Generac recalls around 64,000 portable generators amid hurricane season
Sep 17, 2023, 2:28 PM
As winter storms track across the central and eastern United States, more than 40 million people are under a severe storm threat — with at least thousands of them having lost power.(Consumer Product Safety Commission)
(Consumer Product Safety Commission)
(CNN) —As a damaging hurricane season continues to knock out power supplies to communities across the US, Generac Power Systems says it is recalling thousands of portable generators due to the risk of fire and burns.
The generators were sold at major home improvement and hardware stores in the US and Canada from April 2011 through June 2023, the Wisconsin company told CNN in a statement Sunday.
Generac said the GP15000E and GP17500E units’ fuel tanks could “fail to vent adequately, causing the tank to build up excess fuel vapor pressure when operating under high ambient temperature and expel such fuel vapor when opened, posing fire and burn hazards.”
It has developed a repair kit available free to consumers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission earlier said in a statement Generac had recalled 64,000 portable generators after more than two dozen reports of overheating, some of which resulted in severe burns.
Generac received more than two dozen reports, “of the generators overheating and pressurizing or expelling fuel when opened.” At least three incidents resulted in severe burn injuries, the commission said.
The “recalled generators’ fuel tank can fail to vent adequately from the rollover valve, causing the gas tank to build up excess pressure and expel fuel when opened, posing fire and burn hazards,” the commission said. The group is advising people to immediately stop using the recalled generators and contact Generac for a free repair kit.
The generators in question were sold “from April 2011 through June 2023 for between $3,300 and $3,650,” at most home improvement stores, the commission said.
Generac said it apologized for any inconvenience.
The Thursday recall comes during hurricane season, when many people turn to generators in the aftermath of a storm to provide their homes with electricity.
This year’s hurricane season across the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea runs from June 1 to November 30. Tens of thousands of people are currently without power as post-tropical cyclone Lee continues to bring rain, wind and flooding to parts of Canada’s Atlantic provinces.
When Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida at the end of August, hundreds of thousands of people were left without power.
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