Your last generator Maintenance Run

[grsthegreat]

Get me a serial number and model # and I can check for you

 

[3930dave]

Not much for digital footprints on the PTO sale...... hopefully one of the crew here knows.....

Starter/alternator rebuilders are getting hard to find, but I might try physically matching the brushes there.

(just saw the post from grs, hopefully that's your pending answer right there 90......)

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

I started a post in oil/lubrication about finding oil for my new propane Cummins/Onan LP gen, part of my new small MB Sprinter
chassis rv, with the smallest gen they make in it, just enough to run a 15kw a/c unit.
Noisy little thing too, 3600 rpm buzz bomb, but then it's a small rv and the gen
is under the bed. Thankfully I do not dry camp so unlikely I will use gen much. I've spent many a night anchored out on an old boat with an ancient Onan diesel
banging away down below, would prefer less noise...

I did not post here because the question was not about maintenance. I greatly appreciate the "safe" nature of posting in this thread however.
I no longer go in Transportation, too many unpleasant, over-imbibed, my way or the highway folks seem to troll there. The bad apple always seems to
show up. Dave, this is a backhanded compliment for saying thanks for a nice, and pleasant, resource here.

The gen in question calls for 15/40 conventional oil, not truck diesel oil which I, and most of you, have plenty of.
Finding a 15/40 oil, which is clearly called for in higher heat conditions (my driving through Nevada...) has resulted in 100 percent
saying HD Truck Diesel oil. Onan has someone formulate their oem oil, 15/40 conventional, and the cheapest I can find it is ten bucks a quart.
My question was can I just use Rotella T5 in the gen or does a LP lawn mower engine have some other spec
that overrides the diesel spec. I doubt it, but just don't know. I don't see why this little single cylinder gen would be any different than my
Generac 22kw, both are air cooled. But only the little LP gen seems to focus on 15/40 oil.

Makes me wonder if here in NC, where it gets mighty hot, if I should be running a more heat tolerant oil in my big gen.
GRS, has oil ever been an issue on these gens for engine wear, or if you change it regularly, will they run on most anything?

 

[grsthegreat]

Daugen, the generators I work on are all in cold climates. Here I use mobil 1-5w30 as recommended thru generac ( they recommend any synthetic 5w30). They recommend oil change on newer units every 2 years or 200 RUNNING hours. Even if unit only ran 20 hours, the 2 year change is due to moisture accumulation in the oil. Most units do not see enough run ti e under load to burn off moisture. You would think hotter climates need a heavier weight oil, but look at their chart

 

[daugen]

Thanks GRS. 5-30 full syn is what I will put in next oil change in the 22kw, because it has to start in winter, worst case.
I have been using 10W-30 but seems the switch is on to 5W-30.
Onan seems to want a minimum of 15W for high temp ranges in my unit, perhaps since it runs hotter, air cooled, no oil filter.

 

[grsthegreat]

Thanks GRS. 5-30 full syn is what I will put in next oil change in the 22kw, because it has to start in winter, worst case.
I have been using 10W-30 but seems the switch is on to 5W-30.
Onan seems to want a minimum of 15W for high temp ranges in my unit, perhaps since it runs hotter, air cooled, no oil filter.

My old (20+ years) onan specifically listed 30 wt dyno oil in manual.

 

[daugen]

My old (20+ years) onan specifically listed 30 wt dyno oil in manual.

and they still say the manufacturer's preferred oil is straight 30W if not in cold climates.
Problem is who makes a "good" 30W oil? I have jugs of TSC 30W and 40w (nope, gave 40W to guy who bought my Super A)
in my barn, so I could run 30W also, but that's pure dyno oil. I'm thinking for an aircooled gen inside an compartment that conventional
wisdom would say go synthetic for better performance.

Sometimes I wonder if oil got as good as it had to get about 20 years ago, and we are just buying the latest and greatest due to marketing.
I mean we have motorcycle motor oil, we have RV and Heavy Truck motor oil, we have Super Fuel Economy motor oil and we have synthetic motor oil made out of
LNG. I'm surprised we don't have Generator Oil, and I guess Onan has decided we should with their conventional 15/40 they call Onamax. And then of course we have the semis, and I'm not talking trucks, the semi synthetics. Ever see a percentage as to how much crude based oil vs synthetic is in that jug? Just what kind of blend is it anyway...Can you call something semi synthetic if it has 2 percent synthetic oil in it?
With all the claims being made for motor oil, not much industry policing for all these marketing claims.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I know guys that buy pails of the cheapest oil you can get. And they don't seem to have a problem. Maybe, it only comes into play, if let's say a machine runs very low on oil, or overheats. Maybe then, "GOOD" oils may save the day. I don't know.

 

[jgayman]

My old (20+ years) onan specifically listed 30 wt dyno oil in manual.

That's probably because synthetic probably didn't exist back then and if it did was very uncommon. My Honda generators do not list synthetic in the manual.

 

[jgayman]

I know guys that buy pails of the cheapest oil you can get. And they don't seem to have a problem. Maybe, it only comes into play, if let's say a machine runs very low on oil, or overheats. Maybe then, "GOOD" oils may save the day. I don't know.

In most cases, ANY oil is better than no oil or low oil. Also, a lot of "cheap" oil comes from the same sources as expensive oil. So while oil can have different characteristics I think you would be hard pressed these days to find a quart of "bad" oil. There is also a lot to be said for changing oil frequently.