Generator Oi Change

[BobRip]

I have two air cooled generators that I use for house emergency power. I run them twice a month (per manufacturers recommendations) for about 20 minutes with one or two electric heaters attached to each. I use Mobil 1 10W30 in both. The generators are stored in a shed which is insulated and attached to the house. I have been changing the oil and filter every year. It's about time again if I follow that. I just looked at the oil and it looks brand new. I would hope to go longer between oil changes. What are your recommendations and experience.

Oh, they have not been run in an emergency the last year. Total run time is about 8 hours per year.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Hill Farmer]

I'd but some Sta-bil in the fuel, run them a little while to get it to the engine, and not worry about them again for at least a year.

 

[George2615]

If your generators are still under warranty I'd stick with the manufacturers recommendation of annual oil changes.
If you are past warranty and only run it 20 minutes each 2 times a month, that's only 8 hours of run time per year (or 4 hrs on each per year) so you could extend your changes to every two years.
I have an air cooled welder / generator and I change my oil every year, but I put between 20-30 hrs. a year on mine and my oil is still clean also. If I only ran mine 4 hours a year I'd go two years before changing it.
Also noted before it's good advice to add sta-bil to your gas since it just sits there and doesn't get used up.

 

[Outlander]

Mine sits out and exercises once a week. I see some evidence of condensation around the filler cap after 3-6 months. It's to be expected so I change in April and again in November. I think twice a year is a good policy for the outside models just because of the heat cool cycles.

 

[BobRip]

Thanks for the replies. I do run Stabil in all of my engines. The run time is 8 hours per year per machine. I am very tempted to go two years between oil changes.

 

[JMynes]

You're using Mobil 1 which is a pretty good oil. You run them under a load for 20 minutes twice a month, which is likely enough to bring them up to full operating temperature. Getting them up to temp twice a month should be enough to boil out any little bit of condensation that has gathered in two weeks.
I'd go to a two year oil change if it were me. You're draining good oil otherwise.