[GenKnot]

👆 Have you checked the valve clearances?

 

[chadjones999]

We’re talking about small engines in emergency generators here. You blow up the engine in your lawnmower?….meh, no emergency. The grass grows a little extra tall for a week or two until you get the mower repaired/replaced. The neighbors might just think that you’re cheap. You blow the engine in your generator?….the lights go out, the freezer thaws, the toilet doesn’t flush, your cell phone dies, your wife gets upset, really upset….major emergency.
Blow $50 on generator maintenance per year….you’re the hero!
My priceless wise suggestion 😉

KEY WORD " your wife gets upset, " !

 

[chadjones999]

👆 Have you checked the valve clearances?

No , but that would not leave metal on the dipstick .... I'm pretty sure it's bearings ... it runs perfectly other than that, easy start etc, so that leads me to believe no valve issues. also, oil is never low when I change it, so it's not burning oil...... Dont get me wrong not against checking valves , just don't feel that's the issue. plus its like 20 deg outside ( during the day ) right now so, I changed oil that's what she gets until it warms up, if it is still running in a few weeks ill do that. LOL

 

[chadjones999]

👆 Have you checked the valve clearances?

its due for another spark plug in the next oil change or 2 so ill take it in the shop and pull the plug and valve cover then, good thought though

 

[chadjones999]

And to those who advocate not changing the oil............ really, I guess to each their own, but it's only like a quart of oil and most don't even have a filter so its pretty cheap to change 1 qt of oil .... to me if I had the extra money to waste I would buy 2 generators that are the same and run them side by side and do oil changes on 1 and not on the other and see which one throws a bearing first... but for 4 to 6$ for a good Qt oil ill just do the oil changes

 

[Dutchy491]

It’s really important to run an oil that has high ZDDP levels in small engines. The engines in our portable generators run at 3600 rpms so a car oil doesn’t cut it. Car oils also have low ZDDP as these can be detrimental to the emissions systems. In the very least a synthetic motorcycle oil would be a much better choice, as bike engines rev higher and run hotter, much like generators do. However, I like the Amsoil Synthetic Small Engine Oil which is purposely designed for hard working small engines, and use magnetic oil drain plugs too. In a pinch this oil provides protection for up to 200 hours. I Order online and it’s delivered in a day or two. Works for me…
Here’s a link to more info.

4 Stroke Power Equipment: Shop Oil for 4 Stroke Equipment - AMSOIL

Shop for 4 Stroke Power Equipment at AMSOIL. Find the full line of premium AMSOIL products and buy online for delivery to your home.

www.amsoil.com

 

[HStriepe]

I recently got a Duromax 9000 inverter in addition to an older Wen DF1100. The latter is now backup to the backup. It has 550 hrs on it with little trouble except for a fouled propane safety connector valve.
I broke in the DuroMax for 20hrs, changed the oil, plus another 50hrs with premium 10-30. I use a magnetic oil stopper, since the Duromax doesn't have a screen. During outages, it will generally run about 16hrs with mostly a light load under 20%. When the heater or other higher consumers run, it might be at <50% for a while. It sits in a car port around 50deg F with little dust or rain exposure.
After the break-in, I switched to synthetic. This all happened in less than two weeks. Life in the Santa Cruz mountains getting atmospheric rivers has resulted in extended power outages. During the last oil change after 50hrs, the oil looked pretty clean.
Question:
The Duromax manual recommends regular oil changes under heavy use every 50 hours and 100 hours with normal use.

Does anybody have any idea, how they make that distinction?

I previously asked Duromax's support a question but never heard back.

 

[GenKnot]

...it will generally run about 16hrs with mostly a light load under 20%. When the heater or other higher consumers run, it might be at <50% for a while. It sits in a car port around 50deg F with little dust or rain exposure.

What you are describing there is what I would think is fairly light duty normal usage. If you were using the gen at higher loading levels that were sustained for long periods, then that would be heavy duty.

It is really best to not run continuous full rated loading. Keeping it under about 50-60% for continuous usage will make the gen last much longer. Occasional runs up to about 100% rated load is okay for brief periods IMHO.

Heavy usage means higher temperatures and is harder on the oil (and every thing else too).

 

[HStriepe]

What you are describing there is what I would think is fairly light duty normal usage. If you were using the gen at higher loading levels that were sustained for long periods, then that would be heavy duty.

It is really best to not run continuous full rated loading. Keeping it under about 50-60% for continuous usage will make the gen last much longer. Occasional runs up to about 100% rated load is okay for brief periods IMHO.

Heavy usage means higher temperatures and is harder on the oil (and every thing else too).

View attachment 13952

That was my sense. But never hurts to ask. If we have a heat wave in the summer and PG&E cuts power, I would change the oil more frequently.

 

[speedy2019]

I use this oil as I read somewhere that semi-synthetic oil was better then fully-synthetic oil for generators?

Amazon.co.uk

 

[HStriepe]

Castrol says this about the different oil compositions:
WHAT IS BETTER SEMI SYNTHETIC OR FULL SYNTHETIC OIL?
The more synthetic base oil contained in a motor oil in general the better the performance. In turn, a full synthetic motor oil formulated with a robust additive system will always be better than synthetic blends. That said a properly formulated semi-synthetic can offer performance benefits over a conventional motor oil.

 

[GenKnot]

I use this oil as I read somewhere that semi-synthetic oil was better then fully-synthetic oil for generators?

Uh, no! That's like mixing a half a glass of tap water with half a glass of creek water and calling it good enough to drink.

 

[speedy2019]

Just done a quick google search.....
5 things to know about semi-synthetic engine oils

1. Semi-synthetic oils are blends of mineral oil and 30% or less of synthetic oil. They are often referred to as synthetic blends. The first semi-synthetic motor oil was introduced in 1966.

2. Semi-Synthetics are designed to offer most of the benefits of synthetic oil like extended lubricant life and improved viscosity indexes at lower costs than of the synthetic oil.

3. Semi-synthetic oils provide better engine defence at higher temperatures and heavy loads over normal mineral oils and they are also not as subject to evaporation as the typical mineral oil.

4. The low viscosity and low friction characteristics of the semi-synthetics offer improved fuel economy.

5. Though the semi-synthetic oils are as good as the synthetic ones, they also exhibit properties of the normal mineral oils. So always follow the recommended oils from your vehicle manufacturer.

 

[GenKnot]

👆 What that is saying is that full synthetic is better period.

 

[speedy2019]

👆 What that is saying is that full synthetic is better period.

Yeah just realised sorry,, I thought mineral was fully synthetic.... I used mineral oil (SAE40) when I first got the generator, then on the first oil change like 3yrs ago I changed to semi synthetic, as I thought it was better for generators.. I was going to stick with this oil upon the 2nd oil change, but na, I dont think I will ... Thanks for correcting me

 

[Dutchy491]

A Semi synthetic oil label has no standards as to how much is mineral versus synthetic. Is it 50/50, 30/70, 10/90… Manufacturers very rarely state the actual ratio.
Anyways, like I stated above, a synthetic motorcycle oil is the easiest type to find other than a car rated oil, which is inadequate in my opinion. My 2cents…

 

[sledman8002002]

and I noticed a rattling sound

just a little burnt looking and on the dipstick this time ( magnetic ) I had metal build up a lot heavier than normal

I agree with your eventual engine failure diagnosis. You could try adding an oil additive (Lucas comes to mind), it might help extend it's life.