water heater melting taillight sonomo 280RKS

[sullybeav]

Owned this trailer for just over a month. Noticed this weekend that the water heater exhaust is melting the taillight cover and the plate. tough to see but if you look at the bottom middle of the light cover you can see the distortion. when i barely touched it it was hot as hades. Anyone seen this before on other trailers or resolutions? i mean, I suppose a heat shield of some sort but this really just seems like a design flaw. Also, what if this thing fires up in the night in the back of the trailer, and i'm in the front of it asleep? Any thoughts welcome.

[Bama Rambler]

They picked a bad place to install that heater.

I'd definitely install some kind of aluminum shield across the top of that exhaust screen. You could attach it with either pop rivets or small bolts.

[5picker]

WOW! That is a pee poor design.
That exhaust gets pretty hot.

Looks like you're going to need to fabricate some kind of shield/deflector and put under the light.

[wmtire]

I agree that this seems to be a design flaw that FR should be made aware of.

If you have a dual powered water heater (propane and electric), you may want to run it on electric only if possible, until a solution is found.

[raspivey]

Wow...that's engineering, lol. Sometimes they don't think things through very well. My MiniLite had the outside shower a few feet in front of the power connection. To use it, you'd have to be standing on top of the power cord in a puddle of water.

[Brother Les]

call dealer now and tell him problem and for him/FR to come up with a fix.... do not let them off and this is a very large hazard that will not go away. if it is melting the cover, all the wires are also may get hot and brittle.

[aceinspp]

Somebody sure was not thinking when they put the heater where it is. I'd use the electric side if installed till you come up with a solution. I would also contact FR for advice. Later RJD

[boondocking]

Originally Posted by Brother Les

.....call dealer now and tell him problem and for him/FR to come up with a fix.... do not let them off .........

X2

[DouglasReid]

Aside from the fact that the design is PI-S Poor Id get a piece of sheet metal and install ie under the taillight cover.

Make it hang down 1/2" or so below the cover and bend it 80 degrees or so. It should hang past the rear edge of the taillight cover an additional inch. It will deflect the heat and prevent it from reaching the plastic lens cover and keep it from melting.

Id use aluminum or galvanized flashing so it won't rust.

Easy fix for a moron's design flaw.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

Aside from the fact that the design is PI-S Poor Id get a piece of sheet metal and install ie under the taillight cover.

Make it hang down 1/2" or so below the cover and bend it 80 degrees or so. It should hang past the rear edge of the taillight cover an additional inch. It will deflect the heat and prevent it from reaching the plastic lens cover and keep it from melting.

Id use aluminum or galvanized flashing so it won't rust.

Easy fix for a moron's design flaw.

LOL X2 I was gonna suggest this. Careful that the siding isn't getting too hot also.

[Dodaman]

Originally Posted by Brother Les

call dealer now and tell him problem and for him/FR to come up with a fix.... do not let them off and this is a very large hazard that will not go away. if it is melting the cover, all the wires are also may get hot and brittle.

X2 on this. May even consider your lawyer if they won't agree to make this right. Total fire hazard. And how much did they pay the architect on this design? Very disappointing.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

LOL X2 I was gonna suggest this. Careful that the siding isn't getting too hot also.

If the siding is an issue you can attach it to the WH cover at the top, use pop rivets. I think this is a better idea than my original one because it insures the siding isn't getting any of the heat from the wWH

[kenandterry]

Somebody was asleep at the helm in the design group there for sure.

[Thurman]

First: IS this unit under any warranty at all? IF it is, the do NOTHING yourself but do call the selling dealer and tell them about this. IF it is under a warranty and you do anything to divert this heat then the selling dealer and FR probably would not honor any warranty. Whether it is under a warranty or not this is a safety issue and they should step up to resolve the problem at their expense. Just imagine, and I would hate to know this happened, that someone's unit would have a fire due to this poor design flaw. The selling dealer and FR would most likely be held at fault for poor design and implementation.

[OldCoot]

Send your pictures to Sonomo and in the meantime, fabricate and pop rivet a deflector long enough and wide enough to extend past the taillight to the water heater panel or loosen the taillight assy and tuck it under the bottom of the assy.

It is a totally bad design.

[wmtire]

I contacted Forest Rivers Sonoma Division yesterday on the members behalf. They were very responsive and sent full information back that I forwarded to the OP, on who to contact with their phone number and everything.

We just need to wait and see now as to what solutions are presented. There is nothing we can accomplish at this point since Forest River is on it.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I contacted Forest Rivers Sonoma Division yesterday on the members behalf. They were very responsive and sent full information back that I forwarded to the OP, on who to contact with their phone number and everything.

We just need to wait and see now as to what solutions are presented. There is nothing we can accomplish at this point since Forest River is on it.

Thanks!
That was a great thing to do!

[sullybeav]

I've talked to the salesman and the service manager at the dealership. I've yet to hear back from them. Wmtire was gracious enough to contact forest river and i've responded to their request so we are in a holding pattern for a resolution.

The trailer is a 2017 and just over a month old so yes, it's under warranty. I'm hesitant to add anything to it until FR and the dealer have had a chance to fix. I can use it on electric for now. I'll update the post when i have more info.

Thanks for all the replies.

[sullybeav]

Got a call back from the service manager of the dealership. He asked me to attempt to bend the exhaust down a bit to redirect the flow of heat and take some pictures of the water heater with the cover off. I did both though there was not much movement of the duct as its installed in place as the manufacturer intended. After doing this, i fired up the water heater with no change. The taillight heated up almost immediately. He did indicate I could bring the trailer in to them in early October and they would have a look. I have not received a response from Forest River as yet.

I reviewed the installation instructions for the water heater, a Suburban model, and it appears the following applies;

CAUTION : If possible, do not install the water heater to w here the vent can
be covered or obstructed w hen any door on the trailer is opened. If this is
not possible, then the travel of the door must be restricted in order to
provide a 6" minim um clearance between the water heater vent and any door
whenever the door is opened.

CAUTION : Do not install this appliance to w here the vent terminates below a slide-out. This appliance is not to be installed under any overhang. It must
be free and clear of any type overhang


I think that by the above, even a taillight could be considered an overhang, especially in such proximity to the vent.

I will call the Forest River rep today as I think clearly their design and construction was at a minimum counter to the water heater manufacturers instructions, and at a maximum negligent in that if I hadn't noticed the deformation of the lense, the trailer would likely have caught fire.

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by sullybeav

Got a call back from the service manager of the dealership. He asked me to attempt to bend the exhaust down a bit to redirect the flow of heat and take some pictures of the water heater with the cover off. I did both though there was not much movement of the duct as its installed in place as the manufacturer intended. After doing this, i fired up the water heater with no change. The taillight heated up almost immediately. He did indicate I could bring the trailer in to them in early October and they would have a look. I have not received a response from Forest River as yet.

I reviewed the installation instructions for the water heater, a Suburban model, and it appears the following applies;

CAUTION : If possible, do not install the water heater to w here the vent can
be covered or obstructed w hen any door on the trailer is opened. If this is
not possible, then the travel of the door must be restricted in order to
provide a 6" minim um clearance between the water heater vent and any door
whenever the door is opened.

CAUTION : Do not install this appliance to w here the vent terminates below a slide-out. This appliance is not to be installed under any overhang. It must
be free and clear of any type overhang


I think that by the above, even a taillight could be considered an overhang, especially in such proximity to the vent.

I will call the Forest River rep today as I think clearly their design and construction was at a minimum counter to the water heater manufacturers instructions, and at a maximum negligent in that if I hadn't noticed the deformation of the lense, the trailer would likely have caught fire.

STOP.... STOP... STOP.... making modifications on your own. This can AND WILL come back to bite you.

The Dealer and FR must recommend and make mods and warranty them. You do not change out the melted cover or anything else. All of the work needs to documented by the DEALER.


The Dealer and FR should know what is going on AND HAVE A PLAN on how to FIX IT, BEFORE you take it to them. It will sit on their lot for months and little work will be done and you will be told to 'come and pick it up'..... YOU want a plan in writing on how to Fix this as it is a very bad fire hazard. Ask the Dealer, who they are talking to at FR and YOU call that person also and stay very close in this loop.


As for now, NEVER use the propane and only the electric on the WH.


(if you have a lawyer friend, it may be best to talk with them, friend to friend and not tell FR/Dealer that you are talking to a lawyer......)