Oil for Natural Gas converted engine?

[D_Ville_TX]

I have converted a 13HP honda clone generator to run on Natural Gas. Generator has been used for 60 hours since conversion.

Many oil manufacturers is selling 15W40 oil that is made specifically for natural gas engines.
I am currently using Rotella 15W40, and wonder what the difference is between HDEO 15w40 and Natural Gas 15W40?

 

[BigCahuna]

There are alot of propane fork trucks running regular old oil and they work hard for their keep.Nat gas should keep the oil clean as new for a long time.,,

 

[doitmyself]

D_Ville_TX,

I will share my opinion, for whatever it is worth. At work, I maintain a 17ky Kohler generator with a 4 cyl. Ford engine running on natural gas.

I inquired to both Kohler and Ford about the need for special oil and they said I would be fine with "regular" oil as long as I kep't to the recommended OCI. I.E., avoid depleting the additive levels via extended oil changes.

Google "oils for natural gas engines" to find lots of informative links. The problems seem to revolve around high ash levels and oxidation/nitration problems that can occur with natural gas.

The new generation HDEO CJ oils are "reduced" ash at about 1% +/-, while the special nat. gas HDEO oils are around 0.5%+/- ash. The NG oils have other additives to compensate for the very low ash (added valve recession possibility) as well as other problems.

All the links seem to deal with VERY heavy industrial engines,..... heavy equipment and/or factory type installations. The only low ash natural gas oils available seem to be 30, 40 and 15w40 grades (although I thought I saw a John Deere announcement of low ash 10W30 JD oil???).

In my search, I never found anyone to recommend that I use a special natural gas oil for my application.

Someone with more knowledge please chime in! Why would special natural gas oil be less critical in smaller engines?

 

[Steve S]

As mentioned the special oil is for steady state low rpm use which is large industrial engines. Use HDEO oil, that is all that is needed.

 

[D_Ville_TX]

Thanks for info.

I will keep using Rotella 15w40 and don't worry about it.

.

 

[snowmaker]

I just use Amsoil Formula 4-Stroke oil in my tri-fuel 6.5K generator

 

[D_Ville_TX]

I have used Amsoil Formula 4-Stroke in the generator. It was making more noise with that oil compared to Rotella 15w40 and Mobil1 15W50 for long high load runs in 100+ degree.

I am using Amsoil Formula 4-Stroke in my mower and pressure washer since these don't run as hot.

My generator runs hotter with natural gas as fuel compared to gasoline, since natural gas is not providing any cooling like gasoline does.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
There are alot of propane fork trucks running regular old oil and they work hard for their keep.Nat gas should keep the oil clean as new for a long time.,,
I worked at a forklift dealership for 17.5 years and seen some forklift engines with 30,000 hours on propane they were spotless running HDEO straight 30 Delo 400 or 10w30 Nissan or Clarklift branded oils HDEO rated, which were bottled by Ashland oil?"valvoline "

 

[tig1]

A friend is a Generac tech, and those whole house generator units run on either natural gas or propane. He uses M1 5-30 on all of his PMs.