Best oil for Big Predator 9500W inverter generator?

[ripcord]

Clean and full is way more important of than the brand or weight of oil. That generator has battery start so I wouldn't worry so much about cold starting.

 

[football]

Conventional 10W30 for break in. Cheapest Supertech you can find. Change it at 10 hours. And then when it gets to 30 hours, I’d dump some synthetic 0W30 or 5W30 in it. You do not need 40 weight for winter temps in Colorado. If you lived down south and were more likely to use the unit in the summer 0W40 would be an excellent choice. But you are more likely to use the unit in winter ? A 30 weight is just fine.

Keep a battery tender on the battery so that it always stays charged and ready to go. You will not like pull starting that thing in winter conditions if your battery dies!

 

[Ride_Red]

Ok, so the owners manual says to run the initial oil during break in to 30 hours and then drain. That does seem like a really long time. Think it would be better to drain early and often through that 30 hour break in process?

Yes, it is better to drain early and often. The first drain (at 20-30 mins) will usually have a lot of metal glitter in the oil from parts doing their initial wear-in. It will also help flush out any leftover manufacturing debris. Then change every 5-10 hours depending on the amount of glitter.
After the 30 hours, it should be good to go for the normal oil change interval.

I also added a magnetic dipstick to my generators. Not really needed, but it does pick up some fine ferrous material that's suspended in the oil, so I suppose that's beneficial. I don't have one on my mower and it has been running fine for 17 years. YMMV

 

[Chris B.]

On a Chinese generator, the oil will be black by 5 hours.

I bet! I'll play it safe and change the oil early and often. I was thinking it may break in better with the initial oil remaining in place for the 30 hours they recommend. I did read the many Honda generators are made in china as well and that the Predators are made in the same factory.

 

[Chris B.]

Yes, it is better to drain early and often. The first drain (at 20-30 mins) will usually have a lot of metal glitter in the oil from parts doing their initial wear-in. It will also help flush out any leftover manufacturing debris. Then change every 5-10 hours depending on the amount of glitter.
After the 30 hours, it should be good to go for the normal oil change interval.

I also added a magnetic dipstick to my generators. Not really needed, but it does pick up some fine ferrous material that's suspended in the oil, so I suppose that's beneficial. I don't have one on my mower and it has been running fine for 17 years. YMMV

Ok Thanks! I'm at 1.3 hours right now already so I'll heat up the oil by running it for 5 minutes and then drain it and re-fill with fresh oil. Hopefully I didn't run it to long for the 1st drain. I varied the idle speed for the 1.3 hours I ran it last night. Put some small loads on it during that time too. I already have castrol GTX 10w30 for break in so I'll use that. It was only a dollar more then SuperTech.

 

[ripcord]

Any benefit from changing so soon will be quite modest. You didn't hurt anything.