OCI on OPE

[UNC201]

On a recent thread I started.....on syn vs. conventional oil, just came back from the local store and was quite surprised at the cost of Conventional oil. I can't recall ever seeing them at $5+ but then again, the only oil I bought local was GC. Everything else is my stash is mailorder and I just shop for the best deals around on the other oils I use TSW, SAFXJ, Amsoil Severe Gear. I suppose if I hung out at the good deals section, I would be getting some good deals.


With that said, what is the OCI for ope...
just based on hrs ? Any difference in OCI / Hrs when OPE is used in summer vs *winter* weather...

The only OPE I have is snowblowers...
I have a gardener who deals with the stuff in the summer

 

[daman]

Using a quality oil one can go many many hrs and a few seasons on a OC,it's personal preference really some do once a year some do hrs, My self in my OPE i run Amsoil ACD and a yellow P1 @ 500 hrs,oil still looks new at drain time.

so it's really up to you what you feel comfortable with,but IMO seasonal or yearly is a waist of good oil.

 

[bepperb]

How many hours can you snowblow a year? I'd say 25~50 hours, but most people would just do it at the start or end of every season and fall well short of that.

500 hours? Wow. Not in my garage, but then I have a 1990 Snapper RER that probably still doesn't have 500 hours.

 

[Kestas]

At $5+ per quart, you should be looking at synthetic oils. That's way too much for regular oil. It should be $2 to $3 per quart.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: bepperb

500 hours? Wow.


No problem as i said oil looks good for continued use,had my VC off my 18.5HP INTEK doing a routine valve adjust this past year and was floored by how "NEW" it looked in there compression just as good as the day i brought it home new.

with a quality oil no problem....this will be the third season on my snowblower and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: bepperb

500 hours? Wow.


No problem as i said oil looks good for continued use,had my VC off my 18.5HP INTEK doing a routine valve adjust this past year and was floored by how "NEW" it looked in there compression just as good as the day i brought it home new.

with a quality oil no problem....this will be the third season on my snowblower and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck.


I agree with long duration oil changes if using a synthetic oil. That makes perfect sense because that's what a synthetic oil is designed to do. Under those circumstances, it's worth the money. Not sure I'd run it for 500 hours? I'd look at the cost benefit of using synthetic vs. conventional. Figure out the hours to oil break even point and use that as my OCI. If I pay $2.00/liter of oil to give me 50 hours of service, then I'd use 200 hours as my OCI for an $8.00 liter of synthetic.

However, my preference is shorter duration OCIs and less expensive conventional oil. My reason for doing so is that any decent brand of conventional oil will give the engine all of the lubrication it needs and then some.

Depending on hours, I'll change it as per the engine's manual. That may be every year or ever second and sometimes third year depending how long it takes to get to 50 hours. I like the idea of changing the oil more frequently because dumping the old oil removes whatever accumulates in it. Five hundred hours with the same oil, doesn't sit well with me. Synthetic or not.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

My snowthrower hold 20oz 5w30 and I change it every year after I'm done using it for the season. I just use whatever 5w30 is the cheapest.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: SS1970chrysler
My snowthrower hold 20oz 5w30 and I change it every year after I'm done using it for the season. I just use whatever 5w30 is the cheapest.


That's the smart way to do it.

The machine will last just as long as it would using an expensive synthetic.

 

[bepperb]

One other consideration I hadn't thought of is that snowblowers generally don't have pressurized lubrication or oil filtration. Actually, one of my snowblowers doesn't even filter air and I'm not sure about the other one. So because of the increased likelyhood of contamination I think a short recommendation is a good one.