Generators: Modern Oils = Longer OCI's ?

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SavagePatch

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With the current PG&E Power Outages that we're having here in California I was wondering if when using modern oils if OCI's can be increased. Say from 50hrs to 100hrs.

I'm referring to oils like:
Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w40
Rotella T6 0/5/15w40
German Castrol 0w30 (oldie but goodie :D)
How about SN oils... ?

My specific generator is an old Yamaha 5200 with a 50hr OCI. We've been having outages from 1 to 2.5 days. I've just been topping off between gas fill ups and changing the oild before putting it away.

(I'm guessing that members from hurricane effected areas will have the most real world experience.)

Screenshot_20191011-195708.jpg


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I live in hurricane country and have had a standby generator for 13 years. If your Yamaha specified SE rated oil in the listed multi or mono grades, I'd think you could certainly extend past 100 hours using full synthetic. Still I wouldn't get too aggressive with it. I'd probably extend it to 130-135 hours or one year max and use an SN rated 10w-30. By the way, nice generator!
 
A lot of those recommendations are because EPA told them to say that in order for them to keep that engine in compliance. I'd put a good synthetic in it and run it at least 100 hours....what I've been doing.
 
I think that a few dollars worth of oil in something your depending on is cheap insurance. I'm in the same boat and I have plenty of quality oil around to keep my generator happy.
 
The quality and design of the generator has more to do with it then the oil. Besides, with the latest SN+ oils, do we really have much real world experience as to how well these oils control wear? Maybe in 10 years we will find out.
 
Originally Posted by CT8
Why would the manufactures recommend a certain oil change interval?

Because you have to understand they foolishly came to those oil change intervals, without consulting the real experts on BITOG first.
thumbsup2.gif
 
A cheaper oil at 50 hrs is cheaper than say TDT 2x that. Get some super tech and change it at 50.

Welcome to California.

*Propane should be able to go longer if that's an option.
 
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Originally Posted by billt460
Originally Posted by CT8
Why would the manufactures recommend a certain oil change interval?

Because you have to understand they foolishly came to those oil change intervals, without consulting the real experts on BITOG first.
thumbsup2.gif


LoL.....true
lol.gif


SAE 10w....20....in aircooled OPE? On which planet are Yamaha engineers living?
smile.gif


What matters (for me) in an aircooled engine is high HTHS & decent TBN...I would look around specs as ACEA A3/B4....MB 229.5....BMW LL-01....Porsche A40....ACEA Ex (HDEO, x= 4,6,7,9...)

So in real world....that would translate into...

Rotella 5/15w40 (T4-T5-T6) 0w40 Castrol or ...... (those 0w oils u have in your Wallmart with EU specs).....btw I am personally not a fan of 0W spread( and also of anything lower then sae40)...





10w30 HM...maybe (higher HTHS according to BITOG)

And thats it
smile.gif
 
I would run a 15/40 but one with a gasoline engine rating too. What does the engine holds about 2 qts? Keep a couple of gallons on
hand with 3 oil filters if using oil filters, one air filter and at least one change of spark plugs. I also change out my treated gasoline every 6 months ,
I have 3 generators, I have one propane gen and plan on converting one of the gasoline to dual fuel. The small honda will stay as gasoline.3 different size gens depending on what has to be done. Fuel management is a must when you are looking at 2 weeks or more outage.
 
Originally Posted by Astro_Guy

Personally I WOULD NOT extend the OCI beyond 100 hours if you are running the generator continuously for days on end.


WHY?

"Days on end" is the easiest oil life regime!

Lots of Starts/Stops is what wears out the oil in a generator.

I have personally seen generators at worksites go 200 hours (10 hrs/day x 20 days) on an oil change... month after month after month. They don't seem to mind at all.
 
As a general rule, the generators that failed here in FL, during extended use, were using thin oil, like 5W-30 dino oil. Entire neighborhoods ran their generators 24/7 heating water, running window AC units, and operating well pumps for showers. As always, a more robust synthetic oil, changed more frequently, makes the difference between success and failure.

As these generators are for emergency use, why not ensure they are up to the task of running at full output 24/7 if necessary?

As a general rule, an oil with an HTHS of 3.8 or more is sufficient for generator use in South Florida.
 
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Keep in mind that for smaller, portable generators, an OCI is partly based on oil consumption, with the idea that you'll change stop the genset and change the oil before it gets too low.

I keep synthetic oil in mine.
 
Originally Posted by passgas55
I would run a 15/40 but one with a gasoline engine rating too. What does the engine holds about 2 qts? Keep a couple of gallons on
hand with 3 oil filters if using oil filters, one air filter and at least one change of spark plugs. I also change out my treated gasoline every 6 months ,
I have 3 generators, I have one propane gen and plan on converting one of the gasoline to dual fuel. The small honda will stay as gasoline.3 different size gens depending on what has to be done. Fuel management is a must when you are looking at 2 weeks or more outage.
mine only holds 20oz.
 
The most important thing for any generator or small engine is for the oil level to be full. Everything else is secondary. You could never change the oil and just keep adding when it is low and never blow up the engine in theory, although it might cause more wear and start burning oil.

Since these engines are splash lubed and don't have a pressurized system or an oil filter, you still want to change the oil at reasonable intervals to get out any wear metals that are contained in the oil. You could run the most expensive boutique oil you can find, but it will still have wear metals in suspension after being run.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet

As a general rule, an oil with an HTHS of 3.8 or more is sufficient for generator use in South Florida.


Where does Rotella 15W-40 fall in that range spec?

I've never had any issues running any hard-working OPE on 15W-40 (Rotella or otherwise)
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
The most important thing for any ...small engine is for the oil level to be full. Everything else is secondary.


That's probably the reason why 80+% of all small engines get junked - lack of oil.

Agreed - used dirty oil kept full is FAR better than low oil!
 
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