Not really a problem, if not run under heavy duty situations. Lawn mowers and many other small engines don't have then either. Running it a few times a year, I will take the cheaper price and change the oil regularly. Greg
Maybe for the same reason they now recommend going farther between automotive oil changes. Better engines and better oils?
Mine doesn't, most of the home units don't that I have come across. It runs <30 hours a year max, not really necessary.
Backwoods Savage , bushpilot , XXL , cnice_37 , I just had my question answered from Electric Generators Direct. My question was, Why doesn't the Briggs and Stratton 8000 watt electric start generator have any type of oil filter on it? Their answer, The engine on this unit is a splash lubricated engine and they do not have oil filters. What is Splash Lubrication? (with pictures)
Hopefully you don't have to turn the unit upside down to dran the oil like you do on some lawnmowers. Gary
I use this, LiquiVac - Do It Yourself Oil Change System, Oil Change Pump/Vacuum We have the small engine model and it works great.
I have a 2000 watt Honda. I change the oil yearly, using Mobil 1. It probably gets around 25 hours use. It only holds 13 oz. I have to tilt it on its side, but bought a funnel that screws into the dipstick hole for drainage. It's so small I don't know where a filter would fit.
Thank you for this thread Zap, just reminded me that I need to change the oil in the generator. I have been meaning to grab a filter and oil for the splitter so I'll just get a little more. Heck maybe I'll have an oil change party and do the snowblower too.
Most small engines have a relatively short oil change interval because of the lack of an oil filter among other things. Crude fuel systems, loose manufacturing tolerances and (gasp) cheap materials all contribute. But.... For most... It's cheaper to change the oil on the short interval rather than pay upfront for all the tech. And yes, many single cylinder engines are simply "splash" lubricated and lack any sort of oil pump to push oil through a filter. If it's a tool that you will run infrequently, I don't think you would ever realize the difference between a pressure lube and splash engine. But given a choice, I'd always go for a pressurized and filtered engine over a splash.
Maybe its because they do not have pressurized oil system with an oil pump to make a filter feasible. The only small engines we have that have oil filters are the CubCadet lawn tractor with 22hp Briggs and Straton commercial use rated engine and a Merc 4 stroke outboard. All the rest are just splash lubricated from the crankcase. Our generator doesn't have one and it just needs good quality synthetic changed ever 50 - 150 hours run time depending on how much its used. Once every year for sure.
