Potentially Dangerous Generator Failure
This spring, bought a 1200 Watt Firman generator from Home Depot in Canada. It seemed like a good deal -- $249 plus tax, delivered right to the house, with a three year warranty.
On the second occasion of using this generator -- a hunting/camping trip with a truck camper late last month -- I set the generator on the ground. It started normally, but a few minutes later, we noticed a strong gas odor. The fuel tank's on/off valve was leaking gasoline which was trickling down into the air intake of the motor's cooling system -- about a half tank had leaked out.
The entire insides of the generator's motor, inverter, and electronic panel, were running with raw gas, to the point that the engine was starting to 'hunt'. Gas was being sucked into the air filter intake. It is extremely fortunate that it didn't catch fire, as it likely would have spread to the truck and camper. Managed to get the engine turned off and when the tank's fuel valve was closed, the leaking stopped.
The cause seems to be a stripped machine screw on the bottom this valve. (see attached photo of a similar valve...)
Click For Full-Size Image.
Home Depot provided a full refund. But when I posted the story above with a "one star rating" to their website under reviews for this generator, they refused to publish it.
So the learning here:
On the second occasion of using this generator -- a hunting/camping trip with a truck camper late last month -- I set the generator on the ground. It started normally, but a few minutes later, we noticed a strong gas odor. The fuel tank's on/off valve was leaking gasoline which was trickling down into the air intake of the motor's cooling system -- about a half tank had leaked out.
The entire insides of the generator's motor, inverter, and electronic panel, were running with raw gas, to the point that the engine was starting to 'hunt'. Gas was being sucked into the air filter intake. It is extremely fortunate that it didn't catch fire, as it likely would have spread to the truck and camper. Managed to get the engine turned off and when the tank's fuel valve was closed, the leaking stopped.
The cause seems to be a stripped machine screw on the bottom this valve. (see attached photo of a similar valve...)
Click For Full-Size Image.Home Depot provided a full refund. But when I posted the story above with a "one star rating" to their website under reviews for this generator, they refused to publish it.
So the learning here:
- Cheap Chinese machinery isn't always worth the savings
- situate your generator so if it catches fire, it's as far away as possible from your RV
- never leave your generator running unattended
- don't believe the reviews in Home Depot's web pages -- they won't publish the bad ones
