Generac OCI observations

[SupremePossum]

Does anyone have any good information on how Generac figure out their OCI's?

I have a Generac RG027-QS, it has a 2.4L Mitsubishi I4 engine (Liquid cooled, 1800RPM) and calls for 5W-30 and takes 5 quarts, give or take. It calls for a 125 Hour OCI

My Neighbor has a 24kw Air Cooled Generac, with the 999cc 2 Cylinder engine running at 3600RPM. It holds just 1.8 quarts of of 5W-20, and calls for 200 hour OCI

Surely I'm not the only one seeing a problem here?

 

[NormanBuntz]

An annual oil and filter change won't hurt. My standby Generac is only 16kw, but that's what I do. Mine calls for 5w-30 synthetic.

 

[SupremePossum]

An annual oil and filter change won't hurt. My standby Generac is only 16kw, but that's what I do. Mine calls for 5w-30 synthetic.

Yeah that's what I'm doing, I've not hit 125 hours in a year, yet anyway. I have a feeling this year might be the year. Already ran for 24 hours during the storms last week

 

[Eddie]

Weird oil change hours. Variables: 2.4L vs 999cc--I4 vs 2cyl.---5q vs 1.8 Quarts. I give up and would just follow what is on your unit. Ed

 

[c502cid]

I just do my 26kw air cooled Generac every spring.

 

[loneryder]

I was changing the oil every 2 years in my 12kw Generac. The oil stays clean with propane. Someone on here advised me to change it every year because water gets into the oil. The normal exercise period doesn't get hot enough to burn it off. Sure enough when I drained it there was milkiness at the bottom of the pan. I use 0-40 syn.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Does anyone have any good information on how Generac figure out their OCI's?

I have a Generac RG027-QS, it has a 2.4L Mitsubishi I4 engine (Liquid cooled, 1800RPM) and calls for 5W-30 and takes 5 quarts, give or take. It calls for a 125 Hour OCI

My Neighbor has a 24kw Air Cooled Generac, with the 999cc 2 Cylinder engine running at 3600RPM. It holds just 1.8 quarts of of 5W-20, and calls for 200 hour OCI

Surely I'm not the only one seeing a problem here?

two different power plant manufacturers just recommend their own thing. I wouldn't sweat it though those engines are designed for extended run times.

 

[spasm3]

My Neighbor has a 24kw Air Cooled Generac, with the 999cc 2 Cylinder engine running at 3600RPM. It holds just 1.8 quarts of of 5W-20, and calls for 200 hour OCI

Surely I'm not the only one seeing a problem here?

No way am i running a 5w-20 in an air-cooled engine.

 

[DwightFrye]

I have a 16 Kw Generac hard wired into my main electrical panel and it is fed from my propane tank. It self-tests for ten minutes every other week. I do get some power outages, the longest was about 24 hours but typically if the generator kicks in it is just for a few hours. So I maybe put 50 hours a year on it. I do an oil and filter change every other season with 5W-30 Castrol Edge synthetic which is the factory recommended weight. I check the dipstick monthly and the oil remains a nice amber color. I haven't noticed any signs of water contamination.
It is air cooled so I make sure to keep the area around it clear of pine needles, leaves or snow. I think it is one of the 998 cc two cylinder engines.

 

[UncleDave]

Does anyone have any good information on how Generac figure out their OCI's?

I have a Generac RG027-QS, it has a 2.4L Mitsubishi I4 engine (Liquid cooled, 1800RPM) and calls for 5W-30 and takes 5 quarts, give or take. It calls for a 125 Hour OCI

My Neighbor has a 24kw Air Cooled Generac, with the 999cc 2 Cylinder engine running at 3600RPM. It holds just 1.8 quarts of of 5W-20, and calls for 200 hour OCI

Surely I'm not the only one seeing a problem here?

My guess is concern with moisture buildup.

 

[MVAR]

My 18kW Generac air cooled standby generator will be getting its annual oil change next month. It calls for 5/30 synthetic & I have some HPL PCMO 5/30 on hand so that's what's going in. Manual states 2.2qts.

 

[Bighorn2500]

No way am i running a 5w-20 in an air-cooled engine.

Yup, the new manual calls for the low ash 5w20. I even called them to verify it wasn’t a typo. Woman said 5w20 Generac oil or if that couldn’t be sourced Full Synthetic 5w30 could be used. Last month I had a 18kw installed and wanted to know what it shipped with and the woman said 5w30 conventional oil which is to be changed at 25 hours.

My plan is to change at 25hrs, I have four quarts 5w30 CF/SL rated Total Quartz I can run for two shorter 25hour intervals then switch to some 5w30 Rotella T6 5w30MV for 100hr interval or yearly. Mine included the seven year warranty so 5w30 it will get so I can keep receipts and document changes then probably 0w40 outside of the warranty timeframe.

 

[NormanBuntz]

This milky used oil was after one year and about 35 hours runtime. It's what I try to avoid now:

 

[SupremePossum]

My neighbor always puts off checking his oil, and we are getting another round of storms. I went and checked it for him, below the low mark!

I think I understand the 200 hour OCI now, these 3600 RPM engines burn so much oil, that you have to keep adding fresh oil, so at 200 hours, most of the oil doesn't even have 200 hours on it

When I checked mine, it was still at the full mark

 

[SupremePossum]

Update to this!

We just had a 6 day and 6 hour outage. I changed my oil at 162 hours, and I helped my neighbor with the air cool do the same thing

My oil started full, and was just a hair over 3/4 on the dipstick, and I had not waited for much oil to drain down back into the pan. Oil looked used, but not too bad (Blackstone report incoming!)

Neighbors air cooled generator was only just on the dipstick! Oil looked TERRIBLE.

 

[MVAR]

Update to this!

We just had a 6 day and 6 hour outage. I changed my oil at 162 hours, and I helped my neighbor with the air cool do the same thing

My oil started full, and was just a hair over 3/4 on the dipstick, and I had not waited for much oil to drain down back into the pan. Oil looked used, but not too bad (Blackstone report incoming!)

Neighbors air cooled generator was only just on the dipstick! Oil looked TERRIBLE.

Just serviced my 18kW air cooled generac. Only 13 run hours so oil looked good, with the exception of the shiny break in flakes that were in the filter.

Replaced with about 2.2qts HPL HDMO CC 5/40 & new generac oil & air filters.

Hoping the HPL holds up well if we have an extended outage. It’s not a 5/30 & still under warranty but air cooled engine in >110 degree summer weather gets me nervous.

 

[SupremePossum]

His generator was running cheap 10W-30 Dino oil mostly, from when I topped it up for him after the last storm. I will be very interested to see your results, I hope you update us!

For what its worth, his generator ran without issue for the entire outage, all while being poorly maintained. So, good oil and being maintained, I don't know if I'd be that worried

 

[SupremePossum]

This milky used oil was after one year and about 35 hours runtime. It's what I try to avoid now:

Any idea what causes the milky oil?

 

[NormanBuntz]

Any idea what causes the milky oil?

This June 2023 oil change was after 52 weekly exercise runs of 10 minutes each plus maybe a couple longer runs if we had a power outage. The frequent 10 minute cycles running in a propane powered unit is what caused the milky appearance.

 

[facility1]

Any idea what causes the milky oil?

not sure why its milky,though i would try a slightly thicker viscosity like 10w-30 or 5w-40 synthetic to see if it happens again, maybe due to excessive foaming?? or fuel in oil??, perhaps send in a sample to a lab ,in my gen. (smaller) 5w-40 (Havoline) is what i use,it just turns dark after some time.