OPE Oil?

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Nov 9, 2008
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What makes an oil suitable for air cooled? I know 5W30 can shear down faster than 10W30, but...?

Just picked up a Champion invertor, 4 cycle motor, and am just about to read the manual. Came with 10W30 of... some sort. No indication of any spec, and it does allow 5W30. I plan to store in my garage and I'm guessing 10W30 will be ok, although it feels kinda thick--I don't think an issue for me on pull starting, may be an issue for other family members some day, so I think after break-in I'd rather run 5W30. I keep some around for my beater, any reason why cheapo ST in full syth isn't my friend here? Or should I spring for an 0W40? seems overkill, but I want it to be easy to pull start in cold temps. No plans to run a/c in hot weather, only various loads in cold weather.

It's an 80cc engine, the small 2,500W invertor setup.

I have bad memories of trying to pull start a B&S motor with straight 30 in it one day around freezing temps... I did not succeed.

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Briggs & Stratton makes a synthetic 5w-30 that should work very well for your application. As for what makes it different than any other 5w-30, that is a good question. Most of the OPE oils I have seen only meet older API ratings. I expect they are more interested in shear stability than fuel economy, but that is just my opinion.
 

0w40 is never overkill. Mobil1 FS is easy enough to locate, as are the Castrol A3/B4 oils.

The OE fill would make a good rinse oil for 30 minutes before switching to any quality 30 grade. Good time to warm generator up with a light load too.

Amsoil, HPL, Redline, MPT, RoyalPurple have some excellent oils for your small engines, and leftovers can be used in your vehicles too.

Stick with stabilized ethanol free fuel whenever possible.
 
@Greasymechtech makes a good point.
I just use the same Euro oils I use in my BMW and Mercedes. HTHS is why I choose them. Good enough for a Mercedes Turbodiesel, good enough for a Honda mower, Kohler pressure washer and generator. Don't have a snow blower anymore, don't need it in Suburban DC area.
 
5W oil is a bit thin for air cooled engines.
You could go with 5W-40 Rotella if you wished; thin enough for cold
starting and the 40 is great for long running air cooled engines.

My 2¢
 
We are running 10w30 in a Honda 2200 at work and it’s too thick for the oil level sensor when cold. Without the sensor I’m sure it’d be fine, but I would prefer either a 5w30 or 0w40. Haven’t had a chance to try either of these in this particular machine so I guess I can’t say if it’d fix it or not.
 
I could not pull over a BS powered 5600w unit fast enough to start it with the recommended 5-30w in it at 0F. I was lifting the unit off the ground with the recoil.
0-30w oil was the fix.
 
10W30 is the specified viscosity for that generator so I'd stick with it. I personally see no reason that you couldn't use any off-the-shelf 10W30 API licensed oil in either conventional or synthetic variety.
 
You probably haven't lived here for more than a few years, I take it?
I had a chuckle while buying the generator, they had a stack of electric powered single stage snowblowers also. “Oh look, a toy for the kids” I thought as I walked by… it was pretty close to the toy section, after all.
 
Actually I do have some Rotella T6 5W40 left over, maybe I’ll run that, after break-in. I use that in my 4 wheeler, granted it has electric start.

Sounds like anything quality is fine here, and it’s easy enough to change, and at 0.5L hardly going to break my bank.
 
You probably haven't lived here for more than a few years, I take it?
I've lived here from 1974 until now, aside from my fun in the Corps.
Aside from the once every 10 years "Snowpocolypse" people here freak out about, snowfalls are relatively light. But then, I came from Nebraska and lived in Minnesota, so don't consider the "storms" here as being much. We had a decent one followed by another decent one about 8 years ago AIR, but my Blazer drove right through the worst of that, easy peasy.
The ice and slick roads are what bother me.

P.S. We don't get the cold 5F temps we got in the '70s/80s anymore either. Upper teens is as bad as it usually gets, then not for many days. This weekend will be an unusually cold one for DC.
 
Aside from the once every 10 years "Snowpocolypse" people here freak out about, snowfalls are relatively light.

P.S. We don't get the cold 5F temps we got in the '70s/80s anymore either. Upper teens is as bad as it usually gets, then not for many days. This weekend will be an unusually cold one for DC.

I remember at least 3 or 4 snowstorms that dumped snow over 2 feet in the last 30 years. We're probably due for another in the next few years. The last major snowstorm a snowblower would have been quite useful due to the volume of snow that fell.

As far as cold 5F temps, I recall that it was either Jan 2018 or Jan 2019 that my area got down to 5F for almost a whole day, and actually got down below 0F one morning. These are temperatures as reported on weather.com and are likely warmer than what they are at my house due to where they are measuring the temperature...

In winter, if the winds are calm, it is typically 9F colder where I live than it is 11 miles away in Manassas. I can see the outdoor temperature rise on my dash as I drive towards Manassas, and see it fall as I drive towards home. This is the so-called "urban heat island effect" in action. For example, it might be 39F in Manassas near the Costco on Sudley Manor Drive, but at my house in Nokesville, it's only 30F.
 
FWIIW - I've been running nothing but synthetic oils in my OPE since 2006. Mobil1 10w-30 has been the mainstay for most of those years. Rotella T6 5w-40 is in both of the generators now. A few machines are seeing RT6 15w-40 while everything Honda powered still sees the 10w-30. The only machine to get a 5w-30 is the snow blower.
 
@supton I run Farm & Fleet 5w40 FS HDEO in my OPE including my Wen inverter generator. I use 5w40 because it’s easier to start in cold weather and if the oil shears it’s still a 30 weight oil if it loses viscosity from 40.

I have 500+ hours on my Wen and it’s running fine. My son just bought an inverter for Christmas and we will use the same plan.

Just my $0.02
 
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