Has anybody used synthetic oil in their generator?

[Mex-Busnut]

Dear Friends,

I am wondering about using 10W-30 synthetic oil in my Hinda EB6500 generator. Besides the reduced friction and wear on the engine, I would like to extend the 20-hour oil change intervals. 

Ideas?

Thanks in advance!

[bevans6]

I use it.  It's cheap, and i tend to change the oil in the toys on a very sporadic basis, every couple of years...

Brian

[belfert]

20 hour oil change on a generator?  I would have to change my oil every other day when it is hot out.  I suppose this is because it is gasoline.  I would have to find the manual, but my diesel goes 250 or 500 hours between changes.

[Scott & Heather]

I also use synthetic in my gas generator. my generator consumes a small amount of oil during operation, so I add a few ounces to top it off whenever I need to use it.

[wal1809]

20 hours?  That seems like very short oil life. 

[luvrbus]

The 20 hrs is for the first oil change right ? never heard of 20 hr oil change on a Honda engine after the first 20 hrs and I have several of the GX 13 hp engines must be something in the translation 

good luck

[thomasinnv]

I have always used synthetic on all my air cooled gas gennys, after the initial break in period. My current one evn states in the manual not to use synthetic until after the break  in. They tend to run a tad cooler which is especially good for hot weather with the load of the a/c's. I change mine every 100 hrs per da book.

[artvonne]

  When I bought the Bounder back in '05, the Gen was reading about 430 hours. Being a 1992 model and no service history, I have no clue how it was maintained, but I sure hope they didnt use the 500 hour schedule and never got around to changing it in 13 years.

  As it was, the Gen used a bit of oil and smoked slightly when we got it, but a few rapid oil and filter changes and it stopped using oil and hasnt smoked since.

  I feel the Rotella stuff is more than adequate for just about anything that burns fuel.

[Mex-Busnut]

You people done did it again! I re-read the manual one more time. The 20-hour change is for the very first oil change, from brand new. After that, it is every 100 hours or six months, whichever comes first. Whew! I was worrying about those daily oil changes!



I will still probably do a couple short changes to make sure I get all the crud out before the synthetic goes in. After all, this is a used engine.

And I also want to wire up an engine-hour meter to keep tabs on it, beside a voltmeter.

Thanks, everybody! Be blessed a whole bunch and then some!

[rusty]

At work we have a Honda generator on every crew truck. Some of these units run 8 to 10 hours a day. The crews are told to change the oil once a week and we all know that gets done. So to try to get a few more hours out of the generator we use synthetic oil. It is not unusal to get 4 and 5 years service out og these generators.

Good Luck Wayne