O C Diver
Guru
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2010
- Messages
- 12,867
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Slow Hand
- Vessel Make
- Cherubini Independence 45
From my perspective:
Oil sampling is really the only way you know how your engine is doing. There are all sorts of things that can happen that will only be known through oil sampling as the oil looks other wise fine.
As to hours, well it depends. My engine manufacturer says that using his oil, I should be able to go 250 hours between changes. Keep in mind, that I'm producing 40 HP and the manufacturer's continuous duty rating equals 100 HP. Unfortunately, I started getting elevated metal content about around 175 hours. Simply, at 250 hours the metal content is above significant. Somewhere between 100 and 175 hours will likely be where I end up. To me, it really doesn't matter as oil changes have an insignificant cost. But the curiosity is driving me crazy. As modest as the load is on the engine, I would have expected it to easily reach the hours limit before any issues. Don't know what the application problem is, but it's easy to make it go away by changing oil more often.
The takeaway is that some applications won't allow you to use the manufacturer's recommended oil change. Oil sampling is the only way to know.
Ted
Oil sampling is really the only way you know how your engine is doing. There are all sorts of things that can happen that will only be known through oil sampling as the oil looks other wise fine.
As to hours, well it depends. My engine manufacturer says that using his oil, I should be able to go 250 hours between changes. Keep in mind, that I'm producing 40 HP and the manufacturer's continuous duty rating equals 100 HP. Unfortunately, I started getting elevated metal content about around 175 hours. Simply, at 250 hours the metal content is above significant. Somewhere between 100 and 175 hours will likely be where I end up. To me, it really doesn't matter as oil changes have an insignificant cost. But the curiosity is driving me crazy. As modest as the load is on the engine, I would have expected it to easily reach the hours limit before any issues. Don't know what the application problem is, but it's easy to make it go away by changing oil more often.
The takeaway is that some applications won't allow you to use the manufacturer's recommended oil change. Oil sampling is the only way to know.
Ted