
You can also get a flat file and file the bar plat on the clutch cover see how flat it is? that is if husky is like Stihl and the bar pad is just magnesium they do wear out of shape over time and need filing flat again.
One thing is for sure it's nothing to do with the tensioner the bar is moving around putting stress on the tensioner bending/stripping them.
I will add this to help as well grab an orbital sander and clean up the bar mounting area both sides of the bar of old paint and crap get it back to nice clean flat steel.
 
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Mattyo

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Got another idea. Somehow he's probably tensioning with the bar nuts very loose. He probably gets the chain nice and tight and then tightens the nuts. If the bar is fishtail ed a bit....then the chain will get tighter after he cinches the nuts down. If it was already tight...then the tensioner will break as the nuts tighten. So... instead... Different technique. Loosen chain. Tighten nuts. Back nuts off one turn or so. Tension chain. Tighten nuts. Back off tensioner half turn. Done :)
 

CR888

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As rogue mentions, get him & his saw in front of you and watch him tension his 36"B/C. That should answer the best part of your question. If you get a warm 36" .404 chain/bar tension it on the tight side then let the saw cool...you'll have issues, maybe not today but it will eventually bite ya ass. He's lucky he's only breaking tensioners....there fairly cheap. Break 1, it could be bad luck....2 well you think about what your doing & how your doing it and maybe put it down to very bad luck. 3 tensioners if you haven't realised your the problem & are blaming the 0EM part & guy that installed it....well your probably a friggin idiot.
 
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XP_Slinger

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Like a lot of others in here I also believe this is a case of something wonky in how he tightens the chain. Either bar nuts too tight when tensioning or too loose causing the bar to walk out on the tensioner stub, then when the bar nuts are tightened it over loads the tensioner.
 
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