Unhappy!!! Forest River you need to read this

[JCamper]

Pulled into Flaming Gorge this weekend and put out the slides getting set up. walked out of the trailer and 5 mins later the DW inside is screaming FIRE!!!

I raced to the door and got everyone out. Smoke everywhere and flames coming from the inside of the switch panel. Long story short, we had a slide switch short out, and the Short Stop protection that Forest River installed was put in incorrectly so it didn't cut the power from the battery to the switch.

The shorting wires were glowing they were so hot, and sparks were flying off the batteries. I was able to pull the cables off the stop the power flow, but the wires had melted everything they touched. Heat ducting under the coach, the wires all around them were melted, the wires even melted through the underbelly material of the coach and were hanging on the ground.


Spent the next 3 hours manually pulling in the slides and jacks so we could head home.
The next 4 weekends are booked with non refundable trips that we now won't make.

Hey Forest River…lets chat shall we!!!!

[Herk7769]

Were both wires on the same terminal?

[JCamper]

Yes the wire coming off the battery hit the Short Stopper but then they continued off that same terminal to the slides, so the circuit never terminated as it should have.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by JCamper

Yes the wire coming off the battery hit the Short Stopper but then they continued off that same terminal to the slides, so the circuit never terminated as it should have.

Wow. What a mistake!

[JCamper]

Forest River connected the thing wrong. From battery to terminal then from same terminal to slide switches. This is the post after it popped out.
And my mangled burn melted mess.

[DDC]

So are you still covered by warranty? Or is this something insurance will cover and then go after FR, getting the smell of burnt electrical wiring is tough to get rid of, glad you are all safe.

[Timex]

Since I am an electrical genius(research some of my posts), I want to ask, if things were hooked up wrong, why didn't things go bad before now?

[DDC]

Originally Posted by Timex

Since I am an electrical genius(research some of my posts), I want to ask, if things were hooked up wrong, why didn't things go bad before now?

Being an electrical genius I would have thought you would know.

[JCamper]

Timex
The slide switch fouled out and the + and - inside contacted. Thus the circuit completed. The short stopper is in place to prevent what happened next and was miswired. But u knew that already since your the genius you are.

[JCamper]

DDC thanks, all are ok and no the warranty ended 3 months ago. (Imagine that right!?)

[DDC]

I'd be reporting this to the NHTSA how many units are on the road that are assembled like this, this is a major safety issue.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by DDC

Being an electrical genius I would have thought you would know.

Originally Posted by JCamper

Timex
The slide switch fouled out and the + and - inside contacted. Thus the circuit completed. The short stopper is in place to prevent what happened next and was miswired. But u knew that already since your the genius you are.

It was a tongue in cheek comment. Timex was just trying to bring a little humor with his ironic post, which was actually a self- deprecating statement.

I got a chuckle out of it, as everyone else should, as that's how it was intended since he was being sarcastic about himself. It's all good.

[BamaBob]

So this STILL begs the question...was this just some idiot newbie at the FR assembly plant or do we have a really serious issue here?

[JCamper]

My neighbor 3 doors down bought a Tracer just like mine, he's pulling his apart to check as we speak. I'll post the findings

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by JCamper

DDC thanks, all are ok and no the warranty ended 3 months ago. (Imagine that right!?)

Does negligence have an end date? The factory needs to get in line to help you!

[Big Bad Allis]

This issue is serious enough that I would go back to FR with it. How's your relationship with the dealer? If they're a good dealer they will fight the battle for you as well as set you up with something to use for your other trips.

Good Luck
Jason

[BigJohnD]

Very glad yall are OK. It's what could've happened that's so scary. Had you not removed the power like you did, who knows, might have been a bare frame minutes later. No doubt, FR should step up to the plate on this one, regardless of warranty. I agree with VinceU. Negligence has no end date. Whoever wired that, has absolutely no business touching anything on the electrical side.

[MuddauberE]

Originally Posted by JCamper

DDC thanks, all are ok and no the warranty ended 3 months ago. (Imagine that right!?)

Yeah..... that's a miss-wire on their part, I don't think a warranty applies here. and you should point that out if they try and say so. This is negligence. Glad to hear everyone is OK.

........Where would that fuse typically be located ? Maybe I should just check

[MuddauberE]

Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob

So this STILL begs the question...was this just some idiot newbie at the FR assembly plant or do we have a really serious issue here?

I'm going to look at mine, but I'm sure they have plenty of newbies at the plant. Thus all the issuyes we owners have to deal with..... for me, it was messy caulking on seals making it stick to the opposite seal ....

[PhoneDude 8289]

After taking delivery on our 8289 last Dec I was moving stuff around in the front storage and noticed a wire from the battery to the disconnect was loose. Had to pull the battery to tighten it but also found several other loose connections. Following that I got into the distribution panel, more connections that were not tight, some as much as a full turn of the screw or more. Ended up pulling all the plugs and checking them, plugs had push in type connections, nothing to tighten. It's amazing how many loose connections were in this RV.