How many hours of use do you change your generator's engine oil?

[oil pan 4]

I run on similar. I think they work best when you install a magnetic dipstick before the first start.
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Where did you get that?

 

[oil pan 4]

Also, I thought of an even easier idea to oil changes.

When filling the little Honda's crank last night with oil from a gallon jug of Delo -- it was a bit cumbersome, even with the drain tube attached. So I found some 16oz condiment bottles with FL OZ marked on the side. That should make filing and dispensing accurate amounts easier!

I'll use refilled gear oil bottles for small engine oil and bar and chain oil. Just mark them so you know it's not gear oil.

 

[spasm3]

Where did you get that?

https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Dipstick-Ef2000iSv2-Champion-AT-MOD2000/dp/B06W9HKRV1/ref=sxin_17_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.afd9c6b4-b179-4d6a-8ad1-7056a39c01ab%3Aamzn1.sym.afd9c6b4-b179-4d6a-8ad1-7056a39c01ab&crid=8RA38XTQEX3T&cv_ct_cx=magnetic+dipstick&keywords=magnetic+dipstick&pd_rd_i=B06W9HKRV1&pd_rd_r=f8f3f6e8-8962-43f9-9929-00e63f4c85a1&pd_rd_w=A9As6&pd_rd_wg=bXzU5&pf_rd_p=afd9c6b4-b179-4d6a-8ad1-7056a39c01ab&pf_rd_r=ASJMMN7V6KGHPTN50Z54&qid=1694888441&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=magnetic+dip%2Caps%2C148&sr=1-3-2b34d040-5c83-4b7f-ba01-15975dfb8828-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

 

[bridgman]

While I was blathering on about the masonry heater I forgot to mention that I try to change the oil in my generators every 2-3 years of "20 minutes a month when I remember" running.

That is only ~10 hours of run time so the oil still looks good but the manuals generally call for OC per season or 50 hours whichever happens first and I don't want to go *too* far from that. The manual assumes dino oil although I switched to M1 10W30 after break-in.

The other reason for changing a bit more frequently (based on hours) is that I want to be able to run the generator for a couple of days in the event of an outage without having to worry about the oil. I don't run either generator continuously - just use it for a few hours a day.

 

[jake wells]

100 hours but mine has a spin oil filter and oil cooler.

 

[ArcherDriver]

Pulled the little Honda EU2200i out of the shed yesterday. Probably hasn't been ran in about 14 months. Thankfully, I remembered I had ran it out of fuel last time.

Connecting the app to my phone up to the generator showed it has 197 hours on it. When I bought it new, I know I changed it after 3-4 hours. The fill in it from hour 4 to 197 was Delo 5W-40 synthetic.

Drained and filled it up with some new Delo 5W-40 synthetic. Push a few splashes of TruFuel 91 octane ethanol free in it and she dialed to life after a few pulls. Let it run about a half hour.

Going to fill my cans with ethanol-free this evening and hope I don't need to use the unit. What hour mark are you all changing your small generators at? The almost 200hr oil looked dark but good still.

I change my oil yearly. I do it when I clean off the battery terminals for my home standby generator. The whole annual maintenance job takes about an hour, longest part is draining the old oil

 

[The motor guy]

I run mine every 2 months, shutting off the fuel valve to let it die. I also use tcw-3 in the non ethanol fuel @640:1.

Why?