SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20230113-BAF72-2147351427. Severity: No Incident, No Injury. Product: POWERHORSE 799215 Rev. D (PowerHorse 13000ES Generator model M799215C.2). Incident: I purchased a PowerHorse 13000ES generator in 2020 from Northern Tool to power our home during power outages. The generator worked great for us during power outages until during a very cold power outage prior to Christmas 2022. The temp was at least -20 and we experienced a prolonged power outage. I tried to start the generator but it would not start. That made me examine the system and discovered the fuel valve was leaking. (Turning the valve off stopped the leak) I am very happy that the generator did not start, otherwise I would not have noticed the leak as it was not daylight. The result of a leak on a running generator would not have a happy ending. I had to wait until after Christmas to contact Northern Tool and Powerhorse to report the problem, but they have not yet responded to me. As temperatures warmed to about freezing (32), I checked the valve and it no longer leaked. I then ran the generator to check it all out and the leak did not appear. My observation at this time is that the fuel valve is constructed of a material that cannot withstand an extremely cold temperature. Unfortunately, that is exactly the time when we need the generator the most. I am so thankful that I discovered the leak before we experienced a fire or explosion. Since the valve is working properly at this time (not freezing temps), don't plan to replace it with a valve with the same defect.