Newmar will recall 2016-2018 coaches for Automatic Xfer Switch wiring issue

[Algoma]

While you are at it you might want to check the slip rings on the cable reel. This was an issue a couple of year ago.

[Winepress]

Add insult to injury, the switch in mounted in a plastic box. Time to add another networked smoke alarm.
My last coach had the switch under the master bed. It, too, was plastic. When the conductors melted and the box caught on fire, we were in the coach. Not too difficult to notice we had an issue. Replaced with one in a metal box. Less worries, more fun.

[Idleup]

Has anyone mentioned why they were left loose? Disgruntled employee?

I can see it happening to an occasional coach, but to have this many sounds almost deliberate.


Mike

[turbopilot]

Originally Posted by Idleup

Has anyone mentioned why they were left loose? Disgruntled employee?

I can see it happening to an occasional coach, but to have this many sounds almost deliberate.

This is just poor quality control. Important connections like these should have a torque mark paint on each nut/screw.

[Idleup]

Turbo is your box plastic or metal

Mike

[turbopilot]

Originally Posted by Idleup

Turbo is your box plastic or metal

Mike

Plastic. Don't see this as a big deal. If your cables are burning it will not make much difference what kind of box they are housed in.

[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by turbopilot

This is just poor quality control. Important connections like these should have a torque mark paint on each nut/screw.

Just looked at my 2018 DS and found that the screws were tight and marked with a thick reddish brown paint. Build date 11/10/2017

[Winepress]

Originally Posted by turbopilot

Plastic. Don't see this as a big deal. If your cables are burning it will not make much difference what kind of box they are housed in.

Here’s what happened on my old transfer switch. The neutral was loose and heated up. The buss bar then proceeded to melt the plastic case, then the buss bar contacted the circuit board with caused a fire that further melted the box. Could have been worse.

[turbopilot]

Originally Posted by Stuart W

Just looked at my 2018 DS and found that the screws were tight and marked with a thick reddish brown paint. Build date 11/10/2017

Interesting. Mine was built in September 2017 so it would seem they started to pay attention to this issue at some point after mine was built with some extra QC.

[nothermark]

It's not really a QC issue unless one expects the builder to set the RV aside for a week then go back and check the heavy duty connections. The problem is that the installer torques the terminal down properly but the wire underneath deforms as the strands come to a new equilibrium of forces. The only questionable example was the one loose enough to take a few turns.

It is a big enough deal that one could expect a good dealer to have a tech go through the electrical that way but that takes shop time thus money. I don't wish to go down the road of what happens when one gets the best price other than to say that the savings come from somewhere.

The relay contact probably failed from switching high current. That is typical damage from switching under load. Industry often has to do it so the higher grade contactors have replaceable contacts and should be check on a routine schedule. It's why a lot of folks try to remove as much load as is reasonable before starting generators or plugging in the RV. Yes, the contacts are rated to do the job. Yes, it limits their life expectancy, yes, bad contacts happen. The last one in particular as good contact alloys are very expensive in today's metal market.

[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by turbopilot

Interesting. Mine was built in September 2017 so it would seem they started to pay attention to this issue at some point after mine was built with some extra QC.

It will be interesting to see if I get a recall notification

["007"]

To add to the ATS subject you can not know when the loose wires will happen in your TS, your travels and times for vibration of parts may vary year to year and the stranded wires like in the shore power cord will flatten from screw pressure and become loose from the road vibrations.
That's why a check list with this item and others at least once a year will keep things corrected.

[RetireeKeith]

Regarding the fire extinguisher part of this discussion: When I first found out about the Kidde recall a month or so ago, I went to their website and the model E10 that my 2016 DS was equipped with did not appear to be included in the recall. After reading the posts above I contacted Kidde at their recall phone number, 855-271-0773, and was told that the model E10 is definitely included in the recall.. I asked what the determining physical characteristics of the recalled models were and was told it was models that had a plastic handle or a push button. I was told that the orientation of the red plastic pin (such as vertical) was not a determining factor. I was told that if it has a metal handle it is not recalled.

Keith

[turbopilot]

I need to update my post higher in this thread. There was a discussion about the need to use torque paint for important connections. One poster with a December 2017 coach delivery reported there was torque paint on his connectors. I responded there was none on my coach built in September 2017.

I took a high resolution image of my connections just after I re-torqued all of the screws. After the comment about torque paint I went back to the image I took and zoomed in on the connectors. I discovered there were small dabs of brown torque paint at the bottom of the connector pairs (yellow arrows).

The loose connector in my panel was the black L2 lead (green arrow). This image was taken after I tightened up the connector but when I first discovered the loose connector there were 3 threads visible on the screw which was just finger tight.

Valuable lesson here. Just because there is torque paint do not assume the connections are properly torqued. In the aviation world every important connector gets a generous, clearly visible dab of torque paint when the torque is confirmed. It would appear Newmar's practice to leave a small dab of torque paint on each assembly versus each connector but in my coach they missed one.