How often to change oil in unused portable generator?

My father in law has one of the HF inverter generators. Once, while I was there, I heard it running and went out to see what he was doing. He was running the gen. He told me once a month for thirty minutes. He had it running unloaded so I looked around and spotted an electric heater. I plugged it in and the gen immediately picked up the load and started running smoother. I said there ya go. Do it like that from now on.
Also, my brother is the area rep for Briggs and Stratton generators. He received a bulletin from them a few years back that Mobil ! is considered a lifetime oil in their engines from that point forward. They instructed him to change the filter and top off the oil. Full change is not necessary.
I don't know if this includes portables, I can find out if anyone is interested.
 
I was thinking about this thread yesterday since I pulled out my old Briggs brand pressure washer to clean my house.
I've had this machine a good 20 years and it runs a couple hours a year..
I betya I have changed the oil in it twice.
Stuff looks clean to me.. after all this time..
 
dnewton3 said:
For the engine, that's not bad advice.
For the generator, that's terrible advice.

Generators units are unique in that they need to be run at least a few times a year to exercise the power-head (the electrical power producing part of the generator unit) to keep the magnetic fields fully excited. It's a very good idea to run a generator at least twice a year (spring/fall), while under moderate load (half the rated output), to keep the electrical portion in great shape. Gens that sit for many years without use can lose their field effect for start up, and essentially become nearly worthless. It's far easier and better for the unit to be run under moderate load twice a year.

I have come across used generators sitting in garages and barns which can start the engine, but produce no electrical energy. This is because the field wasn't exercised during storage. The longer they sit unused, the greater this effect. (While it is possible to be what's called a "bump start" of a dead generator power head, it's not something the average Joe is going to be able to do easily, and it's a total PITB because it has to be done each and every time the field has to be excited after the previous shutdown).

Best advice I can give is this:
- run gen in spring and fall, for 30 min per session
  1. first 5 min with no electrical load for easy warm up
  2. 20 min under 1/2 the rated load (use a hair dryer or some halogen lamps)
  3. last 5 min with no load to allow engine and powerhead to cool down
- then shut down; check oil level so it's good for the next use; drain gas from carb
- cover and keep in a dry place
I have used this practice for all my gensets. I have some that are nearly 30 years old and still run great; both engine and powerhead. This system will have your genset always ready for the next use, and keep it in fine shape for decades. I change the oil about every 5 years, unless I have an extended use run of a long duration of hours; then it would get an OCI.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Is this for older generators? I have a newer one made by Champion and there's nothing in the manual about this for 1+ year of storage. What do they do if the thing sits on the shelf for over a year before it sells?
 
I store our generator with E10 pump gas in it, the only place that has E0 local to me is a marina and it’s expensive and inconvenient. Our generator is now 11 years old and starts up perfectly every time. It only gets used a couple of times per year, often sitting for 6-8 months unused at a time. I put the blue marine stabil in it at the prescribed dose (1oz to 10 gallons of fuel, I think) and I add tcw3 to the fuel at 640:1 (1oz in 5 gallons of fuel). I usually do 1 oil change per year with synthetic 5w30, it gets whatever I have sitting on the shelf which is usually Mobil 1 EP. The only time it gets more than one oil change in a year is if we have an extended power outage and I need to run it for days on end, it calls for an oil change every 100 hours. I also store all of my 2 stroke OPE with fuel in it, also using the marine stabil and a quality 2 stroke oil (Echo Red Armor, currently). My oldest chainsaw is a 2009 husqvarna, it still starts and runs flawlessly. Aside from replacing the primer bulb, the carb and fuel system have not been touched. All of my stuff does see enough use to get at least 1 tank of fuel ran through it each year, if you’re using it less than that, I would say storing it without fuel in it is the way to go. The plain red stabil is supposed to keep fuel fresh for up to two years, and the marine stabil says one year. I’ll also note that I put marine stabil in all of the fuel used by my 2-stroke equipment and generators, I mix it in my gas cans when I fill them. If I don’t use the generator gas in the can in a year, I’ll pour the old gas in the truck and refill the can with fresh gas and add stabil and tcw3 to the new gas. I’ve had good luck doing the above, your mileage may vary.
 
I'd more worry about hours than months or years... As long as you are just doing test firings I'd let it go for at least 30-40 hours*. If you need to run it hard for several hours or days I change it after the run and then go back to an hourly schedule. And the only reason I am suggesting a short change based on hours is so you don't have your oil timed out and then need run it for a couple days on oil that has no hours left on it...

*don't miss the 5 hour oil change that most people forget. It by far is the most important oil change your engine will ever see... all the metal than is worn off during the initial startup/break-in that is floating around in your oil needs to come out sooner rather than later for the health of your engine...
... I usually run my new small engines for 2-3 hours (yes I keep hour meters on all) of light to moderate use if possible then dump the factory dino juice and fill with full synthetic>> run another 5-6 hours and dump>> then start on the factory recommended changes or slightly less... I think one one Champion genny I own states 100hrs...
 
br1ght said:
I'd more worry about hours than months or years... As long as you are just doing test firings I'd let it go for at least 30-40 hours*. If you need to run it hard for several hours or days I change it after the run and then go back to an hourly schedule. And the only reason I am suggesting a short change based on hours is so you don't have your oil timed out and then need run it for a couple days on oil that has no hours left on it...

*don't miss the 5 hour oil change that most people forget. It by far is the most important oil change your engine will ever see... all the metal than is worn off during the initial startup/break-in that is floating around in your oil needs to come out sooner rather than later for the health of your engine...
... I usually run my new small engines for 2-3 hours (yes I keep hour meters on all) of light to moderate use if possible then dump the factory dino juice and fill with full synthetic>> run another 5-6 hours and dump>> then start on the factory recommended changes or slightly less... I think one one Champion genny I own states 100hrs...
Click to expand...

We have a new home standby installed. Does 15 minute run every weekend.

Thinking about just running it four hours straight with load and changing oil.
 
I've switched to PRI-G for a fuel stabilizer, they claim 5 yrs. I've got saws that can sit for a year or more without being fired up.
I've no worries about time on crankcase oils after initial break in, it's all about run hours. It's oil not milk.
10hp BS gen set went 11 days straight after hurricane Sandy on its oil. It got serviced after power came back, never let me down in the years later. Just sold it running like a champ as I've got a Generac stationary now.
 
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