What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I use Mobil 1 5w30 in everything I own that uses oil, except for my
small diesel tractor which gets Mobil 1 5w40. This includes a couple
generators, a pressure washer, riding mower, vac bagger, chipper, truck,
etc.

Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?
Think its a little overkill. But what the hell. Don't think I own any gas
engines that have ever blown up or had problems with blow by. Just changing
oil at required times is the key to keep engine running for ever.


--
"You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"
Running Mandriva release 2008.0 free-i586 using KDE on i586

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?

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

On Jan 3, 9:46*am, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

To be sure, why not ask the customer service people at the generator
and/or engine manufacturer? They will likely OK it,

Joe

"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.

On Jan 3, 12:54*pm, "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.

I'm using regular 10W30. Feel same as you in that the recommended 30W
will be too viscous if I need generator on a cold day.
Believe manual says to check oil level more often if you use
multigrade.

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.

On Jan 3, 9:46*am, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

It will oil quicker when cold, not break down as fast from heat and
give less wear, Since depending on motor type you get from 350 - 2500
hours off a 3600 rpm gen you need the best oil. Mobil 1 is a good
idea.

Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
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.



Given the small added cost for a single quart, why not?

On Jan 3, 2:54*pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

why waste the money?

s

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
m...
What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 2:54 pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

This site says something a little different:

http://www.smartsynthetics.com/artic...rms_mobil1.htm

Rich wrote:

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 2:54 pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

This site says something a little different:

http://www.smartsynthetics.com/artic...rms_mobil1.htm

Yep.

And here's the data, published by an unaffiliated source, that let's the
Amsoil president make those claims:

http://www.vwtrendsweb.com/tech/0304vwt_synthetic_oils/

Erma1ina wrote:

Rich wrote:

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 2:54 pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

This site says something a little different:

http://www.smartsynthetics.com/artic...rms_mobil1.htm

Yep.

And here's the data, published by an unaffiliated source, that let's the
Amsoil president make those claims:

http://www.vwtrendsweb.com/tech/0304vwt_synthetic_oils/

Oops! Wrong link.

The data in the above link was for "Amsoil(old)", here's the link that
contains data for both "old" and "new" Amsoil -- it's this one that
shows "Amsoil(new)" beating Mobil 1 in EVERY measure.

http://repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F_oil_facts.html

I like Castrol GT 10w30. Works nicely for me. On my last truck, Castrol was
the only brand that quieted the piston rod knock for more than two days.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Frank" wrote in message
...

I'm using regular 10W30. Feel same as you in that the recommended 30W
will be too viscous if I need generator on a cold day.
Believe manual says to check oil level more often if you use
multigrade.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
m...
What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?


I feel that the only real objective answer to that comes from scientific
testing and that is generally only done by the manufacturer. No one else is
likely to have tested various oils in that generator. That said, it seems
like a pretty good idea to me. When cold it sure makes it easier to start
than when using straight 30W.

Don Young

I used AMSOIL After break in But used a quart had for my car
Think I'll use this next time
Formula 4-Stroke® 10W-40 Synthetic Scooter Oil

AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke® 10W-40 Synthetic Scooter Oil (ASO)
is formulated specifically to meet the special needs of today's high-tech air- and water-cooled fourstroke motorized scooters, offering unsurpassed wear protection and friction reduction for longer equipment life and cooler operating temperatures.
exceptional shear stability ensures consistent viscosity protection
A special anti-corrosion additive package provides long-term protection during periods of inactivity and storage
Pour Point °C (°F) (ASTM D-97) -38 (-36)
Flash Point °C (°F) (ASTM D-92) 232 (450)
Four Ball Wear test, Scar, mm 0.40

Spud

"Erma1ina" wrote in message ...
Erma1ina wrote:

Rich wrote:

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 2:54 pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

This site says something a little different:

http://www.smartsynthetics.com/artic...rms_mobil1.htm

Yep.

And here's the data, published by an unaffiliated source, that let's the
Amsoil president make those claims:

http://www.vwtrendsweb.com/tech/0304vwt_synthetic_oils/

Oops! Wrong link.

The data in the above link was for "Amsoil(old)", here's the link that
contains data for both "old" and "new" Amsoil -- it's this one that
shows "Amsoil(new)" beating Mobil 1 in EVERY measure.

http://repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F_oil_facts.html

On Jan 3, 8:39*pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Rich wrote:

"ransley" wrote in message
....
On Jan 3, 2:54 pm, Erma1ina wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?

I have a Honda EU2000i. Break in using dino oil -- I used Castrol GTX
10w30. After break in, I've been using AMSOIL 100 Percent Synthetic
10W-30. Shortly before I got the genny (about 1.5 years ago), I did a
bit of web research and made the decision based on that. I don't know if
anything has changed (especially Mobil 1 vs Amsoil) since then.

Mobil has the $ to pay the best chemists $ can buy, Amsoil is about
marketing.

This site says something a little different:

http://www.smartsynthetics.com/artic...rms_mobil1.htm

Yep.

And here's the data, published by an unaffiliated source, that let's the
Amsoil president make those claims:

http://www.vwtrendsweb.com/tech/0304...nthetic_oils/- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Those number are not up to date for one, that data is not the whole
story, and does not cover new formulations on M1 or their 2 offerings
of synthetic. I have neighbors in auto and synthetic racing oil sales
that know amsoil, what they use is mobil 1 in their car. I have seen
bearing lock tests at my home from my friend, of all oils and Royal
purple won, but this guy says Mobil one is still overall better and
sold Royal Purple. Racing is different. A most superior oil is Mobil
1, 0-30. Im not at all sying Amsoil is bad or inferior but these
folks sell it and own cars I dream about, their hobby and life is
cars, one is Chicagos auto columnist. I guess I would use Amsiol also
if I was establised as using it but I am switching to 0-30 M1, I just
bought a few cases for cars.

ok , asked my freind that sells honda generators. he said to run new gen
at least 15 hours on conventional oil before useing synthetic. has
something to do with the rings seating in properly.synthetic must be too
slick for rings to break in properly.

----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 10:46:34 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:

What are the opinions of using the Mobil 1 5w30 in a small (5 kw) home
generator ?


What does the owner's manual specify for oil?

seeing as how the synthetic is about $4-5 a quart and the real oil is
..89cents, i'd say you'd have to run it about 6 times as long. And i don't
thing running less than a quart of oil in a generator 600+ hours is a good
idea. I've only seen (in the 30 years since it came out) ONE, yes, (1)
legitamate reason to use synthetic oil. And that is to preserve the
injectors in a 6 liter navistar diesel. And even then it's still a crap
shoot.

s


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in message
news
It's not a waste of money if you run a generator a lot and it doubles or
triples the time between oil changes.


--
//--------------------\\
Van Chocstraw
\\--------------------//

replying to Rich, Tracy E HOFFMAN wrote:
I had met some chemists that work in the mobil 1 division and they told me
some interesting things about it, when it was first designed they tested it to
200,000 it never broke down they were going to market it at 100,000 mile oil
but the mfg got involved and they had to say follow mfg guidelines another
interesting thing I went on vacation in iceland and was looking at the oil
recommendation and it had a sticker on the motor mobil 1 only 50,000 mile oil
change, Im guessing maybe they do that for waste since its an island and cost
of disposal would be high

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...or-351473-.htm

On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 6:44:05 PM UTC-5, Tracy E HOFFMAN wrote:
replying to Rich, Tracy E HOFFMAN wrote:
I had met some chemists that work in the mobil 1 division and they told me
some interesting things about it, when it was first designed they tested it to
200,000 it never broke down they were going to market it at 100,000 mile oil
but the mfg got involved and they had to say follow mfg guidelines another
interesting thing I went on vacation in iceland and was looking at the oil
recommendation and it had a sticker on the motor mobil 1 only 50,000 mile oil
change, Im guessing maybe they do that for waste since its an island and cost
of disposal would be high

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...or-351473-.htm


On the other hand, BMW pushed oil change intervals to 15K for a few years,
before backing down to 10K. You would think there would be an incentive
for them to make it as high as possible, since their new cars get free
oil changes for 50K miles. That's 5 changes vs 3 that BMW has to pay for.
So I figured they must have seen something negative from 15K, but then
who knows.

On 12/3/2019 6:44 PM, Tracy E HOFFMAN wrote:
replying to Rich, Tracy E HOFFMAN wrote:
I had met some chemists that work in the mobil 1 division and they told me
some interesting things about it, when it was first designed they tested
it to
200,000 it never broke down they were going to market it at 100,000 mile
oil
but the mfg got involved and they had to say follow mfg guidelinesÂ* another
interesting thing I went on vacation in iceland and was looking at the oil
recommendation and it had a sticker on the motor mobil 1 only 50,000
mile oil
change, Im guessing maybe they do that for waste since its an island and
cost
of disposal would be high
It may be good forever but you make more profit if people change more
often.

In article ,
says...


On the other hand, BMW pushed oil change intervals to 15K for a few years,
before backing down to 10K. You would think there would be an incentive
for them to make it as high as possible, since their new cars get free
oil changes for 50K miles. That's 5 changes vs 3 that BMW has to pay for.
So I figured they must have seen something negative from 15K, but then
who knows.




The oil is probably good for that, but maybe gas contaminates the oil.
Just a few drope each time the engine is stopped and started. If ran
off propane or such, the gas contmination would not be a problem.

On 12/3/2019 7:45 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...


On the other hand, BMW pushed oil change intervals to 15K for a few years,
before backing down to 10K. You would think there would be an incentive
for them to make it as high as possible, since their new cars get free
oil changes for 50K miles. That's 5 changes vs 3 that BMW has to pay for.
So I figured they must have seen something negative from 15K, but then
who knows.




The oil is probably good for that, but maybe gas contaminates the oil.
Just a few drope each time the engine is stopped and started. If ran
off propane or such, the gas contmination would not be a problem.


The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.

In article , says...

The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.



for big machines and maybe a fleet of vehicles, but for a single car, it
would probably cost way more to test it than just change it and the
filter.

On 12/3/2019 11:18 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , says...

The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.



for big machines and maybe a fleet of vehicles, but for a single car, it
would probably cost way more to test it than just change it and the
filter.

You can get a test for about $25. Problem is, it takes a couple of days
to get results. Draw a sample, mail it to a lab. That would be
difficult to schedule at a dealer, impossible for a Jiffy Lube to stay
in business. I have no idea of the investment or training to do it on
the spot.

On Tue, 3 Dec 2019 23:18:11 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article , says...

The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.



for big machines and maybe a fleet of vehicles, but for a single car, it
would probably cost way more to test it than just change it and the
filter.
Kits run $35 to $85 and one test doesn't tell you a lot. You are
looking for changes - so you need a base-line first.
Cheaper on most cars to just change the oilevery year or 12000 Km with
a mid-priced synthetic.
Costs me about $50 on the Kia 3.3 and just a bit less on the 4.0
Ranger

On Tue, 3 Dec 2019 23:25:30 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 12/3/2019 11:18 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article , says...

The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.



for big machines and maybe a fleet of vehicles, but for a single car, it
would probably cost way more to test it than just change it and the
filter.

You can get a test for about $25. Problem is, it takes a couple of days
to get results. Draw a sample, mail it to a lab. That would be
difficult to schedule at a dealer, impossible for a Jiffy Lube to stay
in business. I have no idea of the investment or training to do it on
the spot.
The lab equipment required aint cheap - - - - -

On 12/4/2019 12:11 AM, Clare Snyder wrote:
On Tue, 3 Dec 2019 23:18:11 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article , says...
The right way would be to do an oil analysis every X miles. Driving
conditions vary so much we'd all be on different schedules for changes.

We used to do that with hydraulic units on the machines. Cheaper to pay
for an analysis than replace 55 gallons of oil that is still good.


for big machines and maybe a fleet of vehicles, but for a single car, it
would probably cost way more to test it than just change it and the
filter.
Kits run $35 to $85 and one test doesn't tell you a lot. You are
looking for changes - so you need a base-line first.
Cheaper on most cars to just change the oilevery year or 12000 Km with
a mid-priced synthetic.
Costs me about $50 on the Kia 3.3 and just a bit less on the 4.0
Ranger

Â* Funny this should come up just now . Tomorrow we'll be using my
wife's 25% discount for working Thanksgiving weekend at Walmart . Some
of the items I plan to stock up on are motor oil and ATF . Need some
gear oil too . I'll be doing some axle work (re-gearing) and trans
repairs on my truck soon , might as well get the best deal I can on
fluids . And stick it to Walmart as much as I can before she quits -
which if I get my wish will be before the end of the year .

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !