Generator oil change after 73 hours continuous use?

[Wireman1987]

Given my climate I could certainly run a 10w, as it calls for, but I chose to run a 5w30 because this winter we hit lows of around -8F and I had the HPL left over.

Just keep in mind a 10w30 conventional may have more oil consumption verse a synthetic

 

[djb]

Manual for this generator says change the oil at 50 hours for hard use, or 100 hours otherwise. Seems to me that continuous use for several days is relatively hard use. I use 10w30 Delvac Extreme for my generator and yard equipment.

I would put that down as easy or standard use. Running the generator continuously means that it remains at operating temperature, doesn't have the start-up and shut-down transition of rich and lean mixtures, and likely isn't being run close to the load limit.

It's clearly time to change the oil. Not because it's likely near the end-of-life, but to be prepared for another multi-day outage.

 

[meep]

Do you want to potentially enter the next emergency with 72 hours on the oil?

Not intended to be a leading question with some hidden message… just - will it worry you. I know little about HPL and group IV+ lubricants.

 

[fantastic]

I'd say stay with a 5w-xx or 0w-xx per OP's climate in a generator. My position is that for a generator duty needing to start either by hand, especially, or electric starter there should be little resistance during the colder months for reliability sake. If you'd like to run it to 100 hours, test, then refill with your preferred grade to at least 150 hours...re-test I don't think that's out of line. Thanks!

 

[6.7 CTD]

Do you want to potentially enter the next emergency with 72 hours on the oil?

Not intended to be a leading question with some hidden message… just - will it worry you. I know little about HPL and group IV+ lubricants.

Being that it only had one oil change prior to this, at break in, no. I probably wouldn’t have posted this question if it were on its fourth or fifth oci. I posted this with the anticipation of likely changing it but value the opinions of most here. Different perspectives/input can often be helpful imo.

 

[repairman54]

I ran my 5600w 8k surge BS powered Craftsman eleven days straight without an oil change in the hurricane Sandy aftermath. Just a level check and top off if needed. After power came back it got an oil change with Walmart SuperTech Full Synthetic 5w30 it had in it and back into storage for the next time. It ran quite a few more 1-2 day events afterwards getting oil changes before storage until I sold it last year as it was no longer needed in my new place with a Generac standby unit.
Zero issues with that 20 yr. old generator other than replacing its electric start battery.
Cold starting a 0f or lower temp. unit, 0-30w oil is your friend, experience there on a recoil start same size gen. set.
Do not cheap out on a miserable quart of oil, put a good synth. in it for long, dependable engine life.
Good oil and fuel, or at least properly treated E10 fuels, will never let you down. I store with treated E0 gas myself.

 

[6.7 CTD]

I ran my 5600w 8k surge BS powered Craftsman eleven days straight without an oil change in the hurricane Sandy aftermath. Just a level check and top off if needed. After power came back it got an oil change with Walmart SuperTech Full Synthetic 5w30 it had in it and back into storage for the next time. It ran quite a few more 1-2 day events afterwards getting oil changes before storage until I sold it last year as it was no longer needed in my new place with a Generac standby unit.
Zero issues with that 20 yr. old generator other than replacing its electric start battery.
Cold starting a 0f or lower temp. unit, 0-30w oil is your friend, experience there on a recoil start same size gen. set.
Do not cheap out on a miserable quart of oil, put a good synth. in it for long, dependable engine life.
Good oil and fuel, or at least properly treated E10 fuels, will never let you down. I store with treated E0 gas myself.

I definitely didn’t cheap out on oil using HPL

 

[Mainia]

Change it, without question.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Change it. The Chinese engines have a lot of metal glitter in then and the cylinder bore and rings are gunna shred some metal off.

My intervals on brand new equipment are1 hr, then 5h, then another 5h, then 25h plus. Depending on the engine.

No oil filter, 25hrs max. Oil filter 50 tob100hrs

 

[TnT_M]

I consistently run 100+ HRS on my Wen I used to power my camper. I did one UOA to see what it told me. Basically it wasn't an issue. My generator would run constantly from start to end of a race event in all temperatures. Most events were 3 or 4 days. My Wen is an inverter type and holds less than a quart.

 

[icefisher]

Power was out in SW PA most of the week. I ran my Champion 8750/7k open frame inverter generator for 73 hours straight. Oil in use is 1 quart of HPL 5w30 NO VII and 0.2 quarts of HPL PCMO 5w30. The only time it was shut down was for refueling twice per 24 hour period (before and after work). I feel compelled to change the oil as it has only had one previous oil change after a 5 hour break in with valvoline daily protection 10w30. The generator has 78 total hours on it. Opinions? To change or not to change? I kind of want to send a sample off just for the heck of it.

Sorry about your power outage. I see some are still without power after a week. (I live in SW pa also) I bought the same generator a few months ago. How did the generator work out for you? I seem to like it. Have only run for a 3 hour outage it was a little loud.

 

[6.7 CTD]

Sorry about your power outage. I see some are still without power after a week. (I live in SW pa also) I bought the same generator a few months ago. How did the generator work out for you? I seem to like it. Have only run for a 3 hour outage it was a little loud.

Thanks, and I heard that as well. That was the first time I had the opportunity to put it to work. I am very pleased with how it performed. With a load under 50%, the generator would last 12.5 hours on a full tank of gas. I was filling it right before I left for work and then filling it when I returned home from my 10 hour shift. I was also running it in eco mode 90% of the time which makes it slightly quieter. I personally wasn’t concerned about noise because I have a neighbor with a generac home standby that is way louder than mine. It worked out very well and my wife even said that she was glad I bought it. I changed the oil Sunday afternoon and used HPL PCMO 5w30. Im sending an oil sample off for no other reason than curiosity. I will post the used oil analysis results when I get them.

 

[Sumboodie]

In my mind I convert run hours to miles. A air cooled gen is to my thinking like driving 65mph. 73x65 is just about 5000 “miles” and so my recommendation is change it, especially since it only holds a bit over a quart.

I usually convert miles to hours.

250hrs on most stuff. 50hrs on air cooled splash lube small engines.

 

[loneryder]

I will note that the OP also lives in PA. The temps his genny will see are akin to mine. Potentially below zero in winter and above 90 in summer.
If he does not OCI with the seasons (and who would ....) then a PAO may make sense, for easy starting in the cold and better cold-flow in a splash lubrication engine.

Generally, I believe that PAOs are wildly under-utilized by the BITOG faithful. But in this case, OPE which is a critical "on demand" piece of equipment during an emergency can justify the use of a PAO if cold storage or cold use is possible.

I use Castrol 0-40 in my. whole house gen. Covers all temp ranges, easy starting for my 13 yo Odyssey battery and has PAO.

 

[Cujet]

I was performing 50 hour oil changes, then 100 hour changes on my 5000W Subaru powered genset here in FL. It was brutally hot, and the loads were high. Mobil 1 15w50. I ran off grid for nearly 6 months due to hurricane damage. Thousands of hours.

 

[Rand]

I would change it since only one previous change
I would like 2-3 before a full length OCI
I would change at

5 hr ,25 hr, 100hr.
Then every 100-200 hours.

 

[6.7 CTD]

I would change it since only one previous change
I would like 2-3 before a full length OCI
I would change at

5 hr ,25 hr, 100hr.
Then every 100-200 hours.

Ideally, I would have changed it a few times prior to lengthy use. However, I had to use it for 73 hours after the 5 hour break in period. I’m glad I was able to break it in prior to this though. It did have HPL no vii 5w30 in it at least. I changed the oil again after the 73 hour outage. I did send a used oil analysis off, but I’m wondering if usps lost it….I plan to keep checking my horizon acct this week to see if it shows up.

 

[Rand]

Ideally, I would have changed it a few times prior to lengthy use. However, I had to use it for 73 hours after the 5 hour break in period. I’m glad I was able to break it in prior to this though. It did have HPL no vii 5w30 in it at least. I changed the oil again after the 73 hour outage. I did send a used oil analysis off, but I’m wondering if usps lost it….I plan to keep checking my horizon acct this week to see if it shows up.

I just changed my generator at 3.7 hours...
aprox 5 min of 1.4kw, 10min of 1200w, and rest of the time 350w.
oil started clear. looked like clear flying oil
Supposed to keep load under 1/2 (2300w/1800w continuous)
but 12 hour power outage I needed my coffee
3.7hours later...

That was in sunlight so its pretty dark.
Replaced with Rotella t5 15w40 .. all 11.8oz.

There were a few chunkies, and a little "silt" but not too bad.
also 30mph wind gusts when I was changing the oil outside.. so not 100% sure I didnt get some dirt from that.

Edit: its a little A-Ipower inverter gen from sams club picked it up for $250
https://www.samsclub.com/p/a-ipower...nverter-generator/P03015110?xid=plp_product_2

It will likely get another change around 15 hours on generator (10hour oci) Then Ill start pushing them out to 25>50>50+ hours.

IIRC: The owners manual specs a 5hr, 25hr, then 100hour oci

 

[Ride_Red]

Power was out in SW PA most of the week. I ran my Champion 8750/7k open frame inverter generator for 73 hours straight. Oil in use is 1 quart of HPL 5w30 NO VII and 0.2 quarts of HPL PCMO 5w30. The only time it was shut down was for refueling twice per 24 hour period (before and after work). I feel compelled to change the oil as it has only had one previous oil change after a 5 hour break in with valvoline daily protection 10w30. The generator has 78 total hours on it. Opinions? To change or not to change? I kind of want to send a sample off just for the heck of it.

Change the oil.

The time to do generator maintenance is when the power is on. Then, the next time you lose power, you can just run it without worry.