First doubt of FR build quality

[Okmechanic]

We have been very satisfied with everything about our 2018 2104S until yesterday. I installed a digital thermostat and was pleased to see the industrial quality closed end crimp connectors as I am not a fan of wire nuts for permanent connections . Unfortunately they crimped them with what looked like pliers and these need to be crimped with a Klein type of electrical pliers. One wire came out of the connector when I pulled them out of the wall and the other 5 pulled off easily by hand. Picture attached. This is a 12 volt system by I am now concerned about every wire this person may have crimped especially on the 110 volt. I will look behind the fuse box and look for more of these.

[quick83]

When we first got our RV we put something in the front storage and banged a wire those crimps I came right apart. The reason I found out we banged the wires because the landing gear did not work and then figured out that’s what it was. I have the wires protected now. They were exposed before.

[Bama Rambler]

I don't like those connectors in production assembly, simply because it's so easy to not crimp them correctly. I'd rather have wire-nuts in that scenario. They're prone to not having the wires inserted correctly, but they're not prone to bad crimps.

I've changed all the crimp connectors on our RV to lever connectors, because, as you did, I found several that weren't crimped correctly.

[babock]

I hate those connectors as well. The best are heat shrink crimp connectors with built in sealant. You of course need to use a quality crimper. Just don't solder...worst thing you can do on an RV with all the vibration. On second thought, wire nuts are worse than soldering. They are not be used in a vibration environment either.



Wire Connectors Marine Grade Wire Heat Shrink Terminals, Lugs, Battery Terminals Genuinedealz.com


https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/


https://shop.marinehowto.com/product...nal-crimp-tool

[Okmechanic]

This type of connector is an industrial standard where wire nuts are prohibited. They are very reliable if crimped properly. The final test is to give each wire a good pull to verify all wires are crimped. These connections were poorly made and I wonder how many heart aches this person caused with his poor craftsmanship. Gives the company a bad name. Hard to find good skilled labor now a days.

[Jayhawker]

Here are the T&B Sta-Kon pliers we use in the electrical trade. Very high leverage crimping tool.

[Okmechanic]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker

Here are the T&B Sta-Kon pliers we use in the electrical trade. Very high leverage crimping tool.

That’s the proper tool!

[wmtire]

Moderator Hat on:


The site team has edited posts here that do not adhere to our friendly forum guidelines:


Customer Disputes: This forum is not intended to be a mechanism for people to solely vent frustrations about services, products, vendors, or sales. Please settle your differences with the seller, provider, manufacturer, or dealer through other means but not through our community. You may post about problems you have with Forest River products in an effort to learn from others with similar issues, however the use of the forums to repeatedly attack or bash Forest River, Forest River products, or Forest River owners is strictly forbidden.


The above guideline also applies to calling FR employees names, who we are fortunate enough to have some on these forums who volunteer their time and effort to attempt to help.


The site team will delete or close threads/posts that do not keep these forums friendly and constructive.


Please feel free to contact myself or any of the other site team members thru the forum private message function if you have any questions/concerns.

[deepseadan]

Originally Posted by Okmechanic

We have been very satisfied with everything about our 2018 2104S until yesterday. I installed a digital thermostat and was pleased to see the industrial quality closed end crimp connectors as I am not a fan of wire nuts for permanent connections . Unfortunately they crimped them with what looked like pliers and these need to be crimped with a Klein type of electrical pliers. One wire came out of the connector when I pulled them out of the wall and the other 5 pulled off easily by hand. Picture attached. This is a 12 volt system by I am now concerned about every wire this person may have crimped especially on the 110 volt. I will look behind the fuse box and look for more of these.

Check your 7 pin connector junction box under the front of the trailer. Mine was full of these. I put a new cord on to get a little extra length and every connector pretty much fell off in my hand.

[TheWolfPaq82]

In my 2018 Cherokee all the junctions for the 120V system is push connectors. Had a neutral fall out of one our first season and it took out most of our 120v outlets.

[Okmechanic]

Originally Posted by deepseadan

Check your 7 pin connector junction box under the front of the trailer. Mine was full of these. I put a new cord on to get a little extra length and every connector pretty much fell off in my hand.

Thanks for the tip. Same situation on my junction box. I was able to re-crimp all but one that needed to be replaced. Started checking and already found a marker light no longer connected that would have been behind a false panel I had already removed. Not a great feeling knowing every component in the trailer most likely has the same problem.

[hmfic@bellsouth.net]

I am on my third travel trailer from Forest River. It has become SOP for me to try to track down every electrical connection both inside and outside the camper and replace every connector with a solder/ heat shrink connector. Down to the battery connectors by replacing them with copper solder lugs and heat shrink. It can be time consuming but it beats having to solve an electrical problem in the dark while camping or being pulled over by the police because one of your tail lights is out because the connector was not positioned correctly.

I am a firm believer that if it is man made - it will break. Therefore a few hours of extra effort can prevent major headaches later on.



2016 Rockwood Signature Ultra Light 8329ss

[Bluepill]

Electrical connections seem to be a problem even in "Better" brands. Of course, with time all connections are subject to loosening from vibration. 120 Volt panels and breakers are designed for residential use, not bouncing down the road for thousands of miles.

I did a "Post-PDI" on my new coachmen and found all of the 120 volt connections good and tight, but the two large 12 volt wires (red and black in the photo) were quite loose and took about 3 turns on the connector screws for proper torque:



Checking these connections is just a part of routine maintenance.

Don't forget to check wiring under the trailer. I found a number of spots where wires were just lying on frame channels, clearly prone to short circuiting after rubbing the insulation off over time.

[tande]

FWIW.....Proper crimping tools are of the "Ratcheting" design......once the crimping action is started, they don't release until completed.....

[babock]

Originally Posted by tande

FWIW.....Proper crimping tools are of the "Ratcheting" design......once the crimping action is started, they don't release until completed.....

Totally agree. In an engineering and high quality production industrial or aerospace environment, they are the only type used.

[Wishbone]

I've run across this as well on my 2507S. I've also run across similar issues with stick built homes. I make an effort to open up all the access panels and give everything a once over. Fixing the potential problem in the driveway beats finding it on the side of the road any day! This also gives me the confidence that I'll have better experience with the unit in the future.