Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: BradleyB
I just purchased a Wen generator (air cooled) and was wanting to get a suggested oil for it. In the manual, it recommends a "good" 30 wt. oil but also says that a synthetic 10W30 can be used also. If you look at the temperature chart in the literature, it really suggest a 30 wt. oil. My problem is that I would like to go the synthetic route because of all the positive results that I have had with my cars and other four cylinder engines. To my knowledge, there is not any 30 wt. synthetic oils out there. I am wondering why a synthetic 10W30 would not do as well or better than a straight 30 wt. oil since it becomes 30 wt. when the engine heats up and is thin (10 wt.) when the engine first cranks. In other words, why does a synthetic 10W30 oil not offer as high temperature protection as straight 30 wt. in an air cooled engine.
These use Chinese engines for the most part. These engines ALWAYS recommend a 30 weight. Engine could be mounted on a mower, a pressure washer, a generator, a water pump, but the manual is generically written and 30 weight always recommended, even if its not the best recommendation. For your climate, 15W40 is what you want. Cheap, easy to find, robust, and durable. If you want a synthetic, then 5W40. 20W50 is a good choice for the summer as well.
And yes synthetic 10W30 offers better high temp protection than conventional SAE30.
Why the recommendation for a 40 weight over a 30 weight? In ideal conditions, they both will protect the engine. But hardly anyone, to include most bitogers, would treat a generator engine ideally. During a power outage, you would need to change the oil every 50 hours if no filter, or every 100 hours if it has a filter. Do the math. That's every 2 days without filter, or every 4 days with filter. How many people do you REALISTICALLY believe will change the oil every two days? And how many do you realistically think will check the oil every 8 hours, and top it off? Its too much of a hassle for most people. BITOG people included.
I was witness to the 2004 Florida hurricane season (4 hurricanes, no power for two months). Our free FEMA generator ran for something like 60 days. In Florida. In the summer. In was a pain in the neck to keep it maintained. EVERY one of my neighbors had generators. And everyone of them had blown up engines after about 10 days. If you drove around the neighborhood, there were hundreds of blown up generators on the curb. A thicker viscosity doesn't burn off as fast and provides a slightly better safety margin when proper maintenance isn't adhered to.
Sorry, couldn't let this one slip by, "free FEMA" generator, or tax payer provided generator. Yes most , if not all Floridians are tax payers, but what a waste when people get something for nothing... sorry, rant over