A Tinderbox.....Fires and Manufactured Homes

[frizbeedog]

In the last two weeks we did service upgrades and relocations for two manufactured home sites which were both recently vacated due to fires.

After inquiring I was told the cause of both were electrical. One started at a receptacle in the living room, and the other at a wall switch in a bathroom. 80's vintage if I recall.

Been doing some research and found some interesting....Statistics

Here's what I've heard on the street:

.....that these houses are built by code standards several cycles behind current version of the NEC. Not sure if that's an issue or not, just what I've heard.

Here's what I know:

.....that the quality in some brands are way better than others, some downright sloppy.

And so....given the higher rate of fires that these structures experience over other dwellings, what gives?

 

[ctmike]

several times ine replaced switches or added plugs for family in fla who lived in manufactured homes or double wides and found a lack of boxes in the wall switches and plugs just screwed to the panneling

 

[PCN]

I know mobile homes were some the last to stop using aluminum romex. I'm sure there's a ton of it still out there on older units. Probably not helping the statistics.
New modulars seem to be 50/50. Some are a mess, some are done ok.

 

[nakulak]

did you check the listing or labelling of the home before you altered it ? if its a UL assembly, you may be in error by making any changes to the home. (?)

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

They are built cheap so exspect more problems. Also the inspections are questionable. Combine cheap untrained help with electric and this is what you get. I would refuse work on them if i could.

 

[cadpoint]

did you check the listing or labelling of the home before you altered it ? if its a UL assembly, you may be in error by making any changes to the home. (?)

If the structure need electrical service what does that mean now?
Does that mean anything to present time?

The products one will use to fix the situation should be UL listed, that application should be to NFPA requirements to date(code cycle), well Ok ...

 

[ceb58]

I know people who have worked in the plants making modular homes and double wides. All they know is production. The guys wireing these things have no clue as to why or how just follow the dotted line. When you run two production lines and each line must turn out 3 completed homes per day there leaves a lot of room for quality.

 

[220wire]

If you maintain a license to do electrical work it would probably be in your best interest to never put your name on any pre-manufactured home since the guy who wired it probably didn't use a box for the light fixtures.

 

[brantmacga]

the main problem i see in mobile homes are the quality of the devices and circuit design. mobile homes i've worked on built through the late '90's had those devices where you just lay the romex on the back of it and it has an insulation piercing plate that is snapped on around it. that's it; no screw connections, not even a backstab. the contact area is extremely small, and these things can overload very easily. its not uncommon to see where an entire wall is one circuit; where one part of that wall may be in a bedroom and the other is in the kitchen with microwave, etc. . .!

i have built services on some new ones this year and the quality was much better; they had normal devices on it like you would use in a traditional home.

there's also a member of this forum who tragically lost his son in a mobile home fire that was caused by faulty wiring.

 

[pfalcon]

*sigh*
Yes, I'm a mobile home slumlord.

1 There is a separate section of code specifically for mobile homes (550)
2 There are separate building codes for mobile homes
3 There are separate laws regarding the rental of mobile homes

Why? Because Obama and Bush are not going to be found living in one no matter how long or wide it is.

Mobile homes are built on the cheap because they are going to be lived in by the lower incomes. Cheap equates to poor quality in almost any product. Consider the typical mobile home was built with 2x2's when middle class home-owners started thinking about using 2x6's and 2x8's. As in any product you get what you pay for.

Fire rates in mobile homes are higher for many natural reasons. For example, lower income correlates with more smoking. Lower income correlates with more likely to rent. Lower income correlates with less likely to have smoke alarms.

Death rates in mobile homes from fire are also higher for a natural reason - 400 sq ft versus 1500 sq ft or more. When a fire starts it is more likely to have started in the same room and it will fill the smaller area with smoke sooner. Last figures I have stated an average of 3 minutes for a mobile home to be fully involved versus 8 minutes for a house.

One other tidbit to take or leave as you will. I've been involved in cleaning up after two mobile home fires and one house fire. In one of the mobile home fires the "cause" electrical outlet was not damaged in the fire. In the house the "cause" furnace was not damaged in the fire. At the house an unnamed uniform commented that electrical and furnace fires are never questioned by insurance companies while some cigarette fires are. When you are talking about a lower income renter then you KNOW they lost everything they owned in the fire. They may have lost a family member or a pet too. Is it really necessary to let them know that they are to blame for the fire?

I support removing out of date wiring practices like that vampire tap outlet. Microsoft drops support for old OS's. The NEC should drop support for old wiring practices.

 

[steve66]

To some extent, I was thinking along the same lines as pfalcon. Manufactured homes are often occupied by lower income people. And there is often a lower education level present also.

I'm not saying the occupants are the whole cause of the difference in statistics. But, we aren't necessarily comparing apples to apples either.

Also, its possible these houses often have more marginal heating, and marginal or no central air. Couple that with poorer insulation, and you are more likely to find space heaters and air conditioners plugged into general use receptacles (with extension cords also likely.)

So I'm just not convinced the wiring and initial quality of the electrical installation is the major cause of the higher incidince of fires and resulting deaths in manuf. homes.

Steve