Generac portable generator oil?

[mattwithcats]

If you look for Generac motor oil,
you will find summer blend Dino 10W-30,
and winter blend full synthetic 5W-30.

I think that's a major hint as to what oil to use...

 

[mattwithcats]

Been without power 19 days Floyd, 17 with Isabel, and many other times due to Northeaster's...

I averaged 12 hours a day use, mornings and evenings...
Splash lubricated change at 24 hours Dino, 36 semi-synthetic, and 48 for full synthetic..
2, 3, or 4 days...

Water or oil cooled, semi-synthetic, 5 days, 60 hours, full synthetic, 100 hours, 1 week.
I use a sandwich adapter and add an oil cooler...

Fram 3600 or Purolator 20195 filter or equivalent (usually an AutoZone S3600), changed every 100 - 120 hours, 1 week to 10 days...

Boutique oils too expensive, what ever 10W-30 I can get for cheap...
Current is Shell Rotella T5 semi-synthetic, got 10 gallons for free (AutoZone clearance)

 

[FastLane]

The owners manual can't be too far from what's needed either....

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: Indy2door
I would use whatever Generac requires.


While I was reading responses in that topic I was wondering why is that "generac" brand so special that it needs 3 pages to determine the right oil for it....

So I was like.....lets google/youtube that thing

And while youtubing I have found quite amusing and interesting generac experiment......still waiting for part III. Btw that Dude has pretty wicked wife (according to her sporadic drama inputs in video

)

Part I:


Part II:


Now I have a question here! Do you really have such a disastrous engine oils over the pond that they are able to cook piston rings at normal usage?

I have snow thrower with Tec. HMSK100 engine wich is 20yrs old....and Briggs 3,5HP lawnmover wich is 15+ yrs old and I never had any problems with them....just regular sae40 Acea A3/B4 oil and E5 gasoline ( everything here is pretty much E5 )

 

[henni]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
.. a sandwich adapter and add an oil cooler...


A generator with a filter, sandwich adapter and then the filter ?

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats

Water or oil cooled, semi-synthetic, 5 days, 60 hours, full synthetic, 100 hours, 1 week.
I use a sandwich adapter and add an oil cooler...

Fram 3600 or Purolator 20195 filter or equivalent (usually an AutoZone S3600), changed every 100 - 120 hours, 1 week to 10 days...

Boutique oils too expensive, what ever 10W-30 I can get for cheap.

So you change oil more than you need too, put on a fillter and oil cooler you don't need (which btw will make your unit less reliable) and then cheap out on oils?

 

[mattwithcats]

I'm used to military requirements of 50 Dino, 200 synthetic.
But their equipment is built like a tank, oil and water coolers, oversized oil sump, etc...

I would rather change too soon, than too late...

Oil cooler helps a lot, especially on air cooled equipment.
Used to do this to VW bugs , the old ones, all the time...
It not a big one, just a 18 inch frame rail, so 3 foot total length...
How does that make my genny more unreliable?

We're not talking a Porsche engine here, other than SN rating, what other spec should I look for?

The sandwich adapter fits behind the existing oil filter, I'm just using an oversized filter...

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted By: Kamele0N


And while youtubing I have found quite amusing and interesting generac experiment......still waiting for part III. Btw that Dude has pretty wicked wife (according to her sporadic drama inputs in video

)


Yeeeeeeah Part III is finally here

That DUDE is real McGyver... I would like to have him for a neighbour

Part III:

 

[edwardh1]

so whats the answer ?

is 30 weight oil taboo for a 20 yr old 2500 watt honda, with all the new oils out?

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: Al
I will take the contrary view..as usual. I starting mowing lawn 50+ years ago. Dad had 1.5 acres using a small briggs reel. Never a problem with the [censored] oil in yester year..change oil? what is that? Thousands of hours of uglioness on that thing.


So... you're comparing mowing 1.5 acres in Pennsylvania to 24 hours of continuous use at full load in Florida heat?

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: Al
I will take the contrary view..as usual. I starting mowing lawn 50+ years ago. Dad had 1.5 acres using a small briggs reel. Never a problem with the [censored] oil in yester year..change oil? what is that? Thousands of hours of uglioness on that thing.


So... you're comparing mowing 1.5 acres in Pennsylvania to 24 hours of continuous use at full load in Florida heat?


It really doesn't get all that hot in Florida. Humid, yes. It gets hotter in Illinois. This last summer we saw temps in the 100s on several occasions, and in the very high 90s on many occasions. Just sayin.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
[I measured oil temps over 270 degrees on my OPE!

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
And from their website:
-For continuous-use, such as commercial lawn cutting or pressure washing, use Vanguard 15W-50 Oil (temperatures from 20°F to 130°F).

From AZ...
Originally Posted By: leroyd92
A lot of construction guys i know use 15w40 or 20w50 during the 117°-123° months in their $2k Honda generators.

Originally Posted By: tig1
It really doesn't get all that hot in Florida. Humid, yes. It gets hotter in Illinois. This last summer we saw temps in the 100s on several occasions, and in the very high 90s on many occasions. Just sayin.

Humid air is less dense than dry air (look it up). Less density, less heat transfer. Florida has very humid air.

Florida Summer nights are MUCH hotter than Illinois or Pennsylvania (look it up). We were talking about 24 hours and more of CONTINUOUS use. That means running at night.

Stationary motor 24 hours at full load was run STATIONARY. Lawnmower in PA was run 1-2 hours MOVING. More air movement, more heat transfer.

So, still not a reasonable comparison. At all. No matter what the temp is in Illinois, or in China while pricing eggs.

If it's in the high 90's 24 hours a day in Illinois it's still not a good idea to run 10w-30 for too long. These are not water cooled machines like cars. Look at Cujet's quote above. Straight 30 is a more practical minimum. Check/Change oil often if using a lighter car multiweight conventional. Synthetics and/or higher viscosities are required for week long use without constant top-offs and change-outs.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
Humid air is less dense than dry air (look it up). Less density, less heat transfer. Florida has very humid air.

Humid air has a higher heat capacity than dry air, and that means MORE heat transfer. OTOH, Florida nights will be warmer as you correctly stated. The primary forcing factor in heat transfer is delta T; the heat capacity of the transfer media will have a smaller influence in this specific case.

Originally Posted By: HangFire
Stationary motor 24 hours at full load was run STATIONARY. Lawnmower in PA was run 1-2 hours MOVING. More air movement, more heat transfer.

I should hope that the blower on any air cooled motor would have much more influence than someone moving that motor at 3 MPH across a lawn.

The rest of the argument is sound. Florida will have a higher average temperature on just about any day, which will translate to higher operating temperature and lower realized viscosity of the oil. Personally I run 5w40 in a generator in Pennsylvania, and cannot fathom why anyone would run Xw30 in the same application in Florida.

 

[DoubleWasp]

My 17500 Generac has an oil cooler and sandwich adapter from the factory.

Cujet hit it on the head. A good 50 is exactly where you want to be in South Florida. Air cooled engines run hot as Hades in the day, and our nights are not much relief.

HTHS temps is right about where these things are going to spend their time under load. Even with a force-air cooled oil cooler, I've been clocking 260°F under load.

Because of my marine business, I have lots of Schaeffer and VR1 20w50 laying around. That's what it gets, as well as all of my other air cooled and high continuous load engines.