SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20120110-F7479-2147471471. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Generac 0059400 (Generac 6500 KW 120/240 Volt). Incident: I purchased a Generac 6.5 KW portable generator about 10 months ago. I was surprised and disappointed to see a Made in China label inside the fromt panel instead of made in Wisconsin, USA, but I had already made the purchase. Last week we lost power and I hooked up the generator and started it up. I began smelling gasoline and looked back at the generator and gasoline was flowing, not dripping, flowing from the carbuerator, pooling all around the generator. I crossed my fingers and turned the ignition switch to off. I turned the fuel valve closed and the fues stopped flowing shrtly after. My neighbor purchased a [REDACTED] generator early last summer, it was also made in China. The second time he turned the fuel valve on gasoline flowed freely from the carbuerator to the ground, pooling all around the generator, fortunately he didn't try to start it. I witnessed the leaking gasoline. Apparently many name brands companies have imported Chinese made gernerators and placed their names on them, Generac, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], and others. I have looked at several generators made in China and they all have one thing in common, the same engine style and carbuerator. I had my carbuerator replaced today under warranty and asked the mechanic how many similar problems he had seen and he said only a couple. He said Generac has a 90 day right to request the faulty parts so I couldn't get the old carbuerator. An emergency stand-by portable generator doesn't get started very often and many owners may not turn the fuel valve on but once per year. It appears the float valve does not work o