Chinese Generator. What OIl?

[Old Town]

Hello,
I just bought a Proforce Powermate Chinese generator from Pep Boys. After reading mostly good things about them on the net. My inittial opinion of this $249 2750 Watt genset is WOW!!! It is extremely quiet and smooth running. I load tested it up 20 Amps and it didn't even flinch. Now, on to my real question. What full synthetic oil would you all reccomend? The ownwers manual states 10W-40 would cover everything in my climate, but it calls for SAE 40 above 95 degrees!!! I dont think I will ever go that route. Oh, by the way I live in N. Texas and it does get plenty hot here. I have been leaning towards Castrol Syntec 10W-40. Thanks in advance.


Regards,
Ty

 

[MolaKule]

The engine is probably a 5 Hp engine so any good Synthetic 10W30 to 10W40 is OK.

I use a 0W30 in my 6250 W generator during the winter and 10W30 during the summer but it is a 13 Hp Briggs.

BTW, 20 Amps X 120 V = 2,400 watts so it is probably capable of 25 Amps in short bursts.

2750 W may not be the continous running wattage.

 

[Shady Brook]

This Generator sounds similar to the one I just bought. Mine has a 168f gasoline engine. Could you tell me where you found positive feedback on your generator? I have never heard of this engine, and can find no useable info on the web concerning it. Any help would be great!
Thanks

 

[Old Town]

Sure thing Shady,

http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/15131645/gotomsg/16517559.cfm#16517559

 

[Shady Brook]

Thanks a bunch Old Town, that looks like a great site!

 

[Old Town]

I am going to give this generator the test this weekend and I will readily report my findings Monday morning. I plan to test voltage, fuel consumption etc. We'll see how it goes. So far it seems to be really good.

 

[Old Town]

Well,
My plans changed a bit this weekend and I was only able to use the generator for a brief period of time. I look forward to really testing this bargain priced unit.

Regards,
Ty

 

[adam123]

Yeah report back Im curious about this thing. I might have to pick one up if it seems like its well built.

 

[Ugly3]

For $249 you will get $249 worth of generator.

 

[JTK]

Any 30 or 40wt variant would do fine in that setup. You could probably get up to 1000hrs of service on that unit. Not too shabby for $250.

G/luck
Joel

 

[Old Town]

For $249 you will get $249 worth of generator.


Is this from personal experience? I agree that $249 is grossly inexpensive compared to a Honda. If it lasts a quarter as long as a Honda I will be thrilled!!! It only cost $249.00 USD. I use generators for powering tools, I do not run them for long intervals so maybe it will last a while.

 

[Shady Brook]

I ended up going and buying one of the $249 3,000 continuous watt generators. I ran her for about 6 hours with different loads and she performed like a champ! I loaded her up pretty heavy and she had no problems. The engine is a Honda clone, and was not very noisy at all. I don't use this as a contractor running it every day. If my business needed a generator for heavy daily use, you can bet I would have a Honda or Yammah. I use mine for infrequent jobs and for emergency power. It would be foolish for me to spend two grand for a generator. I see no reason why our cheap generators should not last us a good long time.

 

[Old Town]

Glad to hear you like your purchase Shady. For the money I think these generators are a good value. (so far)

 

[brian fix]

What oil ,,,Schaeffers 15w40 will work great ,thats what is in my Generac 5k watt,BL

 

[Shady Brook]

Old Town

I owe my new and improved generator to you! I thank you!

I wondered about the Schaeffer 15w40 or the 5w40 synthetic. I have both, but went with the 10w30 as reccomended.

 

[Old Town]

Well, I ran my generator for about 2 hours today and here's what I have. With a 12-12.5 amp load the voltage was reading 126.5+-. The outside ambient temp was 70 degrees and the engine seemed to run very cool. When varying the load I noticed a small change in engine tone, almost unoticeable. Under a load the generator produced 59+- Hz. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary with the electrical output, although the voltage seemed to be slightly high. I would prefer the voltage to be closer to 125V. All in all am very happy with my purchase. I will continue to report on longivity and other general issues concerning this cheap generator when I have a few more hours on it.

 

[Old Town]

By the way a recently calibrated, True RMS, Fluke multimeter was used for testing.

 

[adam123]

sounds good Im interested in the durability of this thing.

 

[Slick17601]

Any update on the generators? I'm interested in one for emergency power.

 

[milwaukee]

You would think in this day and age that the simple posting of a link would not make the post so wide. Cursor gymnastics is not my thing.

Of the five or six bbs sites I frequent this "wide post problem" only happens on bitog. Why?