SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20180319-D892F-2147389157. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: California Air Tools Compressor Model 5510A Compressor Model #5510A Air Pump Model SP9413 (The product is a 5.5 gallon portable air compressor with an aluminum tank. Compressor Model 5510A Serial #5510A-487F Air Pump Model SP9413 Serial #16064087 http://www.homedepot.com/p/California-Air-Tools-5-5-Gal-Aluminum-Portable-Electric-Air-Compressor-5510A/207142915). Incident: The motor on my 1 gallon portable air compressor started on fire. It is approximately 1 year old, and has been seldom used. When it occurred, the compressor was in my garage. It was plugged in and in the on position, although it had not run in several hours because I was using it intermittently. When I went out to the garage to investigate the smoke alarm, I couldn't initially identify the source for the smoke. The fire was inside the motor, and flames were visible through the vents on the motor. The motor was not running before it started on fire, or while it was on fire. The only sound was the sound of the fire itself. After reviewing the manual, I confirmed that my use was nothing out of the ordinary. My light-use was well within the parameters of the original design. I think the motor had less than 10 hours of use in the entire year that I owned it. Had there not been a detector in the garage, or had no one been home, there could have been serious damage to the house. Had it happened at night while we were sleeping, there could have been a serious threat to our lives.