Generac 16kW LP Generator GT990 AMSOIL ASE 17 hour

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Oil used AMSOIL ASE Factory fill

Synthetic 5W30

Sample Date Oct-25-2009 Sep-3-2007

Hours on oil 17 8

Hours on unit 25 8

Make-up oil None None

Oil Filter Wix 51394 Factory

TBN: 7.3 6.0

Aluminum: 2 5

Chromium: 1 1

Iron: 6 9

Copper: 11 22

Lead: 3 7

Tin: 0 0

Molybdenum: 35 43

Nickel: 0 0

Manganese: 1 1

Silver: 0 0

Titanium: 0 0

Potassium: 6 3

Boron: 4 3

Silicon: 18 4

Sodium: 4 4

Calcium: 2418 1122

Magnesium: 11 7

Phosphorus: 1046 478

Zinc: 1091 602

Barium: 1 5

SUS Viscosity: 57.0 57.7

cSt Viscosity: 9.35 9.56

Flashpoint: 445 440

Fuel: < 0.5 < 0.5

Antifreeze: 0.0 0.0

Water: 0.0 0.0

Insolubles: 0.2 0.3


Original air filter still in use.
Valves were checked during this interval.
This 10W20 oil was in use for 2 years this time. Previous interval was ~ 1 year.
Oil was drained & refilled with same. Oil filter was changed with Purolator PureOne PL14476.
Oil capacity is 1.7 qt.
Anyone see any problem with this oil being in use for 2 years?
 
I'd change the AF to see if I could control the silicon a little better.

This oil went 2 years without even blinking
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I see no issue with the 2 year interval. I might do a TAN just to see where that is. Otherwise it, as was said, didn't seem to even notice being used.

Is this a 1 liter engine? (992cc) I'm just trying to orient myself on the CFM to rationalize the silicon. I'd tend to agree that it could be taken down a notch.
 
Sorry about the typo in regards to SAE rating. As addguy correctly pointed out, it is a 10W30/SAE30 oil.

Gary,

992cc indeed. It is a 2-cylinder with an aluminum block with cast iron sleeves, overhead valves, 9.5:1 compression ratio & is rated for 30 HP at 3600 rpm.

Steve,

The oil looked fine when drained.

Spark plugs are original as well.

Would removing the valve covers to check valve clearance not have elevated silicon? Still, probably a good idea to try & source an air filter.
 
Quote:
Would removing the valve covers to check valve clearance not have elevated silicon?



Sounds like a good suspect. I didn't integrate that you had to disturb the gaskets when checking the valves.
 
My dad has one of these very same generators. His is 3 years old. So, I'll comment not just on your UOA, but my experiences as well, since these type discussions are rare (few post up home-use genereator UOAs).

They can run on either LP or NG. NG tends to run cleaner than LP, but both are much cleaner than gasoline or diesel generators. The OEM rec's 10w-30 or 5w-30 or straight 30, depending upon temps. We use 10w-30 syn in his.

I serviced it this summer, rather than him paying the unholy prices to the installer/service company. (Note - everyone has to make a living, but WOW, what a scam those guys run! They provide twice-annual "inspections" for $250 a year, and "service" accordingly. Their idea of service is check the oil level, run the unit under simulated lost-power load, and leave.)

That engine is made by Generac (they make most all of their own stuff). It's a great engine; very robust.

Thanks for the UOA; it helps me know what to expect from my dad's unit. I was going to do one, but now I'm not sure I see the sense in it yet. We need more hours on it before a UOA will make sense.

I seriously suspect that the OEM OCI (2 years) could be pushed further; TBN is good, wear good; you'll not get any fuel dilution; TAN could be known - as suggested. Still, I think 2 years is a conservative figure. When we drained the oil out of my dad's unit, it was still light brown; clearly contamination and insolubles are not a big concern. I fully realize that color is not a scientific method of reviewing stuff, but when it's almost as clean coming out as when it went in, you know that it's fairly clean inside. Look at your wear metals. Some might say that the Amsoil did a better job than factory fill, but I suspect it's just the break in cycle settling down. Not that Amsoil is doing a bad job; just that it should not get credit for the physical conditioning of the engine. Any oil likely would have done "better" on the second UOA.

The wear might seem high on a "per hour" basis, but you have to consider that these things run very little actually under load; rarely do people loose power that often. Most of the hours are accumulated under the "self exercise" programming of the controller. These units will run themselves for 30 minutes once a week, to keep things lube'd and such.

It's important to run a generator under load at least once a year, because the electrical head needs to see some activity. The magnets can actually loose their power if not run in their field cycles for long (years) periods of time. (People that drain the gas let and let their little gas-driven generators sit in the garage for years are NOT doing their electrical heads any favors.)

Service notes: I did a complete service as suggested by the OEM manual (you can get all the details from their site). I even changed the spark plugs and checked valve clearances; won't do that again. The plugs were immaculate when I took them out. Again - the advantage of running NG; clean fuel source. The valves were spot on. (note - the back one is a bit of a pain to get to).

Of note, WIX shows a replacment air filter available, but it must be just brand new, because I can't find anyone (including fleet filter) that stocks it yet. So you'll have to pay the OEM Generac price for the air filter.

It is my suspicion that you could easily double the service intervals of the OEM, and still be fine. They ONLY problem might be the ingestion of dirt. If you're in an area that is currently under construction (homes being built) there will be lots of dust in the air. My parents sub-division is established, so they get "normal" air. Basically, these are very robust engines, that use automotive technology for their oil and air systems, but run a fuel that is way cleaner than gasoline. There is practically no soot/insolubles; there's no EGR; there's no fuel dilution or wash down, because the fuel is truly in a gaseous state, rather than a liquid in small droplet form, etc.

I guess on one hand, I understand why the service rep's don't do much; these things just run clean, and little needs to be done. I would not hesitate at all to run a 4 year OCI; and just check oil level once a year. What is shameful is the $125/visit they get to "service" a unit.

Benjamming - it's up to you, but this is one time when the equipment is almost a "set and forget" unit. Our plan for my dad's unit (now that a complete service has actually been done) is to check oil once a year, and do a full service every 4 years.
 
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I'm surprised how much ASE sheared in this UOA and the one on the Lawn & Garden board. Especially given the short intervals of both.
 
I have one of these babies too. Owned it since 2003. We have had at least 2 power outages/year since then. Some of them for up to 50 hours in both 10F and 90F temperatures here in Michigan. Never a problem or issue with mine. It is a 13KW, natural gas fueled Generac.

I change my oil twice/year. Every time I change it, I notice a "milky" looking appearance in the oil. I am assuming that this is moisture or condensation. For this reason, I would not go for 2 year oil change intervals.

I am on the original spark plug, air filter, and battery. So I guess it is time to change them all. I am using the extended length, Purolator Plus L14477 filters so that I can go from 1.7 qt oil capacity to a full 2 quarts.

I have heard of some owners having their generators shut themselves during extended outages - due to oil consumption issues (low oil level). As a result, I have been using the thicker 30 wt oils to get around that. So far, so good. I usually use Castrol Syntec 0W30. I have some Mobil 1 MX4T 10W40 Motorcycle oil that I may use next spring.

Oh, I agree, what the service rep's charge is an outrage. Do that work yourself and save.
 
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
snip

It's important to run a generator under load at least once a year, because the electrical head needs to see some activity. The magnets can actually loose their power if not run in their field cycles for long (years) periods of time. (People that drain the gas let and let their little gas-driven generators sit in the garage for years are NOT doing their electrical heads any favors.) snip


I wonder if I should run my 6250 watt unit when I have a welding job. I really don't have much else to plug in to give it a load and it needs run once in a while.
 
dnewton3,

I didn't realize there were installer/service companies for this. But now that you mention it, I do remember that line item on some quotes when I was deciding on which generator. Why on earth would anyone use them to do something that I do to my automobiles all the time? I guess those folks don't do UOAs either huh?
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That was one of the reasons why I do UOAs on this type stuff - b/c its rarely done. Therefore, it can make for more interesting discussion & heck, we might even learn something from it.

Yep, I have all the PDF manuals. They are actually pretty helpful unlike the printed "manual" that comes with the unit.

We have had a few power outages during this interval so it has run with a load. Also, I don't use the 12 minute/week exerciser (obviously). I will run it for ~ 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 months. I believe that running it for longer than 12 minutes is better.

I didn't realize that Wix was making an air filter for it now. I'll wait a while then & see (hopefully) if it shows up. I'm in a rural area so "clean" air here.

BestF100,

Why would you just change the battery w/o knowing if it needs it? Do a load test on it to determine the condition.

The oil level was down slightly when the oil was changed. I assume that the oil level monitor shuts it down before any damage so in those cases you just add more oil & it starts back up. This seems very similar to a gas/diesel generator. If you run out of fuel, it stops & you add more. However, a good BITOGer would never let it run that low on oil.
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Originally Posted By: Slick17601
I'm surprised how much ASE sheared in this UOA and the one on the Lawn & Garden board. Especially given the short intervals of both.


ASE starts out as 10.6 cSt per AMSOIL's website. TBN starts out at 8.4 so that hasn't really changed assuming AMSOIL's datasheet & Blackstone use the same ASTM test. AMSOIL doesn't list the ASTM method on their website. Flashpoint is still really high. I wonder how much variation there is in the blended product vis & in the test by Blackstone? I assume the blended product can be all the way down to 9.3 (SAE30) but I don't know.
 
benjamming -

here's the air filter data:
stock: 0c8127
Wix/Napa: 49227 / 9227

Like I said, neither Napa or Fleetfilter had it in stock, nor did O'Reiley. But according to the Wix site, it's available. I believe it's a new ofering that just hasn't hit the shelves yet.
 
Ah, I see it now - thanks. I wasn't looking at the pull-down box under the 'select a model' pulldown. I'll stop by, hopefully tomorrow, at Napa and/or O'Reilly & see if they will order it along with pricing, lead-time, & COO. The original air filter was made in India.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
dnewton3,

I didn't realize there were installer/service companies for this. But now that you mention it, I do remember that line item on some quotes when I was deciding on which generator. Why on earth would anyone use them to do something that I do to my automobiles all the time? .....


It is a pain taking them in to Iffy Lube.
 
I have an Ultra Source 15KW 4582-2 portable version of that generator that has the same engine. Has about the same number of hours that yours does. Mostly exercise hours with a few 4-6 hr power failure runs in between.

I've been running PP 10W30 along with LC. The LC extends the oil life and eats up the condensation that tends to collect in generator engines. I changed the oil after a year and it was still so clear I couldn't really see it on the dipstick. So I will probably end up with a similar 2-4 year OCI.

I'm still running the Generac oil and air filters because I have a pile of them still. I found good deals on quantity lots of both filters on Ebay, so I bought a dozen of each when I bought the generator. I like the way that Generac seals the end of the oil filter with a piece of clear plastic to protect it. The oil filters I used to get from Honda also came like that.

The oil system on that engine is just like a car engine. Gerotor constant volume oil pump with 60psi cold relief valve and 40psi main bearing relief valve. Oil filter with low oil pressure cutoff and external oil cooler. You can get more details here: Generac OHVI V-Twin Engine Service Manual
 
The Wix 49227 was $17 at O'Reilly. It is made in India exactly like the OEM air filter. Napa would have to order it which would add shipping costs to the price of the filter.
 
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