Sign Of Oil Shortage In Electric Power Generators: My Encounter with a new Generator
Recently I came across a technical problem with a new 3500w generator and I think it will be necessary to share it.
Occasionally, when the generator stops after some time someone will first think that probably you forgot to open the fuel tank. When this happens twice your mind could be accusing the engine plug or that someone plugged a heavy electrical appliance. These and many other ideas can revolve around the problem of the generator switching off after some time.
However, I recently encountered a 3500w generator that gave me a sign of oil shortage by consistently switching itself off just a few minutes after starting the generator. First I thought it could be something else.
I am glad to have changed the engine plug recently, therefore, the engine plug is out of the options. I tried checking on the fuel level and carburetor everything seems to be working just fine in those areas.
The situation kept me hanging not until I decided to check the oil level of the generator and discovered that it has dropped. Without taking it to be the main problem, I decided to top the oil to the appropriate level. After that, I started the generator again, to my surprise, the generator sound changed and it never switched itself off again.
I went back to thinking about this new discovery, to confirm my belief, I made it a duty to study more about the generator online. Then I found out that the manufacturers of the generator actually made such safety settings on it to prevent possible problems on the generator as a result of an oil shortage.
Imagine the danger of having an oil shortage or low oil in your generator, it is a direct ticket to engine knock. That can possibly destroy your engine combustion chambers, piston rings, and even valves.
Default causes of engine oil shortage
I really love such safety measures put in the modern generator because it will help to prolong the life span of the generator. However, the issue of oil shortage in a generator can be attributed to so many factors not necessarily that the generator is faulty.
Engine oil with low viscosity seems to be short after longtime application. When you are using a generator often, checking the engine oil level is very important because the long life of the generator depends on it.
Other reasons why oil shortage occurs
Besides the default cause of engine oil shortage in a generator, the following can contribute to engine oil shortage;
Broken gasket: a broken generator gasket could be a source of oil leakage when the generator is operating at a high temperature.
Faulty piston rings: faulty piston rings could create bigger clearance on the walls of the combustion cylinder thereby allowing engine oil to escape into the piston head thereby mixing with the atomized air-fuel gas. This fault is the most silent and untraceable source of most oil shortages in generators. A good sign of this fault is the thickened smoke from the generator exhaust.
Weak engine oil port cover: if your engine port cover can’t seat properly and its thread is unable to seal off any space with the generator, minute oil leakage is possible when the temperature of the engine increases and the oil becomes less viscous.
There may be other causes of engine oil shortage in a generator that I didn’t mention here. However, these few mentioned above are worth taking note of.
