Ralph Mowery wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery wrote:
What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw)
home
generator ?
Do you _need_ a multigrade in it? Is 5w30 specified for it? How old
is it?


It is new and never had any oil in it (maybe factory test ?)

Book lists 30W, 10W30 regular oil and 5W30 synthetic.

Book says that below 40 deg F it may be hard to start if 30 W oil is used.
I live where it may get to 10 deg F or higher when I plan on needing the
generator to power the house.

I was thinking on the Mobil 1 might be a beter oil as the generator might
only be used once every year or two for actual power, but would be cranked
up every couple of weeks just to keep fresh gas in the system. I will be
using the Stay-bil long term storage addaitve to the gas.

As it only takes one quart to fill it, the cost is not that much no mater
what kind of oil I use.
I was thinking that Mobil 1 might not break down as fast as regular oil
would over a long period of time between changes. It would not have that
much actual run time, but a lot of just sitting around.


Motor oil in an internal combustion engine is changed mostly because it
becomes contaminated not because it breaks down. Thats why you still
need to change synthetics when used in an engine. If you were running it
in say a gear box you could practically run it forever.