How To Clean A Chainsaw

Sawdust, oil, sap – your chainsaw sees a lot of dirt, even if you only use it sparingly. All that debris can get in the housing also and if left there it can wear out and damage your equipment’s internal parts. To maximize your equipment’s lifespan, a regular cleaning schedule is key, and AppliancePartsPros.com is here to help you out with another comprehensive cleaning guide. Learn how to clean and maintain your chainsaw with this quick and easy guide.

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Do I Have To Clean My Chainsaw?

Yes, absolutely. A decent wipe down and drying after every use and a deep cleaning when appropriate are both vital to ensuring your chainsaw remains in good working shape.

A dirty chainsaw:

• May run hot or overheat because of a clogged or damaged air filter.
• May have trouble starting due to debris building up around one of the start components.
• Will dull the chain faster, resulting in uneven cuts and higher risk of kickback.
• Could damage the bar and chain, if the oilers are clogged.
• Could cause serious injury to you or someone nearby if the chain snaps.

Convinced you need to do some cleaning? Let’s go over how it’s done.

How Often Should A Chainsaw Be Cleaned?

You should give your chainsaw a basic cleaning after every use to keep it clear of build up. A basic cleaning involves clearing the body, bar groove, and chain of dust and debris. You’ll also want to ensure it’s completely dried before storing it to avoid rust. Beyond a basic after-use cleaning, how much cleaning you’ll need to do depends entirely on how much you use your chainsaw. For the average homeowner, for example, a more intensive deep cleaning should be done, at minimum, before the chainsaw is put away for the season. If your chainsaw sees a lot more than occasional use, monthly or even weekly cleanings may be appropriate.

Cleaning A Chainsaw

For the average home user, a wipe down with a rag and quick scrub with a bristle brush should be enough to keep things clear between uses, but for this guide, we’re going to walk you through a full deep cleaning. You’ll be soaking some components for upwards of fifteen to twenty minutes to get them fully clean, so set aside a few hours to take care of this project the first time you do it. It’ll go a lot faster once you know the steps first hand.

Your Chainsaw Cleaning Kit

Here’s a basic overview of things you may find useful when cleaning your chainsaw. You don’t necessarily need every item outlined here, but having most of them on hand will help:

• A rag
• A wire bristle brush
• 1-inch and 2-inch paint brushes
• A putty knife or bar groove cleaning tool
• Flathead screwdriver or small pick
• Chainsaw scrench or socket and ratchet of appropriate size
• WD40 spray
• Household ammonia – a solution of 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of ammonia in a bucket should be enough for our purposes
• Chainsaw oil
• Shop vac
• Air compressor or canned air
• Protective gloves
• Safety glasses

Before You Begin…

For this guide, we’ll be doing our cleaning with a water-ammonia solution. For this reason, you should work in a well-ventilated area and take care to avoid getting the solution on your skin or near your eyes. Be sure to wear gloves and eye protection!

Make sure your chainsaw is on a stable, flat surface. The base should be flat against your workspace. Maybe it goes without saying, but you should also wait until your chainsaw is completely cool to do any cleaning. Disconnect it from power if it is an electric chainsaw, and remove the boot from the spark plug, otherwise.

Cleaning The Bar & Clutch Cover

1. Disengage the chain brake, if necessary. On some chainsaws, having the chain brake engaged when you do this will make everything much more difficult to reassemble.
2. Using a scrench or socket, remove the two bolts holding the bar onto the chainsaw body and remove the side plate.

3. Remove the bar and chain. How this is done may depend on the model. Often, it involves lifting the bar and pushing it back to slacken the chain and free up the bar. Set the chain aside for the moment.
4. Clean the bar groove. If you don’t have a specialized bar groove cleaning tool, something narrow like a putty knife or a very thin flathead screwdriver can work.
   1. Run whatever tool you’re using along the groove several times to completely clear it of debris.
   2. Take care when running around the nose of the bar, your tool could get caught.
   3. It’s important to get the groove as clean as possible. Any sawdust left behind will soak up the oil when you lubricate the bar.
5. Clean the oiler holes. These are two small holes on either side of the bar where oil is taken through to lubricate the chain. These can get quite gunked up, but if they aren’t too bad, you may be able to clear them out with an air compressor, canned air, or even a paint brush. If the bar’s oiler holes are badly clogged, a pick or small flathead screwdriver can be used to clear them out.
6. Wipe the body of the bar down with a rag. Soap and hot water are fine to clean a chainsaw bar, but if that’s not heavy duty enough, you may need to use a degreaser.
7. Clean out the clutch cover. There’s likely some caked on sawdust and dirt in there. An air compressor will take care of that quick, but if you don’t have one, scraping it out with your putty knife and then soaking it in the same degreaser you used on the bar should do the trick.

Cleaning The Chain

1. If the chain is very dirty, soak it in a water-ammonia solution for 10 to 20 minutes. Your solution should be 1 gallon of water to one cup of household ammonia. Remember to work in a well-ventilated area! Wear gloves and eye protection. If your chainsaw isn’t too bad, skip this step and just give it a dry scrub with your wire bristle brush.
2. After soaking, remove the chain from the ammonia and use your wire bristle brush to scrub away the grime.
3. Rinse the chain thoroughly with water, then dry it off. You can use your air compressor to speed up the drying process, if you want.
4. Lubricate the chain by dipping it in chainsaw oil. You’ll want to get off the excess before you install it on the bar, so either wipe it off or hang it and let the excess drip into a pan or onto a newspaper.

Cleaning The Powerhead

1. Time for some detailing. Use your brushes and pick or flathead screwdriver to clear out any build up on the chainsaw’s powerhead. Pay special attention to the crankcase, clutch drum, and oiler port.

Cleaning The Carburetor

1. If you aren’t comfortable disassembling and cleaning the carburetor, leave it to a professional. You can close the choke and temporarily stuff the air intake with a clean rag while you clean everything else.
2. Otherwise, remove the needle valves, diaphragm, and cover plate and soak them in a water-ammonia solution for 10 to 20 minutes. One gallon of water to one cup of ammonia should do the trick. Once again, remember to work in a well-ventilated area when using ammonia. Wear hand and eye protection, as well.
3. Rinse the components off with warm, clean water, and use a brush to remove any remaining residue.
4. Dry them completely before reassembly. There should be no moisture remaining, as any that gets into the carburetor can cause rust.

Cleaning And Inspecting The Spark Plug

1. Inspect the plug. Check the tip of the spark plug. If it looks like it’s covered in oil, it needs to be replaced.
2. Check the gap between electrodes, and carefully correct it if necessary. You’ll want to refer to your chainsaw’s manual – or the spark plug’s manual – for exact measurements on how wide the gap should be. If it’s totally bent out of shape, or broken, it may need to be replaced.

3. Clean up any carbon build-up around the spark plug. A soft wire brush and spark plug cleaning solution solution should be enough.

Cleaning And Inspecting The Air Filter

1. Start with an inspection. If you notice any holes or tears in the filter, or if it seems like it’s beyond cleaning, then it’s definitely time to replace the filter.
2. Brush the air filter off if it isn’t too dirty. Your soft paint brush should be sufficient.
3. If it’s very dirty, you can soak the filter in soapy water and gently scrub it with a soft brush. If it’s still dirty after a thorough cleaning, it’s time for a replacement.
4. Do not use an air compressor on your air filter. It could easily puncture it, which will necessitate a replacement.

Reassembly

Once everything is completely dry and the parts that need to be lubricated are well-oiled, it’s time to put everything back together again. Reassemble your chainsaw, taking care to make sure that everything is properly tightened down and the chain isn’t too slack on the bar.

Wrapping Up

You’re all done! Remember to stick to a regular cleaning schedule for your chainsaw. Give it a once over after every use, then keep it sheathed and stored in a dry place to ensure you enjoy its full potential lifespan. If you’re looking for more tips, tutorials, or need some genuine OEM replacement parts, you’re still in the right place! AppliancePartsPros.com has everything you need to fix and maintain your lawn equipment and home appliances, and our friendly staff is happy to offer you advice on what parts you might need and how to install them.