SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20170530-FD048-2147400100. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Generac 0064410 (11 KW, propane fueled, emergency generator with automatic transfer switch.). Incident: Purchased a new 11KW emergency generator with automatic transfer switch manufactured by Generac Power Systems Inc, S45 W29290 Hwy. 59, Waukesha, WI 53189. Model #0064410, S/N 9382786. In September 2016, notified Generac and the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) which Listed the unit that the factory-installed power conductors from the generator's stater to the unit's output circuit breaker (CB) were not installed according to applicable UL Standards. The power conductors are #10 AWG (fine-stranded). The line-side terminals on the CB are UL Listed for a minimum wire size of #8 AWG and not Listed for termination of fine-stranded conductors. All of the strands of the conductors are not terminated. This creates high resistance terminations which will heat up and eventually burn off, thus making the generator inoperable for its intended use to provide power to my home for well water, heating, and lighting during a utility outage. It also creates the potential for a fire within the unit which may cause an explosion from the generator's propane fuel supply. Since September 2016, UL has investigated this matter; however, neither Generac nor UL will disclose UL's Findings to me. Generac has recently informed me via email that it has received UL's Findings and recommendations for future manufacture of generators; but, Generac will do nothing to correct the aforementioned defects on any existing generators it has in the field, including mine, even though it is still under warranty. I believe that UL's initial Listing of the generator was flawed and/or it was not auditing Generac for compli