Homelite VI-955

[jamesy]

Hi all,

Just picked up a Homelite VI-955 from a family member and trying to find available spares, including bar and chain options. They last used it well over 10 years ago (I feel like it was probably more like over 20) and said that it did run OK, but would sometimes cut out when hot.

I can't find a huge amount out about these saws (I appreciate it's 45 years old now!) which I think is made worse by the fact that I am in the UK and these saws were predominantly sold in the US and Canada - even knowing where I could pick up a replacement bar would be a start - I can't find anywhere that officially lists a replacement bar in the UK!

The saw has compression (loads of it, in fact) but I haven't tried to start it yet and until I do, I won't know how well it runs, but is anyone able to point me in the direction of parts for the saw? If it runs well, I would like to get a 24"+ bar and chain for it (I already have a 16" saw) so any suggestions on that point would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

James

[dpress]

James I am also in the UK and have found parts very difficult to come by for my few Homelite saws (one of which is a VI Super Mini), so I hope that your saw is complete as finding anything this side of the pond is likely to be a long search.
I am hoping you will have found Leon's site and downloaded the parts list for your saw to start with, that will be of use. The 955 uses an Oregon D196 style bar, which is common to the more popular SXL and so you may be able to cross reference and find something - my 330 uses the same pattern also and it is likely to have been used by most of the larger engine Homelite saws. A quick internet search indicates that a 20" Oregon 200RNDD196 bar would fit a VI 955, so perhaps you might want to contact a UK Oregon stockist and see if they have any stock of such a bar in the length you require? The trouble is if you quote the Homelite saw they will probably blank you, but giving an actual part number can be more successful. Other make bars are Windsor UXL or TXL type, or Carlton 20/21 (all info from a google search, acresinternet.com)
If you are lucky all you will need is to clean the saw thoroughly and replace fuel lines and a carb kit - at least these parts are available easily here, as are some bits like sprockets etc. I have been very fortunate that I have only needed a small number of parts from the USA to get my saws running as postage and tax is a real killer!
Good luck,

Steve

[dpress]

Just did a bit more digging - from the Oregon catalogue it appears the only bar they currently stock is a 20" one, part number 200GLHD196 available from premiumsawchain.co.uk for £36.23 plus postage. Other than that you may have to look out for a used item, that could have been fitted to a different make saw (such as an Echo/Poulan etc). Of course there may still be NOS larger bars about - keep your eyes peeled on eBay.

Steve

[jamesy]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the quick response! From a quick inspection, it appears to be complete and my Uncle did not suggest there was anything missing - he simply stopped using the saw and purchased a new one, probably partially due to the weight of the Homelite and also it being slightly temperamental (he doesn't deal well with temperamental tools!)

I did come across the part number 240RNDD196 for a 24" bar but hadn't look too far into obtaining one - that would be ideal but sounds like it might be difficult to find. Matches your part number though, so there's mileage there! Chains are chains, so no issue there, I would like to consider a ripping chain, possibly, it it runs well and has decent power. Thanks for the other info on bars - I have considered taking the saw to a local specialist to see if they can match anything onto it - that'll have to wait a few weeks though..

I would probably have checked the fuel lines and carb (and air filter and plug) before attempting to fire it up - if you have a place that you have bought those from in the past, please do let me know. I do have friends and family in the US who would help out with buying parts that aren't available in this country, especially small bits, as long as I was willing to wait for them to visit!

Thanks again, I'll do some more research in the coming weeks and hopefully get to disassembling/firing up this side of Christmas.
James

[fossil]

Nov 22, 2020 18:19:29 GMT -5 jamesy said:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the quick response! From a quick inspection, it appears to be complete and my Uncle did not suggest there was anything missing - he simply stopped using the saw and purchased a new one, probably partially due to the weight of the Homelite and also it being slightly temperamental (he doesn't deal well with temperamental tools!)

I did come across the part number 240RNDD196 for a 24" bar but hadn't look too far into obtaining one - that would be ideal but sounds like it might be difficult to find. Matches your part number though, so there's mileage there! Chains are chains, so no issue there, I would like to consider a ripping chain, possibly, it it runs well and has decent power. Thanks for the other info on bars - I have considered taking the saw to a local specialist to see if they can match anything onto it - that'll have to wait a few weeks though..

I would probably have checked the fuel lines and carb (and air filter and plug) before attempting to fire it up - if you have a place that you have bought those from in the past, please do let me know. I do have friends and family in the US who would help out with buying parts that aren't available in this country, especially small bits, as long as I was willing to wait for them to visit!

Thanks again, I'll do some more research in the coming weeks and hopefully get to disassembling/firing up this side of Christmas.
James

It's not easy to find parts for those saws that are specific to the anti vibration. Clutch covers included. The Canadian model is the VI 922

To solve your bar problem, if you can't find a decent Oregon D096 bar or a Windsor UXL or TXL bar you can easily make one from a large mount Husky Oregon bar D009.

Take a chain file and file the adjuster holes up into the bar channel so the oil flows through. You may have to open the stud slot a hair with a flat file. Works great and takes about 10 minutes. 

Those saws work nicely with a bar up to 28".

[dpress]

James, I tend to use eBay to buy fuel line, and plugs although you may find the right size Tygon in a local model shop if you have one, as it is used on radio controlled petrol cars. You should be able to clean the air filter as it will be a flocked material type. I generally use Stihl fuel filters as they are a good size and reasonably weighty so they will find the bottom of the tank okay, but your saw may have a felt filter that can be cleaned.
As for carb kits I have stopped buying cheap ones as they are often of poor quality, and now only get carb kits from www.rowenacarbs.co.uk which is a small dealer in North Wales. The owner is the UK rep for Walbro, and has Zama and Tillotson kits and parts - he has always had everything I have wanted including main nozzle (jets) in stock, so he would be the best person to contact if you need to rebuild the carb (which is probably a Tillotson).
If you have contacts in the US then you should be able to avoid the tax aspect if the envelope is marked as a low value gift - mind you that might be a bit difficult for a 24" bar...

Steve

[jamesy]

Thanks all for the advice so far; I will call Rowena tomorrow for a carb kit I think as that seems likely to be worthwhile. The plug looks good, although the gap is massive - I guess that's right!

So, I brought the saw home a few weeks back and cleaned it all up, and have managed to get a better look at things today. The air filter is a green material and seems to be OK and quite clean, just gave it a blast from the air line to remove the loose bits. I haven't pulled the fuel filter out yet - obviously it could be clogged (which would stop it drawing fuel and running) but I can reverse feed air through from the carb end, so it's not solid.

1) The bar on it appears to have a 14mm wide slot (fitted to the 9.5mm studs with adapter rings), maybe a Dolmar bar, the markings on it appear to be "412.210.020 .058" 3/8"/72DL"

2) The carb is a Tillotson HS151A and looks in reasonable shape but the bottom gasket didn't like me taking the carb apart and I can't get the large brass screw on the side (marked "30") to turn at all - someone has also tried in the past!

3) The saw will run if fuel is introduced through the carb into the cylinder, but only for a few seconds, as I would expect if no fuel is being drawn from the tank

4) The line to the tank appears to be OK and is not blocked, but I don't know how the saw pumps fuel into the carb (or how it primes) so haven't gone crazy trying to work it out (thought I'd ask first!)

A few questions then..

I now realise that bar adapters are a thing and I may look for a 12/14mm bar rather than trying to make something smaller fit - is there a preferred method here? I guess the big bars are for big saws and tend to be more expensive. I do want to get a bar for it that is at least 24", but not bigger than 36"

Does anyone have a manual for the HS151A, or just some advice re tearing it down and what should/shouldn't come out? I have the option of putting it in an ultrasonic cleaner, if that's going to help, but I need to know if the brass screw should come out first.

How does the saw draw fuel and does it need to be primed? Obviously I need to set up the L/H settings correctly but none of that affects having fuel from the tank at the carb. I assume it's a vacuum so any leaks will bugger it up!

Thanks in advance, hope to get this running for a big ash that needs to come down within the next 4-6 weeks.

James

[sweepleader]

You will find IPL's on Leon's site at: www.leonschainsawpartsandrepair.com/parts-diagrams.html They will show you part numbers and assembly.

Just down that page a little are some red tabs, the one marked "Homelite Service Memos & Info" will get you to a valuable page with service manuals way down at the bottom.

[charles]

I purchased a 24" bar for my SXL OA from Stens .  It is Chinese made , but holding up OK so far . Stens' part number is 075-2447 .  I did buy

Oregon chains for it . It fits all the Type 14 Homelite bar mount patterns  ( Oregon D096 & D196 mount ) . 

Charles  

[dpress]

James, I have never taken a Tillotson apart myself, but looking at the parts list for HS carbs on their website, I think the brass item is a governor valve, which I would leave alone for now. See tillotson.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HSPartsList.pdf   If you get a rebuild kit that will come with the gaskets and both pump and feed diaphragm. Under the solid plate held by 4 screws is the fuel pump which simply works by crankcase vacuum moving the tiny 'fingers' of the pump diaphragm to draw fuel into the carb. Modern machines and some later Homelites have a primer purge bulb to prime the carb, but the older ones just rely on the owner pulling them over a few times to prime the carb. If left standing for a few weeks my little XL saws can need up to 10 pulls before you get the 'pop' showing fuel to have arrived in the engine internals, but others I have such as the VI Super Mini only 3 or 4 pulls primes it.
I have brought 5 old saws back to life in the last 12 months and have yet to find a carb that was really dirty inside or indeed needing anything other than new gaskets/diaphragms, so I would hold off the ultrasonic bath for now as you may find the same.

As regards bar spacers I have used a few coils of an expansion spring to space out a bar on my 240 - cost about a quid for the spring - all you need to do is work out the correct inside/outside diameters that you need. The spring I used was quite fine so I ended with about 3 coils of it for each bar stud and it works a treat. You could also search eBay for small spacers which would do the same job.

Steve

[jamesy]

Hi all,

Quick update - got the RK-23HS kit from Rowena, plus 30cm of fuel line and a filter (just short of £19 delivered) and installed it. Pulled it over a few times to see if it was priming (clear fuel pipe rocks!) and it was. Switched the saw on and it started straight up - maybe 7-8 pulls in total! The old fuel line was badly perished and fell apart when I removed it, so I'm glad I did.

Absolute beast, feels rock solid and very powerful - the lack of a chain brake is a bit of reminder as to how dangerous these things can be in the wrong hands!

I had to tweak the H screw to get it to rev rather than bog, but it still doesn't seem to be running at full speed at the top end, even with the screw turned all the way in (turning it out made it worse) - any suggestions on carb settings gratefully received

On the bar/chain front - it seems that Stens are not available in the UK, but the bar on the saw appears to be OK so I have bought a new 3/8" x 0.58" x 72DL chain from Oregon which I think is the same as what is currently fitted (probably 20 years newer!) and for another £19, it makes sense to try it. The old bar does have some spacers fitted - it's a 14mm slot bar on the 3/8" (9.5mm) studs, so I'll try that for now and maybe get a new spacer machined up for me at work. I think adapting up to 14mm makes sense, and makes lots of nice looking bars available, if I feel like changing it up (say getting a ripping/milling set up).

Again, thanks for all your help so far!
James

[fossil]

Jan 18, 2021 6:29:40 GMT -5 jamesy said:

Hi all,

Quick update - got the RK-23HS kit from Rowena, plus 30cm of fuel line and a filter (just short of £19 delivered) and installed it. Pulled it over a few times to see if it was priming (clear fuel pipe rocks!) and it was. Switched the saw on and it started straight up - maybe 7-8 pulls in total! The old fuel line was badly perished and fell apart when I removed it, so I'm glad I did.

Absolute beast, feels rock solid and very powerful - the lack of a chain brake is a bit of reminder as to how dangerous these things can be in the wrong hands!

I had to tweak the H screw to get it to rev rather than bog, but it still doesn't seem to be running at full speed at the top end, even with the screw turned all the way in (turning it out made it worse) - any suggestions on carb settings gratefully received

On the bar/chain front - it seems that Stens are not available in the UK, but the bar on the saw appears to be OK so I have bought a new 3/8" x 0.58" x 72DL chain from Oregon which I think is the same as what is currently fitted (probably 20 years newer!) and for another £19, it makes sense to try it. The old bar does have some spacers fitted - it's a 14mm slot bar on the 3/8" (9.5mm) studs, so I'll try that for now and maybe get a new spacer machined up for me at work. I think adapting up to 14mm makes sense, and makes lots of nice looking bars available, if I feel like changing it up (say getting a ripping/milling set up).

Again, thanks for all your help so far!
James

The HS 151 is a bit of an odd carb. I'll attach a bulletin on how to tune it. 

To stop the saw from bogging on acceleration is all on the low needle tuning, not the high. 

[jamesy]

Ah, thanks Tim, that's excellent. The (very knowledgeable) guy at Rowena hadn't heard of the HS151A - I wonder if it was a replacement or if it's just old/obscure in the UK market. The bulletin seems to suggest it replaced the original HS103 of the 900 saws, so it appears to be 'matching', at least.

I had (obviously wrongly) assumed that as it idled and appeared to pick up OK but wouldn't open up that it was the H circuit - I did put a screwdriver on the L circuit too but with no results. I will reset the H to where I found it (about 5/8 out) and the L to 1 1/2 (as the bulletin says - it was 1 1/4 ish before) and go from there!

Thanks again
James