Yes JohanM, I use the 5W-50 because my climate is never really cold-cold for long.
And these air cooled do run hotter heavily loaded especially in the summertime.
It has made mine last longer for a few decades now.
Previously using 10W-30 non-synthetic I was only just getting the 300-400 hours service lives.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Thanks Steve
I am also getting a runtime meter off amazon just to see runtimes properly, I stopped believing a long time ago that I would remember those things.
And the blinking light feature on this particular genny is far too inaccurate to really know anything to base oilchanges and such on.
Hey Dave is your’s the comment about using an IC engine inside of a closed small shed?
Yeah. He really does need to pipe the engines exhausts to outsides.
On-board boat guys and even some RV guys do this exhaust tubed to the outside. It is easy.
He could still retain the forced hot air cooling handily concentrated from a suitcase unit where some hot engine oil smell would not be objectioable.
My shop is actually unenclosed up at both ends with wind blowing thru it.
S.U.
d100f,
If you are the commenter I think you are, (@imhardatwork) your comment makes sense. ["if you do get a black out last thing you will need is to take carb off to clean out all the varnish inside . Best tip always run the generator dry ,so you start with cleaner fuel ."] I did not watch the entire generator video, I may revisit it later. The video presenter style is too fussy and boring for me. 
Ha. And sometimes working on small engines is no fun at all when you have to give a fatal diagnosis:
Fellows. Change your oils. Change your oils. Often on hot running air-cooled.
Steve unruh
I’ve taken on that responsibility of making sure the oil stays changed on the John Deere mower. Has a very expensive to replace commercial Kawasaki engine. Does have pressurized oil system and filter. It’s definitely been neglected, I change it seasonally now. Luckily no oil burning issues yet. I need to check the Hour counter to see how many it’s piled up. Roughly 24 some odd years old now.
Wish I could replace the steering rod dampeners, but the bolts for those are seized and I don’t wanna tear that up. Will need to take it to the JD shop for that.
Yes Mike that was me , i agree with the boring , but his logic of testing was so backward i mean he runs each generator for a short time and then pours out the oil to test for metal fragments , but instead of pouring the oil into there own bowls to check he pours the oil from both into 1 bowl great idea for narrowing down what engine is shedding metal fragments and looking at the colour of the oil from 1 of the generators would cause me to isolate that oil for sure .
Dave
Here is a longish video with info I am still working my way through:
I personally know a full handful using this model of Honda inverter-generator high hours usage off-grid.
Honda makes great engines. Honda makes “good” if expensive, equipments.
Watch this video for how many layers deep he has to remove, to simply do a 300-500 hours for-wear; for-security valve clearance check and adjustment.
Ha! I am still working through to see the why of his puzzling starts and runs by hand pulling. But cranks and will not start with the electric starter.
Reading the the YouTube commenters while listening to his kind’da slow delivery there seems to be multiple possibilities with this system.
Just yesterday trying to show off my new super quiet Bilt Hard blue machine I could not get it to run after starting. Bog dieing immediately.
After my Grange buddy left . . . after it had warmed up a bit in the shop . . . I did get it started and running roughly enough to get a flashing overload light. Hmm. Not plugged into anything. ??
Shutting it down as with the Honda, the Yamaha, the Harbor freight 9500 to reset the inverter did not do the trick. Hmm??
Running I had to push the AC Reset button then the engine dragging problem immediately cleared and I had smooth running and normal AC output.
So another illustration that the more features, bells and whistles you stack onto any system then more failure possibilities YOU build in.
Another illustration than ONLY by using extensively, under different conditions, can you ever say you’ve mastered any system.
Steve Unruh
Just a thought. We have a Deere D130, 22hp V-twin Briggs and Stratton (never mind what the stickers say). Similar symptoms: gets stuck at TDC when trying to crank. Checked valve lash, looked for the “bump” from the compression release—nothing there. Turns out there are two (at least) 22hp V-twins, one with compression release, and an earlier version without it. There are two other differences, a stronger starter AND a battery with ~three times the cheap version’s cold cranking amps. The weaker battery was our problem, that caught up with me in the winter cold.
I doubt your friend’s engine came without a compression release, but a stronger battery and, if available, a stronger starter might be cheaper and quicker than a tear-down.
Exactly what he did.
He put a newer higher capacity battery in it and phone called me today with success.
Couple of things though . . .
I’d take his starter off and disassembled it. Inspected it. Spray washed cleaned it up from brushes wear dust. Lubed the gone dry sleeve bushings. Freed up the brushes; then looping the leads to not drag and give it more service hours.
That all gave it better power.
But still even with heavy jumper cable to my running Toyota directly to the starter; and then to the old battery’s terminals it would not crank over well enough every time.
Plus the new thinner oil and supplements I put it were starting to work reducing internal engine frictions.
I wish him luck. Just not sure how long his new-battery fix will last for him.
Sigh. He is a guy I am learning seems to attract bad luck.
As the video shows the MIM made decompressor breaks into 3-4 parts dropping down into the bottom of the crankcase, loose.
Hope they stay stuckdown in nooks and crannies and not get stir floated up into moving parts.
S.U.
Here’s a human-nature thing . . .
How do I know I have not gone obsessive, overboard; collecting inverter-generators??
When I can fine some one with more collected up than me . . .
He stores Wet; total to the neck rim filled stores; versus totally emptied Dry stores.
With Aspen engineered fuels now I am now trying carburetors wet storing. Now using no added fuel conditioners.
S.U.
Not always do internally broken off parts settle down, and stay safe. This unit ate the broken off end of the plastic dipstick. Save some of your life-time and skip ahead to 10:21 to see this
At least he was able to clean out the ground up plastics and get the unit back up and running.
Look at that poor, poor oil mainteneces!!!
Now since he shows in detail one end of a Honda EU3000 . . . here look in detail at the other end of this expensive Honda-quality unit
No fun replacing a worn bad pull cord on one of these.
S.U.
Yeah, ours was iffy even with jumper cables. Surprising to me, and a bit humbling 
Yeah KentP.
Yesterday I got called to come over to another area Grange members place with two mowers unable to get started.
Sigh.
Another rider mower with the 17.5 vertical shaft B&S engine not anymore able to crank over to start.
He’s watched many YouTube video and come accross one with a guy evolved a three step set-process to get his to crank over to start.
Removing the spark plug. Hand rotating the engine over to Compression TDC. Then rotating just past. Spark plug back in. The three shots of starting ether. Full choke. Starting on the first two revolutions. This did not work for him. Too cool-cold.
Then he’s found another video of a fellow promoting an air cleaner filter off. Then flap blocking air flow to not get then air to build compression; then get able to crank over to starting.
That did not work for him either. Too cool-cold I expect? Old gasoline I expect? Pres.Biden special last winters E-15 less volatile gasoline? Carb with a years sitting open now, stuck open needle valve?
Ha! I got there and pulled the spark plug. Gasoline gushed out of the cylinder and a totally fuel drowned spark plug.
He had the top plastic cover off removed. And that allowed the plastic fill/dipstick tube to be pulled off removed.
Then I fished down with a telescopic magnet and fished out broken up compression release mechanism parts.
$100-130. USD for the parts. And ~3-4 hours of labor to replace the cam assembly.
This video shows the way to find the better revised replacement parts
I did not volunteer to repair this deep in. He is shops searching now.
The other push walk behind mower was an easy carburetor off. Clean for 11 year old varnish. Open up all of the holes and orfereces with a gas-torch wire cleaner set.
Here a new found video on a Honda Handi EU3000i (their other; smaller, lighter, less expensive unit) having a new pull rope installed.
Honda enclosed inverted-gnerator units are excellent quality and capabilities.
But no-fun at all to work on when comes the need.
And the needs will come.
Watch through to the end where he does start and run this inverter-gnerator a to verify no other engine-generator problem had caused the broken pull rope.
Yep. Yep. Fix one problem to get running to find other problems.
That is the game.
S.U.
Being the reputed fix it guy is NFG. In time I learned the dumb look shoulder shrug technique followed if necessary by the statement “It’s those damned engineers. They get paid to make stuff you can’t work on yourself”
I knew a guy, who actually had an engineering degree, but said his job was to fix all the design problems created by the engineers.
At the risk of bringing this back from the dead - I noticed a question that had gone unanswered. Let me give my two cents:
Nikasil is a coating applied to aluminum bores. The coating is a mix of nickel with suspended silicon carbide grains. The silicon carbide is extremely hard, nearly diamond hard, and so much harder than the toughest steels. The nickel is just there to keep it in place. The hard piston rings wear the nickel away with relative ease but that just makes the silicon carbide grains stand proud of the nickel surface. In no time the rings are skimming a carpet of silicon carbide bumps and 99.99% of the wear is born by the rings and the bore takes nearly none.
Picture someone going to town on a cone of chocolate chip ice cream. Before long the chocolate chips are sitting proud on the ice cream surface. Same thing with these coatings… nickel = ice cream; silicon carbide = chocolate chip.
Perfect explanation AnthonyB.
It is said that once the plating has been layered applied that it take diamond grit hones to put on the crossed hatched oil retention surface.
All relatively expensive to do.
Very unlikely applied to the engines; and engines in generators selling retail at the bottom of the market range.
Cast iron sleeving is the reasonable compromise for low market affordability.
S.U.
I agree. Sometime in the 1980s manufacturers starting induction hardening the bores so they go to 200K+. Of course dirt will still kill rings.
Rindert
Hi All,
Here is a new to me small suitcase inverter-generator discovery.
30-50% of the cooling air is sucked in from the bottom. Not all the fresh cooling air is being sucked in front past the solid state inverter module.
So you should be running these out and about on a hard solid piece of plywood, or some other hardboard.
Not on grass.
Not on loose gravel.
Certainly not on sand or dry dusty dirt!
The first two will block the intake air flow.
Sand and dirt dust will get sucked up into the air filter to the engine. And get sucked up coating the engine externally by it’s cooling flows.
I discovered this by hands feeling while running down through the spark plug service cover holes. Lots of felt air flow from the rear to the front was cooling the fuel tanks.
Where was the air coming from?
From underneath on the Bilt Hard; up from a combination of floor plate air-in slots and small drilled holes. From underneath on the Heomaito, from the floor plate staggered pattern drill holes; and lower rear side cover louvers. (These letting sound out!)
I’m also impressed these $303. USD Bilt Hard units will power up my air compressor where the $1,000+ Honda 2000 and a $1,500 USD Yamaha 2800 could not.
I’ll be selling off my Yamaha now to buy two more 2500 Bilt Hards.
I’d sell off the Honda too . . . but it’s the Wife’s. She’s touchy.
S.U.
