Onan generator

[JohnnyO]

Okay, new forum for me. Found myself in charge of my church's property committee. We have a small natural gas powered Onan emergency generator that we're supposed to run for 1 hour a week. No manual or anything that says what oil it takes and June is when we change it (annually). There is a bottle of Pennzoil 10w-30 in the room so I assume that's what's in it. Also it has a Fram PH16 filter.

Is any good 10w-30 okay? I'll cross-reference and get a different filter.
Thanks.

 

[JohnnyO]

It's in one of the boiler rooms. So there's heat, on the other hand the outside door is ventilated with louvers....very highly ventilated due to rust. (Fixing that is also on the to-do list.) I may get a UOA. Oil type: Unknown Miles/Hrs on oil: Unknown. Those are always good ones.

 

[MolaKule]

Wavinwayne is correct, most Natural Gas engines require a special low-ash formulation.

This site has technical info:

http://www.perr.com/onan.html

 

[Quest]

For longevity and various reasons, resort to using diesel motor oil such as DELO 15W40 (if it's too thick, go with 30 weight summer grade).

 

[wavinwayne]

Have you checked Onan's website for literature on your Church's generator? For some odd reason, I was thinking natural gas powered equipment used a special oil.

Also, since it is going to be used in the service of our Lord, why not use the best oil filter, M1?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.....you all know I'm a M1 filter fan.

 

[Big John]

We have a natural gas powered Onan generator with a ford straight 6 engine,it gets annual oil changes with Castrol 10w30 synthetic blend.It's in an enclosure and has heat for the winter.It's approxiametly 14 years old and has about 705 hours on it.No problems whatsoever...

I'd use 10w30 year round provided it is heated in the winter.

 

[bruce381]

Thats correct most large stationary natural gas engines use a low ash or ashless oil since ash deposits from "normal" oil are a problem sticking rings ports valves etc. But if a automotive engine is being used thren a low ash SM motor oil would probably OK. If you want post a list of what Major brand oil distributors are in your area and I will tru to give you a brand.
Bruce

 

[JohnnyO]

I found a Chevron HDAX in straight 30 and 40 weights, also this from Amsoil:
http://www.bestsynthetic.com/ang.shtml

Talked to a friend of mine who works at a school district who said they use 10w-30 in the ones in unheated areas and straight 30 weight in the ones in heated areas.

I'll see what I can find today. I'll look for low ash oil but then this isn't a stationary powerplant that runs every day either so I don't know how important low ash would really be.

Just dump in Mobil 1 and forget about it?

I bought a Bosch filter to replace the Fram.

 

[bruce381]

"Just dump in Mobil 1 and forget about it?"
sound good to me.
or use the chevron HDAX but I do not think they sell it in quarts so use whatever and change yearly.

bruce

 

[JohnnyO]

Well, I ran over to the church on my lunch hour and drained out 5 quarts of mud that was passing for oil. No telling what it is or how long it's been in there. For now I just dumped in 10w-30 SM Pennzoil since it looks like that's what they've been using, or at least adding. In 6 months I figure I'll drain a pinch and get a UOA again to see how it's doing. If it's good it's good, if not I'll try Rotella or Mobil 1.
First I used my claw-type filter wrench but it was on so tight (or so long) that it started crushing the end of the Fram. Got the big rubber strap wrench out of my truck toolbox and that finally got it off.