Help me pick a generator oil

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Was meandering at Home Depot a few months ago and found a $600 Ryobi generator/inverter marked down to $300. It apparently had some issue, was returned, sent off for repair, sent back to the store and then marked way down. I bought it after making sure the 3 year warranty still applied.

It has a digital display which shows 12 hours on the unit. I will change the unknown oil that’s in it before taking it out boondocking this spring/summer. The manual calls for 10W-30. It’ll be used in temps ranging from 30 to 100, usually with pretty light loads.

In my stash, I have: Chevron Supreme 10W-30, Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-40, SuperTech 15W-40 and Napa Synthetic 5W-30. I’m leaning towards the M1 or SuperTech.

What would you use?
 
Out of the oils listed I'd personally run the Super Tech 15w40, its thin enough for easy starting in cold weather and thicker than the 30 spec requires if you need to run it when it's 100 outside not to mention the CJ-4 spec oil has more capacity to fight oxidative thickening soot loading from blow by on a carburetor equipped engine and as an added bonus has elevated levels of Phosphorus and Zinc as well as a healthy dose of Boron. It's really a fantastic sleeper oil at a fraction of the price of the M1 10w40 HM.
 
Pick one and use it then keep an eye on the oil level, Then change it often.
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
If the mfgr says to change the oil every 5 or 6 hours of use, I'd go with the one that will last the longest. I use mobil 1 EP. and run it at least twice what the oci is.,,


5-6 hours? That'd be awful in a days-long emergency. Even doubling that would be a pain in the neck for a day long outage. Mine says every 24 hours. That is manageable.

I would run a full synthetic in areas with high seasonal temperature variation, and straight 30W wherever it's always hot. And just about anything in on ongoing emergency, as long as it's always full, and some of it gets changed out every day.
 
M1 10-30 has been my go to oil for OPE for many years, including my PowerMate 5KW gen.
 
If the manual specifically says 10w-30, then why would you use anything else?

My vote is for M1 10w-30. They have it in stock at WalMart.
 
With non inverter generators that run at 3600 RPM constantly OCI of 24 hours sounds right. With inverter generators that throttle back the RPMs with light load, OCI of once every 50 hours should be dooable. But be sure to check the oil level and top it off if necessary every time you refill the gas tank.
 
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That generator will not know or care what oil you put on it. Something else will go wrong with it long before any potential wear or other oil induced problem shows up.
 
Originally Posted By: NibbanaBanana
If the manual specifically says 10w-30, then why would you use anything else?


Because... this is BITOG.
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
If the mfgr says to change the oil every 5 or 6 hours of use, I'd go with the one that will last the longest. I use mobil 1 EP. and run it at least twice what the oci is.,,


5 or 6 hours? On a generator? Any generators I've owned all said 100 hour oil change intervals. My Yamaha inverter gets 100 hr. oil changes using a blend of 5W30 and 15W40, usually Rotella. It's got over 1400 hours on it so far and runs better than new now that it has reduced oil consumption.

In the temps the OP mentioned, I'd use 15W40 in an air cooled engine.
 
I run Rotella 15w40 in all 4 stroke OPE. During hurricane Irma my generator ran for 198 hours, stopped only for refueling and to check oil level. No topup needed.
 
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