Life expectancy of Generac 410cc generators

 

I'm hoping for empircal data and recommendations from someone with
experience running the 410cc Generac engines - specifically at 3600 rpm
on Propane or NG.
This unit is rated at 7500 watts continuous and 13500 surge...
This unit has pressure oil lube and full flow spin on filters.

We will be running a unit on propane for 7 hours per day, 3 days per
week (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday).
Every week.

We currently run about 4000 watts average load.

Are the output rating overstated?
By how much?

What kind of life can we expect from the unit?

What problems have you seen with yours?

Diesel is out of the question for us.
We MUST run propane - are there other units that you feel might have
lower total cost of ownership?


Thanks
Phil

 



The general wisdom is that...

A propane or gas powered generator of that size will have a longer life than
a  generator with the same engine running on gasoline. Gasoline has a
tendency to wash down the cylinder wall and contaminate the oil.

A unit with pressure lube and filters will have a longer life than the same
engine without design attention to lubrication. That is, unless the pressure
lubrication itself fails to do it's intended job. Sometimes, simpler is
better because it is less prone to failure.

Diesel powered generators have a longer life expectancy than both gasoline
or gaseous powered generators. The fuel itself is a lubricant, and diesel
generators have to be constructed more ruggedly to withstand the higher
power of the detonation of diesel when the cylinder fires.

Slower rotational speed means longer life. Fewer rotations means less wear.

The care in design, quality of materials and precision of manufacture will
also influence the expected lifetime.

How well you maintain the unit, change oil, quality of oil used, filters,
temperature, environment, and load will all influence lifetime. Cold
starting in the dead of winter is hard on an engine.

Higher quality will typically have a higher initial cost, but may have a
lower total cost of ownership. High price is not necessarily an indicator of
high quality. You might not get twice the lifetime from a unit that is twice
the price.

Units built on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays will have a longer
lifetime than those built on Mondays and Fridays.

I have three generators. A 10 year old propane fired B&S Vanguard engine. I
have abused it by infrequently changing the oil, low intermittent usage for
11 years and high continuous use for 2 years. I am amazed at how clean the
oil stays. +1 Voltage and speed regulation are not that great (simple
mechanical governor). It is noisy, but reliable and puts out ~5000w as the
nameplate indicates. -0  I have had to clean carbon deposits from the valves
once in those 13 years, and it was a simple task. +1 I was less than
meticulous about oil changes. It has no oil filter. This was a medium priced
unit and it has provided excellent service for the price.

I have owned a Honda EU3000ie for about two years. Voltage and frequency
regulation is always dead on. +1 It gets preference for use because it is
very quiet. +2 My load (A SW4048 inverter) is fussy about voltage and
frequency regulation. Having to deal with gasoline for refills is a pain
compared to propane. -.5 Lack of remote controls is a pain. -.5 Very compact
and portable which is mostly an advantage except hat it is easier for a
thief to walk off with it. -0 The jury is still out on longevity, but this
is my most beloved unit. It might be because I am attracted to Honda red. +1

I got a Generac 5500xl (a supposed long life model with pressure lube and
real spin on filters). +.5 I have only fired up the unit once to test it. It
has very few hours on it and did not look like it had been abused. Had
trouble starting it because the oil pressure switch was defective. -1 It is
very noisy, and vibrates all over the place. -2  This came with a house that
I bought, so I didn't choose it but it did cost $1000  which is about 60%
less than the Honda and about twice it's rated output. I am not impressed
with it but will probably hold on to it as an emergency  backup for my
on-grid home. I might consider converting it to propane for my off-grid if
and when my B&S ever dies.The color is close to Honda Red, but for some
reason that I can't put my finger on, it does not inspire the same adoration
as the Honda.

Your load ( 7hrs/day for 3 days per week) probably falls into the category
of "near continuous duty".  Longevity will be an issue for that usage
pattern.

You selection of propane of NG was probably a good one for your situation. I
will add to longevity over gasoline, and it is relatively carefree in terms
of refueling, starting and cost of fuel.

A slower speed NG or Propane unit would give you a longer expected lifetime
( at higher cost) if that was one of your priorities.

Slow speed diesel would probably have been the best choice for longevity,
but might not have met your cost constraints or other factors.

I don't necessarily think you made a bad decision. The reasoning behind it
has merit from what I understand of your situation. Others might have chosen
a different path, but that doesn't mean that you took the wrong path.










 

 



Is the stated run time going to be the engines life?

Type of fuel has less to do with engine life than lubrication and air temp.

Running the engine at ~50% load for the time listed should be ok.  If I
needed an engine to run for long periods of time I would have chosen
something with less rpms.  They last much longer.

If you digligently change the oil and filters you should be in for 2-3k
hours.


Kohler or Onan come to mind, but they are not in this price range.

You do not mention what you running for a load. Be aware that 3600 rpm gen
sets typically do not have voltage or frequency controls.  The voltage and
HZ is governed by the rpm of the engine. Setting it up initially is
necessary if your loads are sensitive at all.  It may or may not be correct
out of the box.  Most of the new gensets I have seen are off ~10-15%. Do
your checking with at least 50% load and not unloaded.


Make sure you get the generator grounded correctly and use syn oil.   I used
to change oil in my work generators every 40 hours of run time.  They lasted
a long time.

 

I'm still hoping to hear from folks who have had experience with these
engines under moderate load but with relatively high hour usage
rates...

The specific question that we are trying to answer is:
"?Should we run the unit for 800 hours before we sell it or
will we be able to reliably run it  for 1000 hours before we replace
it?"

Thanks
Phil

 

Let compression and oil consumption guide you. Take a reading new and
every 100 hrs. they go alot more than that if not abused. Any unit can
give little or great life. I think you maintain them so how you load it
will be the determining factor. Try Mobil 1, 5-30 and go by hours on the
oil l not color as propane keeps oil looking cleaner but it will in fact
have  well used up its chemical package if you go by color on propane.
Mine has to little hrs to comment. I use Mobil 1, 5-30. The only
difference between it and 10- 30 is better cold performance, warm they
are equal.