# Surge Protector Fire - Generator Power



## nedyah700 (Sep 11, 2017)

My parents are down in Florida and like many others have no utility power right now. They hooked up their generator to their manual transfer switch and powered one circuit. The only things plugged into the circuit was a fridge and power strip. The fridge was not hooked up through the power strip. After about two hours of use the power strip caught fire!! I am scratching my head and cannot for the life of me figure out why this power strip had been working for 10 years without any problems and what the generator could have done to cause a fire.


According to them the generator sounded like it was "struggling" the entire time. As a note the transfer switch was professionally installed.



Any thoughts?


Relevant Information: 

-Generator rated for 8,000 Watts continuous.
-Transfer switch - http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?30216A


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2017)

Only reason I could see is that the surge suppressor couldn't handle the power surges from the generator and caught fire. Most of those have just a standard power shunt that gets rid of the unsafe surges... but others might have a better reason.

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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

There is two possibitys that cause the strip to catch on fire .,,

miswired connection at either transfer switch or generator connection 

did you check the generator power at the generator receptacle first to make sure you are on 120 volts ?? some of the generators do have dual powerswitch so they can run both 120 and 120/240 volt at the same time.

check the transfer switch for miswired connection.

Really IMO you should get a electrician to come in your area and they can check out the system to make sure they are ok to use.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

the power tap probably had too many things plugged into it (items curiously not mentioned by the OP)


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

If the generator was "Struggling", it probably was varying in speed. One of the most important aspects of a generator is to maintain 1,800 or maybe 3,600 RPM so that 60 cycles or hertz can be maintained. Slower speeds equal slower cycles and lower voltage. Better generators have better voltage and speed regulation. Low voltage and low frequency could have caused the heat build up. Then again, maybe someone foiled around with it and it was running too fast causing high voltage and high frequency.

The engines governor controls the speed. Less expensive generators are controlled by springs. A better design is one controlled by centrifugal weights and gears.

The generator could have had bad fuel, bad fuel lines, dirty filters, bad spark plug, lacquer built up in the carburetor or a governor problem.

If you do maintenance on it, use a tachometer and adjust the speed.


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## matt1124 (Aug 23, 2011)

Varying speed can burn up anything. When I used to dabble in the TV industry, any generator that wasn't "crystal sync" wasn't allowed.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

matt1124 said:


> Varying speed can burn up anything. When I used to dabble in the TV industry, any generator that wasn't "crystal sync" wasn't allowed.


That is one of the most common failure when many customers mention the tv act very funny.

that one reason why I tell the customers that the portable generator useally dont have very tight on speed reguluation at all due some are controlled by air vane but better models are controlled by gear driven flyweights which it can control more tighter.

and most common cheap gasoline generators are not excatlly clean units per term of electrical noise. ( this part been discussed few time in the fourm )


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

You need an inverter generator. Honda comes to mind.

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## Spark Master (Jul 3, 2012)

I know 1 area in Florida, where the utility company turned off the natural gas. So everyone's $10,000 generator was useless.........

How pathetic is that.


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## matt1124 (Aug 23, 2011)

Spark Master said:


> I know 1 area in Florida, where the utility company turned off the natural gas. So everyone's $10,000 generator was useless.........
> 
> How pathetic is that.


I LOVE how so many people's disaster preparedness relies on an underground pipe to remain intact and at capacity. "Well, neighborhood is down, good thing all us 100+ houses in this addition have 285,000 BTU natural gas generators!!!"


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