Fires in The Villages

[Nipper]

Two more garage fires in TV yesterday caused by "electrical malfunction." I know first hand that one of the fires that was described in the paper a minimum damage is not true --- unless the paper thinks that uninhabitable is minimal. The woman who's three cats were "saved" had to take two of them to the emergency hospital where they were fighting for their lives last night.
But, what is the real cause of all these fires. Is it because there is no designated (with its own breaker) outlet for the golf cart? I know a number of people who have had to hire an electrician to install one. The question is, why isn't this standard procedure to install such an outlet when building these houses?

[skip0358]

There is a dedicated 20 AMP outlet in all the Designer Series.

[dillywho]

There is a dedicated 20 AMP outlet in all the Designer Series.

My question would be, "Why not in all the series, from Villa to Premier?"

[wdwduo]

There is a dedicated 20 amp circuit/outlet in Courtyard Villas as well.
LED

[ajbrown]

Two more garage fires in TV yesterday caused by "electrical malfunction." I know first hand that one of the fires that was described in the paper a minimum damage is not true --- unless the paper thinks that uninhabitable is minimal.
But, what is the real cause of all these fires. Is it because there is no designated (with its own breaker) outlet for the golf cart? I know a number of people who have had to hire an electrician to install one. The question is, why isn't this standard procedure to install such an outlet when building these houses?

/* I am not an electrician and I do not play one on any forums :) */

I cannot make this leap with you. IMO, there is no reason related to FIRE that a golf cart charger needs a dedicated circuit. It draws AMPS like anything else on the circuit. If they all draw too many AMPS the circuit breaks, but no fire.

Folks may want a dedicated circuit so they can run more tools or stuff at the same time their cart is charging, but to my knowledge a dedicated circuit is not to fix a fire issue.

[Regor]

And who or whom said that it was caused by a golf cart charger? I haven't read that anywhere yet.

Let's get the rumor mill going!!

[Bogie Shooter]

Here we go again.

[skip0358]

The original poster asked a question about a dedicated GC outlet. I guess it was assumed he was referring to that as the possible cause. We all know how many potential hazards are in one's garage.We shouldn't jump to conclusions. I started an earlier post on recent electrical issues I had but they weren' GC related. No I'm not an Electrican just a retired Firemen.

[spk7951]

Two more garage fires in TV yesterday caused by "electrical malfunction." I know first hand that one of the fires that was described in the paper a minimum damage is not true --- unless the paper thinks that uninhabitable is minimal. The woman who's three cats were "saved" had to take two of them to the emergency hospital where they were fighting for their lives last night.
But, what is the real cause of all these fires. Is it because there is no designated (with its own breaker) outlet for the golf cart? I know a number of people who have had to hire an electrician to install one. The question is, why isn't this standard procedure to install such an outlet when building these houses?


It is possible that if this house had the power shut off due to this fire and repairs are needed to the electrical system that a builder inspector would deem it uninhabitable regardless of the damage until said problem was corrected.

[Linwood]

I have fought three fires in the past two years in garages caused by the transformers of cordless tools -
maybe a cordless charger for a yard or hand tool, or a transformer that powered a appliance, malfunctioned -
Every time I leave my house in the Villages heading back to work land I unplug and turn off everything -
Do the same when I leave the NC house heading out of town -
If you feel a power supply and it is too hot to touch, replace it!
Cheers,

[swrinfla]

When I built in 2004, it was virtually "automatic" that I'd have a "dedicated golf cart" plug. I have, of course, assumed that that is the only place where I must plug in to recharge my cart. Should/may I use it for other things?

Haven't a clue, but also have never come across a moment when I might want an option.

Every instance casting doubt upon the wisdom of what I did when the house was built in late 2004 gives me some small grief, admittedly. BUT, I try not to let it overcome my sense of comfort here in TV!

SWR
:beer3:

[GatbTester]

Transformers are certainly one cause for fires, but surely they are not to blame for all of them? The wiring in some cases has been faulty, no doubt. Look who built the homes.

[chuckster]

[QUOTE=GatbTester; The wiring in some cases has been faulty, no doubt. Look who built the homes.[/QUOTE]



If you have verifiable proof of this I'm we would all like to know.

[zcaveman]

When I "built" my house in 2001, the engineer asked me if I wanted a dedicated plug but I was not sure on which side of the garage I was going to park the cart so I used the GFI plug that came with the house. He did not seem to see an problem with that.

About 6 months after I moved in, I had some electric work done and I had them put in a dedicated plug on the side I decided to park the cart.

BTW: the problem with using the GFI plug is that if it resets for any reason, your cart will not charge. But I am sure we all know this. However, this happened to my neighbor and they asked me to come over and look at the problem. While there I checked out the plug and found it was dead I reset the GFI switch and all was better. Not sure why it blew but I have had my GFI plugs in the garage reset a few times. I blame it on the lightening storms.

[philnpat]

GFCIs are succeptable to tripping in damp locations. It's not unusual to have them trip during the humid months of the year. As mentioned in an earlier post, thunderstorms also cause tripping.
If a GFCI has tripped several times over a period of time, the mechanism inside the receptacle will weaken. causing more false interruptions. That's when it's time to install a new one.