generator break in

[chewy781]

I have a ETQ 2250 surge-1750 rated watt generator with a 4 horse engine. What do you all recommend for doing that? I started out with a light load on it using a couple of 300w halogen work lamps and a 1500 watt space heater. i loaded it up in stages like,20-30% load on it for about an hour,30-50% 2 hours,50-75%load at 3 hours, then over 75 % for the remaining 5 hours hours. does that sound okay? I ran some chevron Delo 400 10w30 that we had in drums

 

[chewy781]

I plan on changing the oil at 5 hour intervals until I get like 20-25 hours on it. Then I will switch to some Amsoil ASE.

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Change the oil at 5 hours, then run it for what the manufacturer requires (most are 50 hour intervals).

I run my genny with a 50% load twice a month.

Here are pics of my 5550w cheap Troy-bilt gen.

Generator Maintenance

Dave

 

[Steve S]

I would have just run itas needed. Change the oil using a quality oil which you are doing.

 

[daman]

Change it at 5 hrs then 10 hrs then start your usual OCI,that's what i did and had nice silver oil at the 10hr mark still.

after that it was all Amsoil ACD and didn't look back....

 

[OilNerd]

I did a break in this past fall on a 4K ETQ.

I loaded it at half-load and changed every 5 hours until 20 hours with MC5000 10w30, then used Mobil 1 5w30.

An after-the-fact observation: the 15 hour change appeared unnecessary. If I had to do it again, I'd probably change at 5, 10, and 20 hours. Most of the shavings were out by 10 hours.

 

[JimPghPA]

This is some information I put together from hours of reading post here on BITOG about air-cooled OPE.

If it were mine for winter I would consider GC, or Shell Rotella T6 5W-40, or Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40. I would prefer GC for coldest temperatures, but any of these would work. Shell Rotella is probably the lowest cost, especially by the gallon.

For mild temperatures I would consider the same oils, + Shell Rotella T5 15w40 (even lower cost than 6T), and mono weight Shell Rotella T 30wt, mono weight Pennzoil HD 30, or mono weight Castrol HD 30, or Mobil 1 15W-50.

For hot weather Mobil 1 15W-50. The recommendation for Mobil 1 15W-50 is from another person here on BITOG who lives in Florida. He said that he has seen several of his neighbors burn up engines on generators by using the wrong oil in the hot weather. He runs Mobil 1 15W-50 and has no problems with his generator.

Because Mobil 1 15W-50 is now SM rated I decided to go with Mobil 1 20W-50 that is still SL rated for hot weather. I would not run Mobil 1 20W-50 if the ambient were below about 60 F, and probably would only put it in if ambient were above 80 F.

I keep GC in the crank case of my 10 HP Tecumseh engine for my generator here in Pittsburgh PA. I also stock many quarts of GC in case of a long winter outage. Hind sight, a couple of gallon jugs of Rotella T6 5W-40 would of been cheaper. I picked up two quarts of the Mobil 1 20W-50 at Pep-Boys for a hot summer outage but have not had to use it yet.

I would also get in touch with the local Amsoil rep and get some foaming carb cleaner. About every 100 hours just before an oil change, use it, and run the engine for about 5 minutes to get it out of the carb and then change the oil. Also, put a new sparkplug in after that, carb cleaners foul plugs.

If you have a season that you do not use it be sure to either drain the tank, or add Sta-Bil to the gas, and then turn off the gas and run the carb dry.

I would change the oil every 25 hours with Shell Rotella, and every 50 hours with GC, or Mobil 1 15W-50, or Mobil 1 20W-50.

I saw something that said Rotella 10w30 does not have JASO-MA. You might want to think twice about using it.

Be weary of any oil not listed SL for use in OPE. The new SM oils have less ZDDP. Also if you stay with 30 as the high number, be aware that in general a mono weight 30 will hold up better in the high shear environments like air-cooled OPE.

 

[JimPghPA]

I also have a K&N air filter and clean and oil kit for my generator. I keep the stock dry filter on it and save the K&N for a long outage. That way there is no wory of the oil for the K&N drying out.

 

[JimPghPA]

BTW, Mobil 1 20W-50 is known as Mobil 1 V Twin 20W-50 motorcycle oil.

 

[The_Jeff]

Is this the guy?

Your break-in plan is already way more than most have done. Might be a "Chonda". I would concentrate on a favorable storage and rotation plan for your fuel.

In fact that genset is so reasonably priced it might make a good backup plan for someone else's larger one!

PS last ice storm I ran my 1977 briggs/mccullough "Mite-E-Lite" with straight 30 weight, cold started at 15'F then off to 3600 RPM. Brrr.

 

[chewy781]

Well I actually changed it at like 8 hours, 11 hours, and 15 hours. you guys were right, it was probably only necessary at the 5, 10, and 20 hours, but as of right now it has 15 hours and im debating to put synthetic in, or conventional 10w30 for another 5 hours then switch. yay or nay?

The machine runs top notch with a 1700 full load with a space heater on it, and two 100 watt lamps on it. at the first oil change at 8 hours, I did see alot of metal shavings, 2nd one at 11 hours not much, 3rd one at 15 really not any that I could see.

 

[chewy781]

Originally Posted By: OilNerd
I did a break in this past fall on a 4K ETQ.

I loaded it at half-load and changed every 5 hours until 20 hours with MC5000 10w30, then used Mobil 1 5w30.

An after-the-fact observation: the 15 hour change appeared unnecessary. If I had to do it again, I'd probably change at 5, 10, and 20 hours. Most of the shavings were out by 10 hours.
I would have to agree with you on that oci

 

[chewy781]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Is this the guy?

Your break-in plan is already way more than most have done. Might be a "Chonda". I would concentrate on a favorable storage and rotation plan for your fuel.

In fact that genset is so reasonably priced it might make a good backup plan for someone else's larger one!

PS last ice storm I ran my 1977 briggs/mccullough "Mite-E-Lite" with straight 30 weight, cold started at 15'F then off to 3600 RPM. Brrr.
thats the one that i have

 

[chewy781]

Well my generator is running pretty good now. But when I put a light load on it, like 600 watts, it very slightly surges just a tiny bit. It seams run a little on the lean side.
Any ideas what I can do without taking the carburetor apart? I am trying restricting the air inlet with some duct tape inside the air filter cover to slightly richen the fuel mixture up. The machine is only 3 weeks old. I could also try putting on some higher quality/bigger diameter fuel line on it to see if it help give it more fuel. It seams to run a little on the lean side.
Any body have any better ideas? I really don't want to return the machine because it runs good other wise. It takes a 1700 watt load really good.

 

[boraticus]

When you say "slightly surges" do you mean just once when it receives the load or continuously with the load? If it's just the one surge, don't sweat it. If it surges continuously, try adding a bit more load. The governor might not like 600 watts.

 

[chewy781]

Its barely noticeable at a 600 watt load. but its annoying . I put some tape on the inside of the filter cover and it doesn't hunt for a certain rpm any more. The spark plug indicated it was a little lean. Now I get a nice light tan color on the ngk bpr6es spark plug after the gorilla tape mod.

 

[chewy781]

Originally Posted By: chewy781
Its barely noticeable at a 600 watt load. but its annoying . I put some tape on the inside of the filter cover and it doesn't hunt for a certain rpm any more. The spark plug indicated it was a little lean. Now I get a nice light tan color on the ngk bpr6es spark plug after the gorilla tape mod.

well actually it ran a bit rich with a black plug. lol. I ran it 5 hours like that and it surges a lot less that the engine is more broken in. I switched over to amsoil ase, now when I run it wit ha 600 watt load or 1500 watt load, it doesn't surge after when I removed the tape to block some air off. go figure. I will probably leave it alone now without the stupid tape on it.