Air Cooled Standby Generac Generator oil questions

[repairman54]

My current 11k Generac has a cold weather kit on it. Came with the house. Previous place had a 11k unit that I installed also with the cold weather kit. I've seen -30f already this winter, its 0f as I type this. 5w-30 synth. in mine no issues and its what is in my stock. If I was south the 0W-40 would be my choice. I run the Generac filters for no heat sleeve issues, cost is not a concern as oil change intervals are not like a vehicle. My record high summer temp. is only 93f in my area.

 

[BrendanC]

My current 11k Generac has a cold weather kit on it. Came with the house. Previous place had a 11k unit that I installed also with the cold weather kit. I've seen -30f already this winter, its 0f as I type this. 5w-30 synth. in mine no issues and its what is in my stock. If I was south the 0W-40 would be my choice. I run the Generac filters for no heat sleeve issues, cost is not a concern as oil change intervals are not like a vehicle. My record high summer temp. is only 93f in my area.

0w-40 will have better cold starting performance than 5w-30.

 

[Japanese]

0w-40 will have better cold starting performance than 5w-30.

I think 40 grade oil is too thick for small engines like generators. People usually use 40 grade in their sports and track/rally cars that run much more extreme loads and temperatures.
A 40 grade will be an overkill for such a small machine.

 

[facility1]

Air cooled Generators tend to run hot ,as there is no movement (air) to help cool engine plus when you per say make electricity is a heat generating process, though a good 5w-30 would still be fine,myself use a 0w-40 for ease of starting and heat protection of a 40 grade.

 

[oilboy123]

Amsoil small engine oils are optimized for OPE. But it would run good on any high quality syn oil. The small engine oil has extra rust additives etc in it.

That being said I used to run the Amsoil 5w-30 regular car oil in Briggs walk behind mowers. This was mowing abuse with very tall grass at my sisters house. This was way before Signiture Series oils.

 

[BrendanC]

I think 40 grade oil is too thick for small engines like generators. People usually use 40 grade in their sports and track/rally cars that run much more extreme loads and temperatures.
A 40 grade will be an overkill for such a small machine.

a 40w is not overkill for small engines infact a 50w would be even better. I run a 40 weight in my honda accords.

 

[Opelman]

I think 40 grade oil is too thick for small engines like generators. People usually use 40 grade in their sports and track/rally cars that run much more extreme loads and temperatures.
A 40 grade will be an overkill for such a small machine.

This is out of the Kawasaki update school book from last month. Check out the oil temps. Air cooled engines need a robust oil to stay in spec. 40 and 50 grade in summer is quite acceptable.

 

[Ns2008]

I have a Generac 22kW running off natural gas utility and was going to use Mobil 1 ESP 5w-30. I'm located in South FL and mostly concerned with extended outages in the peak of hurricane season where it is very hot. After looking at some other options it seems like Chevron DELO 600 ADF 15W40 might be a better option if it needs to run 24/7 in the heat. It's the same price and available at multiple local Walmarts.

I change the oil yearly due to moisture concerns and keeping records for the warranty.

 

[kschachn]

I have a Generac 22kW running off natural gas utility and was going to use Mobil 1 ESP 5w-30. I'm located in South FL and mostly concerned with extended outages in the peak of hurricane season where it is very hot. After looking at some other options it seems like Chevron DELO 600 ADF 15W40 might be a better option if it needs to run 24/7 in the heat. It's the same price and available at multiple local Walmarts.

I change the oil yearly due to moisture concerns and keeping records for the warranty.

If it is very hot I'd use a 50-grade. User @Cujet has posted on this subject.

 

[Japanese]

Air cooled Generators tend to run hot ,as there is no movement (air) to help cool engine plus when you per say make electricity is a heat generating process, though a good 5w-30 would still be fine, myself use a 0w-40 for ease of starting and heat protection of a 40 grade.

O.K. Sounds good. Are you saying generators don't have a cooling turbine as other OPE engines and scooter too?

Also, how would you explain the fact that the spark plugs for generators are usually heat range 6 or 7 (NGK scale) and plugs for air cooled bikes are usually 8 or 9 heat range (which means they run hotter)? And as we know bikes usually run 10W-40 or 20W-50 oils.
Also, generators run much lower RPM than motorbikes.

 

[facility1]

generators usually run under a load of 75%, or more there is no movement of the unit as a car, motorcycle etc along with no additional cooling other than a built-in fan runs in a hot humid oa temt,like after a storm,the heat range of the spark plug,just use whats in there,and yes when making electricity does generate heat through the process,a 0w-40 (mine needs to start in wis.winters) or a 6w-40 would also be fine in most generators . (They do run hot).

 

[dlundblad]

I think 40 grade oil is too thick for small engines like generators. People usually use 40 grade in their sports and track/rally cars that run much more extreme loads and temperatures.
A 40 grade will be an overkill for such a small machine.

Old post so I apologize. Mobil 1 0w40 for example is more like a thick 5w30. Some 5w30 oils are actually thicker than the Mobil 1.

 

[#18FAN]

Old post so I apologize. Mobil 1 0w40 for example is more like a thick 5w30. Some 5w30 oils are actually thicker than the Mobil 1.

What 5w30 is actually thicker I’d like to know seems like you have a list of them I’d just like to know one of them.

 

[pbm]

I'm happy I came across this thread. My daughter just bought a home with a fairly new Generac natural gas powered generator. I don't know the size but will check tomorrow as we are visiting her. She mentioned receiving a notice that maintenance is due (apparently the previous owner had a service contract.)
I'll probably start servicing it for her because the cost of the 'service' seemed very high. I have a few quarts of 0w30 German Castrol from the old days. I also have some 5w30 and 5w40 Total oil from the AA 'Clearance' in 2024. Of course I could buy a quart of 0w30 Mobil 1 ESP. Would the latter two (GC or Total) work or are the SAPS too high or does that even matter?

She's about 35 miles north of NYC so not nearly as cold in the winter as further upstate.

 

[spasm3]

I've run amsoil HDD 5w30 in my generator years, but I'm moving to 0w40.
Starts just as easy in cold weather, a bit more viscosity in hot weather.

 

[UNC054]

I'm happy I came across this thread. My daughter just bought a home with a fairly new Generac natural gas powered generator. I don't know the size but will check tomorrow as we are visiting her. She mentioned receiving a notice that maintenance is due (apparently the previous owner had a service contract.)
I'll probably start servicing it for her because the cost of the 'service' seemed very high. I have a few quarts of 0w30 German Castrol from the old days. I also have some 5w30 and 5w40 Total oil from the AA 'Clearance' in 2024. Of course I could buy a quart of 0w30 Mobil 1 ESP. Would the latter two (GC or Total) work or are the SAPS too high or does that even matter?

She's about 35 miles north of NYC so not nearly as cold in the winter as further upstate.

What you have on hand sounds acceptable with a rating of either (SJ/SM/SL). I suspect your Total oil is the Euro version like I bought on clearance as well. Preferably an oil with a 3.5 HT/HS viscosity or higher for an air-cooled unit. I just stick will oil changes of every 100 hours or annually, whichever comes first. Have your daughter simulate an outage disconnecting power every 2-3 months so it can run for 30 minutes loaded to burn off any condensation especially in the winter months. The weekly test runs build up condensation and the oil gets milky.

 

[dlundblad]

What 5w30 is actually thicker I’d like to know seems like you have a list of them I’d just like to know one of them.

Schaffers has been stated here many o times.

 

[#18FAN]

Schaffers has been stated here many o times.

No it's not .

 

[scrllock]

What 5w30 is actually thicker I’d like to know seems like you have a list of them I’d just like to know one of them.

In terms of actual KV100 values, this rumor is just due to poorly done VOAs reading artificially low. I have a 5w40 FS VOA that read as a 30 grade. That oil is not actually a 30 grade, it's a 5w40.

However, if you are speaking in terms of HTHS, Ravenol VMP 5w30 (3.7), Redline 5w30 (3.7) and a few others do start out at a higher HTHS than 0w40 FS (the virgin value of which Mobil no longer publishes, but was 3.54 in the tests we saw from HPL).

 

[dlundblad]

No it's not .

What about Castrol 5w30 Euro? That vs the 0w40. Both being A3/B4 with similar approvals.