u/Street-Adeptness-532

I exchanged my Predator 10k / 8k for a new one on 7/12/26 and, as of last use, have put 6 hours 37 minutes on it. I'm a little behind, but I will be doing its first oil change in the next few days. I average about 11 minutes of use per day presently. The *only* thing it's used for currently is to run my 1hp well-pump (it will be used for much more over time, I didn't get it exclusively for the well-pump). I'm at 7,500' and have the high-altitude jet installed. It's fairly level, only about 23/64" off with the exhaust side lower than the air-filter side

Today I checked the air filter, and I found oil (possibly mixed with gasoline) soaking the lower portion of the air filter. What could be causing this? Could it be the carb / jet seal(s)?

The primary reason I exchanged the last one is because the fuel gauge was not working; however, when I drained the gas and oil from that one, I noticed that close to half the air filter was soaked in gasoline—and the last 5 uses before exchange, it was running louder than normal during idle (but remaining between 235-240 volts), and losing power significantly as soon as we turned on the pump (dropping to 125 volts).

New generator user here—

Something I've noticed on my Predator 10k is that it doesn't track total run-time... Is that normal?

Maybe I'm missing something, but the instruction book literally says *nothing* about the digital display modes—if it does track total run-time, how do I find that?

Thanks for the help and patience!

Coming here for help because CashApp "support" is AI garbage.

Put in an order for $1 for FIX, but it only purchased $0.99—why?

I know it's "only a penny", but that's 1% less than I ordered. This has never happened before with any other purchase—every time I order $1, I receive $1 worth.

I don't care that Premium is only $12/year, I won't pay for it on principle—and you're a cuck if you do.

Bring on the downvotes, they mean nothing to me.

I've got a Predator 10k / 8k I'm about to break in, and I want to clear up some conflicting advice on how to do it.

About half the knowledgeable mechanics I've spoken to say to use Conventional Dino oil because synthetic causes issues with rings seating in piston ring lands, that synthetic does *too good* of a job.

The other half say to break it in how it will be used; so, if I plan on using synthetic long term, I should break it in with synthetic.

I plan on using ZDDP additive from STP (but also have BG MOA). I will be doing oil changes roughly every 30 minutes to 1 hour of run time until no more metal shavings are visible in the oil, which is why I'll be using cheap oil to begin with. After the shavings are gone, I'll be switching to Royal Purple, Redline, or Amsoil—depending on availability at my local shops / stores.

So, in this sub's opinion, which is best for break-in? Conventional, Synthetic Blend, or Full Synthetic?

Side-bar: is the Castrol GTX in the photo true conventional?

I have a new generator that I want to get started and broken-in, and I want to do it as "perfectly" as possible. I'm trying to determine which weight oil I need since the temperatures where I live fluctuate a lot during this season.

Manual says 5w-30 at or below 32°F, and 10w-30 above 32°F. At this time of year, where I live, it still gets below 32° at night and sometimes doesn't get above 32° until 9am. I often run my current generator before 9am while it's still below 32°, and then again later when it's above, and the new one will have the same use pattern. It also rarely gets above 85° in the peak of the summer.

Can I just stick to 5w-30 all year? That's what my vehicle takes, so I always have a supply of it on-hand. Or is it important to switch to 10w-30 once temps are consistently above 32° 24/7? Will using 5w-30 currently be a problem when it's below 32° in the morning and above 32° later in the day?

Lastly, the 5w-30 I currently have on-hand is cheapo Fram. Will using that for the break-in and the first oil change (which I will be doing at 1-hour run-time) be detrimental to the overall longevity? I plan to switch to Valvoline, but don't think I can get into town to acquire it before I need to start the new generator up for the first time.

Any additional advice / recommendations for the break-in (in general) would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!