by bgsengine » Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:10 pm
Luffy is right - tension chain cold, what we do is you have bar nuts just barely snug enough to hold the bar "up" then loosen them til it drops, tension chain and turn by hand a few times, to line it up straight, then put bottom of bar on a block of wood to hold it up while you tension chain , tension til you can pull up on chain just far enough that bottom of drive link tang will almost, but not quite clear the bar groove, and torque bar nuts - usually does not take much more than 1/4-1/2 of a turn on the nuts to have them torqued down.
Too much tension and it'll be too tight. Also the above adjustment applies to *sprocket nose* bars - hardnose bars, you run them a bit looser - and on most saws, if, when idling , the chain hangs down a little bit from the bar but not entirely out of the groove, after a couple cuts, your tension is about right - chain should run through and able to turn freely.
The CS-550P does come standard with .325 chain, but can easily be converted to 3/8 Standard chain by changing out the sprocket rim and bar - and a 20" bar 3/8 Standard chain will be 70 drive link count (which is why I asked if it is all original bar,chain,sprocket)
Usually the oiler will be sufficient to oil a 20" bar - and cutting your bar oil with diesel is usually only something you do with summer weight SAE30 bar oil when using in extreme cold weather (They do make a 10 weight low temp bar oil) Regular oil (and oil thinned with diesel) can easily sling off, and may not even be obvious that it is doing so - a smoking chain or bar means something is getting too hot, and that is usually either lack of oil, or tension is too tight - Try running it with chain a bit loose and see if it starts oiling again.
have yet to see an oiler failure, other than one where they got fishing line wrapped up in the clutch (dont ask me how - I have no idea!) but it is not unheard of - cutting bar oil with diesel may cause problems if the diesel gets hot enough to evaporate, it can vapor lock your oiler. bar oil also cools and lubricates the oiler itself - if it happens to separate the diesel and bar oil (it will if it sets long enough) the oiler drive worm gear can melt down and strip.
Would be better to just use straight bar oil without trying to thin it out.
How poor are they who have not patience. What wound did ever heal, but by degrees? - Iago (Othello Act II, Scene 3)