Question Re: Oil Viscosity For Standby Generator

[hotajax]

Equipment in question is a Generac 7 KW generator.
Owner's Manual: Use 5W-30 Below 32 degrees. Above 32 use straight weight SAE 30

Question: Is it OK to use full Synthetic 5W-30 year round? Jeez, I hope this doesn't sound like one of the brain dead oil discussions on the "Bob" thread. I've been using full syn 5W-30 for 8 years, doesn't seem like there's any excessive smoke from ring wear. Lemme know. Thanks fellow sailors.

 

[stretch5881]

5w-30 would be fine. I use 5w-40 synthetic in mine. Either one covers cold and hot weather.

 

[Skiptooth Fred]

Equipment in question is a Generac 7 KW generator.
Owner's Manual: Use 5W-30 Below 32 degrees. Above 32 use straight weight SAE 30

Question: Is it OK to use full Synthetic 5W-30 year round? Jeez, I hope this doesn't sound like one of the brain dead oil discussions on the "Bob" thread. I've been using full syn 5W-30 for 8 years, doesn't seem like there's any excessive smoke from ring wear. Lemme know. Thanks fellow sailors.

I really don’t care what people use or in this case what a manufacturer writes, but I’ve been caught & it costs. If it’s air-cooled I use a straight mono. Why? Well, air-cooled engines have ‘hot spots’ like a lot of old water cooled engines that ran on mono oil, & hot spots kill viscosity improvers, the more heat & the effect grows, along with any gears, flat tappets, chains, metal surface contacts. Maybe question an oil analyses person directly on ‘hot spots’ ask them what breaks down multigrade oil, don’t question there oil ask the truth. Other than that run what you like and the moment it gets more than discoloured get rid of it, oils cheaper than a motor

 

[mattr66]

I really don’t care what people use or in this case what a manufacturer writes, but I’ve been caught & it costs. If it’s air-cooled I use a straight mono. Why? Well, air-cooled engines have ‘hot spots’ like a lot of old water cooled engines that ran on mono oil, & hot spots kill viscosity improvers, the more heat & the effect grows, along with any gears, flat tappets, chains, metal surface contacts. Maybe question an oil analyses person directly on ‘hot spots’ ask them what breaks down multigrade oil, don’t question there oil ask the truth. Other than that run what you like and the moment it gets more than discoloured get rid of it, oils cheaper than a motor

I thought for some reason full synthetic oils didn't have the problem with the viscosity improvers breaking down because there aren't any in a synthetic. Am I completely off base here?

 

[Chainsaw Wisperer]

I like the 5w-40 should be good anywhere in lower 48, I run 20w-50, but I'm in Texas