# Pictures of Repairs



## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

I'll post pictures of some items that have come in for repair as the year goes on.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Here is one from 2004. The Service Order said "the handle just broke while he was using it"... yeah... right!


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Next on the list is one we see often "I just bought this new chain and it doesn't cut right".


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

These are always fun "the recoil doesn't work".


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

hahaha, i wonder what happened in the first one for real. how exactly did the last one end up like that????


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## bbnissan (Nov 7, 2004)

hankster said:


> Next on the list is one we see often "I just bought this new chain and it doesn't cut right".


I've never seen this one happen before...  It's not like every other saw that comes into the shop has the chain on backwards.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

On the first one it looked like it fell off the back of a truck... had real bad "road rash" on what was left of the case!


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Here are a few pics of our shop. In this first set are pictures of 2 of the 4-cycle lines, the 2-cycle line and the Artisan line (pressure washers, compressors, generators, snow blowers).

There are 4 lines of 4-cycle in total with 8 repair stations in each line. The 2-cycle line has 9 repair stations and the Artisan line has 7 repair stations.

Sorry the pics aren't clearer but I was using my cell phone to take the pics.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

The following two pictures is of the shipping bay. Pictured here are 1000+ incoming units and 300+ units waiting to ship. Peak season still hasn't hit yet! This past week we have been averaging 500 completed units per day... should be more but we are short about 10 techs.


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## scrench (Dec 8, 2004)

do you have to get your own parts or does someone get them for whoever is working on stuff

is this all warranty stuff or do you take in general public stuff to work on too ?


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

We get our own parts. If you look at the following picture

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=17355

to the right you see shelves... they are full of parts. Actually, there are about 10 of these shelves (about 50' long) throughout the shop. The parts are located on the shelves according to what line needs them so we seldom have to walk far to get them. Just to the right outside the picture is a computer where we look up the parts we need and it tells us where it is located. There are about 10 computer terminals throughout the shop.

I would guess about 70% is warranty work, 20% out of warranty and general public and about 10% Lowes as we repair Lowes L&G equipment.


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## scrench (Dec 8, 2004)

wow thats cool good thread do all the techs have to be certified ? so in the case of the broken handle would you go ahead and fix it and bill whoever owned it or would it be sent back if not covered by warranty or does someone check them out when they come in and say warranty not warranty ? you guys must have reps on the spot 24- 7 ?


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

First, let me clearify something. On the 4-cycle line they have diagnosers that figure out what is wrong (hopefully) and pull the parts. There are 3 lines in 4-cycle for light, medium and hard repairs and the units are distributed to those lines as needed. 

On the 2-cycle and Artisan lines we diagnose and repair ourselves. All of the other repair centers across the U.S. have diagnosers for the 2-cycle and Artisan lines. Our repair center covers all of Michigan, Indianapolis north and northen Ohio.

For items that are not under warranty the customer pre-approves an amount when they drop them off. Our minimum charge is $52.99 so if they are not willing to spend at least $52.99 there is not even any use for them to drop off the unit. If the cost of the repair is over the pre-approved amount we have to call the customer to get approval before we fix it.

As diagnosers we determine if a repair should be covered under warranty or not. In the case of Sears products about 99% of all repairs within the warranty period is covered. Sears buys their product from the manufacturer without a manufacturers warranty as Sears self warrants all of the products it sells. Run a weedeater on straight gas, we'll cover it... once anyways.

In the case of Lowes products we have to strickly follow the manufacturers warranty as their products are covered by the manufacturer. If it isn't a manufacturing defect, it won't be covered. All parts replaced under warranty have to be bagged, tagged and stored for 6 months in case the manufacturer wants to examine the parts.

No reps are on site, we as diagnosers make that determination. Only a few techs are certified. You have to remember that in peak season we may have 75 techs but in the dead of winter there are only about 20 working... that creates a lot of turnover and not much opportunity to get many certified.


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## curley4270 (Apr 13, 2005)

Thanks you for the inside info on how this stuff works . So you are telling me to buy from Sears then ?? haha. just kidding. Have a great night everyone!!!


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

actually sears has a pretty darn good warranty on their outdoor equipment.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Not just because I work there but Sears has the best warranty bar none! Take that chain saw you forgot to mix the fuel properly back to Lowes of Home Depot and see if it gets fixed under warranty? It will once at Sears. I say once because if it comes back a second time for the same problem we won't cover it... we do forgive mistakes... not stupidity 

Now, things "may" change in the future since the buyout by Kmart. I look for cutbacks to be made to save costs and it could be that customer mistakes like this will not covered to save costs... only makes sense really... it wasn't the saws fault that you forgot to put oil in the fuel.


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

gotta love that extended warranty they offer on mowing equipment.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Here are the remains of a Poulan 25cc engine that was fitted to a hedge trimmer. While broken crankcases are not all that uncommon, you gotta wonder what they did to break the crank!!!


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

on a hedge trimmer, man i wonder what they did, tried to cut a tree down


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Here is an item that seems to be showing up more often this year. It's a blown rod bearing in a Ryobi engine... never have liked those stamped rods!


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Yeah... forgot about Echo... we see very very few of them in the shop. 

Biggest problem we see with the Ryobi design engine is blown rod bearings. You can see a picture of one here
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=17713


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

how old is that one?


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## scrench (Dec 8, 2004)

hankster said:


> Here are the remains of a Poulan 25cc engine that was fitted to a hedge trimmer. While broken crankcases are not all that uncommon, you gotta wonder what they did to break the crank!!!


 
would you just shortblock it or change the crank and seals ? crank might have had a air bubble or void in the stihl (oops ) steel have seen it happen a couple times


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

The one in the picture is, I would guess, less then a month old. I am attaching pictures of another one I did today that was less then a week old. I don't suspect lack of oil because the piston/cylinder are in "like new" shape (except for the gouges from the needle bearings floating around in the c'case).


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

On the Poulan repair it was declined estimate... about $250 total. With this one the the broken c'case caused the flywheel to hit the ign. module wiping both out. Since the c'shaft wobbled, it took out the clutch and recoil assembly. Also, the muffler was all wollered out and loose which broke the tits off the cylinder. So about the only thing that could have been salvaged was the handle, blade and rear cover. If the damage isn't that extensive, we short block them, the cost of piston, cylinder and c'case is more then a short block.... but if it gets to the point where the crankcase breaks then normally they aren't worth fixing because of all the other damage caused.


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## snowball (May 3, 2005)

Hankster, nice tread I enjoyed the pictures ! 
Wondering if you can help me. What's involved in getting certified? Is there a test and are there study guides you can get to help? I do a fair bit of small engine in my garage but I don't have any papers as such proving my qualifications where can I get information on this? Thanks.


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## Iron head (Feb 3, 2005)

Thats a mighty fine shop you got there hank some day i want to work in a profesional shop like that. or maby even own my own.


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## Iron head (Feb 3, 2005)

Hank that chainsaw with the broken handle how you you fix somthing like that... i know in my school shop if somone brought that in we would have to refuse the service. but maby you do things diffrent in a pro shp like that. afterall at my school all repairs are for 5 bucks for gas.


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

I haven't posted any funny ones for awhile but just had to share this one. I've seen a lot of "junk" in engines before.... but I've never seen corn chips in a 2-stoke crankcase before!


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## LowRider (Dec 23, 2008)

sure you weren't eating on the job LOL. we all do it


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