All,
Is there a consensus as to how often a diesel generator should be run when stored, and for how long to keep it healthy?
Hot season and overhead A/C usage is fading (not over) here in central Texas and in my research on the web it seems to range from once every two weeks to once a month for a two hour run.
I run Schaefer's 15w40 7000 synthetic and amsoil bypass filters.
Thanks

At rally seminars given by Onan and (in times past) Kohler, I have often heard an hour a month at a full load. This is irrespective of diesel, gas or propane. The main issue is to heat up the generator itself to purge any moisture or its effects. The full load makes the genset work hard, producing the desired heat.

I asked at least one supposed engineer from Onan how that broke down to how many degrees (read at the gen housing with a temp gun) for how many minutes and he didn't know, but stuck to his "one hour" story. We all know there is an answer out there of so many minutes at such and such a temperature, but the truth is hard to find.

I had at least two co-workers who religiously ran their gensets an hour a month, only to have problems. Both were told by the gen shop running is not enough. A load is required.

In the summer, the air conditioning does it for us. In winter, it is the heat strips.

It was standard practice at the airline to run all our gens, irrespective of size or fuel, an hour each month, but I don't know where HQ got that figure.

An hour a month at at least 1/2 load is about right. Generators, especially diesels, shouldn't be run no-load, as they don't warm up quickly enough.

Thanks much Bill and Rusty, I've now got a plan!