Low Oil Shutdown
#1
10-27-12, 10:09 PM
Low Oil Shutdown
Is it just me, or do these things seem to be constantly failing on portable generators? It seems like every generator I'm around has theirs fail. It's to the point for me where I'm about ready to disconnect them. I just connected a brand new portable today and on the first start up the thing was already bad. Another one died Wednesday on a parade float right before the judges, and another died last Saturday. Mine died how long ago, and mine's fine without it. I just make sure the oil is full before starting.
#2
10-28-12, 12:26 AM
Group Moderator
I run all Honda generators and have never had an oil alert condition like they call it. It's a safety shutdown if the oil is low just like you're talking about. Generators tend to accumulate a lot of running hours and people forget to check the oil. They don't realize the load that the genny puts on the engine. I check and change the oil regularly as it is extremely important for the engine and I can't afford any down time. Since I've never had an issue with that safety device I haven't messed with it but make no mistake if I had one single problem I'd disconnect them in a heartbeat.
#3
10-28-12, 06:02 AM
Group Moderator
I don't recall the last time I've had trouble with a low oil shutdown. In my experience they've been pretty reliable and it's cheap insurance in case you forget to check the oil level.
#4
10-28-12, 06:13 AM
I never had any issues with the low oil shutdown either. Biggest problem I've ever had with it is when you don't have good solid level ground to run the unit on. I've been on jobsites where you had to set lumber on one end of the genny to make it level, be working away and the the genny cuts off because it had vibrated off of the shims and got unlevel which shut her down 
