Warning: My portable ground power unit tried to cook my lunch

I was working on a Cessna 172 at a small FBO in Wichita last Tuesday and left my ham sandwich on the GPU cart while I went to grab a tool. Came back 10 minutes later and the thing was hot to the touch - melted the bread wrapper onto the casing and everything. Never thought about how those units kick out serious heat when they're idling. Has anyone else had random gear turn into a hazard on the ramp?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_lewis27d ago

Melted a bread wrapper? That's wild.

joel_jones7d ago

Wait, did the unit actually have a warning label about heat buildup on the casing during idle? I know some of the older Hartzell units ran hot but I've never seen one melt plastic before. Was yours one of those red metal case models or the newer composite shell ones? Curious if the heat was just from the internal transformer or maybe a cooling fan that died on you.

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lewis.finley6d ago

Had the red metal case model. Thing was a beast. Honestly thought the warning label was just legal stuff, you know, covering their butts. Didn't realize it meant I could actually melt a plastic bread bag on top of it. Guess my kitchen counter doubles as a griddle now.