330 air filter idea - out of the box thought

[ronaldt]

Nov 18, 2020 20:23:57 GMT -5 Mr_Huns said:

I was thinking air flows up through the bottom also. I designed the basket retain the filter on where I thought suction would be.

bamaboilermaker.

I wish it was easy for me to just whip one up in solid works. I am amateur at best...

I just discovered my filter design will not fit, again. There is a feature on the top plate that pushes down on the filter in the middle. I am just going to re-design it again. This time I am going to try a honeycomb that leaves a hole in the correct spot.

I notice the original filter has a lot of draft. I am not sure if I am going to increase the size and put a little draft on the part for a tighter fit, or just wing it.

The original filter does not make a great seal anyway.



P.S Also you people are rubbing off on me.

I am not really a saw collector, or a Homelite person. I just bought a house, needed a chainsaw, happened on a saw, in a box, in my price range and found all you crazy people. I wasn't really trying to drink the punch, but this is kind of fun. I also just agreed to buy an XL-98 of someone locally. Hopefully, I get it saturday. Then I will have 5 Homelites. The first one that will never run, the 240 that does, the 330 that may soon, and a UT-15040c string trimmer that ran for about 10 minutes, just long enough for me to order parts for its use.

How many before its a problem?

Problem? It's only a problem if your significant other says it's a problem. Then you have to find other places to hide your purchases! Haha. I got my first old Homie for free about 13 years ago. Little did I know that today I would have about 100 old saws. It's a great hobby! The best part is all the neat people involved! Enjoy the ride

[Mr_Huns]

Ok, here we go,

Version 4 with a honeycomb.  There should be a hole in the correct place to allow the feature on the top plate to pass through this filter basket.



20201118_330AFR_04 by MR Huns, on Flickr


Thanks RonaldT, I feel much better.  My daddy always told me never get a wife who is into cars or horses, because they will compete for funds and valuable garage space.

[stillsawing]

You are on to something here, keep thinking this through. Every problem is rectified with an idea and persistence. The 330 is a great saw and not as bad to work on once you get a hang of it, Leon has some very informative videos concerning the 330. As to your question of "how many ", one is too many and ten is not enough.

[Mr_Huns]

Ok,

Here we go; Version 4:

IMG_20201123_171809 by MR Huns, on Flickr

This is the only filter foam I could find on such notice. Ideally, the foam pad would be about 0.500" thick.

IMG_20201123_171355 by MR Huns, on Flickr


There is only about 0.250" gap under the filter for airflow at the back. This green foam pad is probably like 1 - 1.250" thick.

IMG_20201123_171741 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201123_171909 by MR Huns, on Flickr


I would also like to say that thankfully the saw RUNS!!! I had a fuel delivery problem. That was the check valve in the carburetor. Then it eventually ran after I burned up enough of the 2-stroke oil I used as assembly lube. Then it would run intermittently. As it turns out, I installed the heat shield for the muffler backwards and it would intermittently ground the ignition switch, shutting of the coil.

Now I just have to fix the leaking oil line.

What do you all do about the oil pickup line that shrinks and starts leaking. I tried a larger diameter piece of aluminium tubing to put more force on the seal, but it doesn't work well. I have to take it out and look. Maybe I can turn down a piece of brass as a pass through and seal it with an o-ring.

[sweepleader]

I like the air filter but I would be concerned about the reduced area for air flow through the honeycomb holding the foam. Maybe it is fine but if you have any trouble getting full power out of the saw, I would suggest that the holes should be made larger to reduce the amount of plastic blocking the flow. If you calculate the area of the openings compared to the blocked area between them, I think you will find that 1/2 or more of the total area is blocked.

I intended to mention this earlier but forgot, sorry about that. I do very much like the idea of making replacement parts when they cannot be purchased, or even if they can be purchased.

[Mr_Huns]

Thank you so much for the feedback.

I appreciate any and all comments!

Valuable insights make better products. If nothing else, this project is helping me hone my cad skills.

I give you the Homelite 330 Air Filter version 5

Screenshot from 2020-11-25 05-04-25 by MR Huns, on Flickr

I have tested the version 4 filter housing. The saw seems to have plenty of power. I do not have anything to compare with though. My only other running saw is a 240 and this has more power.

The filter fit is better than the OEM; Not perfect, but better. This is a picture of the OEM.

IMG_20201123_171939 by MR Huns, on Flickr

[bhound]

I really like that!Sawnami posted a link for foam uni filter that would go good with that!!!

[blythkd]

I've been watching the progression of this thread. Looks like it worked out nicely, maybe you can sell them. I didn't realize these air filters were becoming such an issue. I'm glad I found a handful of them a few days ago!

[stillsawing]

A foam filter from a Poulan 25 series appears to be a good fit. That filter is still available.

[bhound]

any more developments?

[Mr_Huns]

Actually, no.

I have the saw running great using a version 4 filter housing. I wanted to get some hours on it before making any judgement. I initially had some saw dust in the carburetor chamber, but I think the top plate foam seal was misplaced. I have about 3 - 4 hours on it. Let me go out to the garage later and give it a look.

[Mr_Huns]

Ok; Here we go...


I got the saw into some action and this is how it looks:

IMG_20201203_202604 by MR Huns, on Flickr






Now for the unveiling:



IMG_20201203_202809 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_202856 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_202830 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_203054 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_203038 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_203018 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_203014 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_202930 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_202758 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201203_203252 by MR Huns, on Flickr


Here you can see the results. There is a moderate amount of wood debris in the carburetor chamber. I really think it is the top plate foam seal and not the air filter. I peeled the foam filter away from the housing. You can clearly see the dust line present around the filter. The foam did not fall out of the housing at all. After removing the filter completely, you can see a little dust on the top where the honeycomb is. I am not really concerned at all.

I still just think the debris is from the crap foam seal on the top. I guess I could test my theory. I could run it like 3-4 hours with the OEM filter to see if it changes. I could also use a loop of electrical tape around the 3D printed part to make sure it is not leaking around the sides, temporarily.

[bhound]

Thank you for your time,i believe you are right,can't waite till all bugs worked out!This is the last piece of the puzzle for my saw!

[Mr_Huns]

Bhound,

You could 3D print one yourself and join the case study.

www.thingiverse.com/thing:4653949

The more empirical research we do, the better the product becomes.


If you cannot print one locally, PM me and I could mail you a test part.

I seriously think the wood dust is a few things:

1.) The top foam gasket on my saw is crap

2.) I think the saw is over fueling and that makes the smearing dust look. I may have to lower the metering lever on my carburetor. I think it
is a little high. That could be masking a problem that is really more like #3 because there are really no large particles in the chamber,
just clumping.

3.) Maybe the filter media is not fine enough. The filter had a small amount of fine dust visibly passing through it. You could see the faint
outline of the honeycomb in one of the pictures where i removed the filter media from the housing. I just bought the first junk I could
find and it was definitely B.S. (my bad, it is actually B&S). We could try a little filter oil to trap more debris, or get a different
media like Uni Filter. I cannot remember if we were talking
about the BF-1 or the BF-6 model


Unfortunately, it is raining all weekend on the right coast in 1 ate 9 five 1 this weekend, otherwise we could continue testing. I think I will order the BF-1 filter media anyway.

[blythkd]

Not sure just where all your sawdust is coming from but on the fueling issue, I can tell you that 330's are spitters. Start one up with the carb cover removed and they blow a fog of fuel out the top of the carb.

[Mr_Huns]

Great to know!!

I was thinking that it was totally over fueling; Which is odd because I have good control over the mixture using the low speed jet. The only issue so far is this saw dust and I have to pull the starter like 5-10 times to get it fired cold with the choke on and the starter pin engaged. It runs so well, and tuned into fuel control (good solid idle and good pickup off idle), that I will never worry about the hard starting cold. I didn't measure the compression, but it pulls hard with the new piston I fitted

My 240 starts so fast, its like the second or third pull cold.

[rowdy235]

Did you oil the filter? I think most foam filters need to be oiled to be effective against the fine dust. I oil all the foam filters on my B&S engines

[Mr_Huns]

No way dude, I stuck it in there dry!

Do you think I should use real Filter oil, or just some ATF. I might have Honda filter oil, K&N, and ATF.

[rowdy235]

I think atf would be too thin to stay in. If you have the filter oil, I’d use it!

[Mr_Huns]

OK,

Ladies and gentleman,

Here we go.....


I give you the version 6 Homelite 330 air filter housing:



IMG_20201207_213631 by MR Huns, on Flickr





Pardon the mess in my garage:



IMG_20201207_213646 by MR Huns, on Flickr



This filter version has totally enclosed sides. You can see a comparison in this photo:



IMG_20201207_213332 by MR Huns, on Flickr



IMG_20201207_213234 by MR Huns, on Flickr


IMG_20201207_213450 by MR Huns, on Flickr




I totally super saturated the filter in oil, then gave it a good squeeze. I cleaned out the carburetor chamber and adjusted the foam top seal. I will give it another go this weekend; weather permitting.