Discovered fire hazard?

[Uncle Rog]

I finally had time to pull the full bulkhead to see exactly which converter we have, it is a 9100, to see if I need the charge wizard. I hav'nt pulled the trigger on the xantrex yet. What I found was disturbing. The PVC for the vacume system is resting on the unit, the unit is facing the rear of the rig so the only way to see the tcm unit or the fuses is to use a mirror. Multiple wires are touching the unit, and the ground goes through the cooling vents, which in the event of a short would fry and overheat the unit to possibly catastrophic levels. Picture attached....still love the unit just checking the systems Scotty..........The appropiate fix would be to move the vacume box to the wall clean up the wiring and spin the unit around....I will at some point add a vented access for checking fuses and to dissipate heat.............

 

[ChopperBill]

Surprised you have the 9100! I have the 9200 with the built in Charge Wizard. On that central vac make sure it vents to the outside on the equipment bay. There are a post or two about that.

 

[RickNB]

Interesting and serious Uncle Rog

Uncle Rog it appears that you have found some of the same serious problems that I have been finding with wiring in Heartland products and I am now at the point of having to do what Loco has done, tear it all apart and redo it. The people that are wiring these things cannot be electricians or even close to it and somebody is going to get pretty hot some day.

We too like our unit but are getting pretty nervous about how long we will have it. I know the insurance will probably pay for damages but they cannot replace a life.

 

[Trap]

this wiring thing is down right scary. It's just not acceptable to have stuff like that in a modern day Trailer or any day for that matter. I'm really starting to beleive that Heartland have some real QC issues. In fact were starting to check other Manufacture's 5'ers. Cause if things don't change before spring We'll have to pass on a Bighorn. Don't like buying poor workmanship. There's no excuse for it.

Trap

 

[GaryB]

fire hazard

I agree this stuff sounds scary. Does the RV industry have the equivalent of "recalls"? Sounds like this should be done when a potential safety issue like this is discovered. I recently received a recall notice on a $7000 Suzuki motorcycle just because there was a CHANCE that the ignition wiring harness may rub up against something and POSSIBLY cause a short. I may be wrong, but RV companies don't seem to take these things nearly as seriously.

In general, QC in the RV industry concerns me. I know manufacturers make excuses such as "RVs are complex pieces of equipment". True, but so are today's cars and trucks. Although cars and trucks don't have plumbing, kitchens and bathrooms, they do have highly complex engines, powertain systems, cooling systems, electrical/charging systems, etc. So why do cars and trucks have so many less problems -- better QC programs I would guess. Upon reflection, most of the problems discussed on this website could have prevented or identified at the factory with a good QC program. Has anybody ever been at the Heartland plant and saw how they do QC? Do they use detailed checklists, inspector instructions, inspection stamps with the inspector's initials, etc.? Or do the inspectors pretty much roam around and check whatever they feel like checking without being held accountable for things they miss? They need to make the assemblers part of the QC program as well.

 

[busted2341]

Let me chime in here. In an earlier post I wrote about finding the 4 wires in my breaker box not secured. I discovered this when my GFI plug tripped and I found no voltage going to the plug. The short I discovered was a loose wire on the breaker then I discovered 3 others were simply not tightened. The original wire shorted and burned about 2" of insulation. That was pretty hot. I had the dealer redo and check all others to be sure no other shorts or melting occurred. Just check all breaker wires cuz I think some others after my post found some loose wires as well....and by the way traveling down the road will not loosen those wires if they are secured at the FACTORY.....

 

[ChopperBill]

this wiring thing is down right scary. It's just not acceptable to have stuff like that in a modern day Trailer or any day for that matter. I'm really starting to beleive that Heartland have some real QC issues. In fact were starting to check other Manufacture's 5'ers. Cause if things don't change before spring We'll have to pass on a Bighorn. Don't like buying poor workmanship. There's no excuse for it.

Trap

Have to agree with Trap. If I ever decided to get another fiver (The boss says this is our LAST purchase so it probably wont happen!) I would **** off LOTS of salesmen because I would insist that all the equipment bay accesses be removed for my inspection. Pretty sure I am going to find fault in ALL of them though.

 

[OwensMom]

It is standard practice in most industries to use a wiring harness so the wiring is all put together on a big sheet of plywood, tested, tied together then installed in the unit. This makes testing and trouble shooting a snap. Just look at the wiring in a car.
The pictures in these postings show Heartland wiring that must have been done by a chimp on crack. I am Owen's Dad, using Owen's Mom's login. I have wired the last four houses we have lived in and it does not take more effort to do a quality job. The State Electrical Inspectors appreciate a quality job where the wiring is routed in straight lines, secured at regular intervals, and terminated properly. There is no excuse for sloppy work as shown in the photos - they are risking our lives. I know what I am doing when we return from our trip to MO.

 

[Boca_Shuffles]

Owensmom,

Please note that the posts were from 2006. Lets hope that things have improved over the years. Just don't assume that these are current photos.

 

[jmgratz]

If a post has not been used since 06 why not close it to new posts?

 

[jbeletti]

If a post has not been used since 06 why not close it to new posts?

Jim,

You bring up a good point. This is an option in the forum software and initial, there was no need to set a date to auto-close threads as it was all new. But I will give this some thoughts and likely set it to auto-close based on some time frame. Closing a thread does not make it disappear. And of course, nothing prevents anyone from starting a new thread on a similar issue if it is warranted.

Jim

 

[Jarhead]

Electrical/Plumbing QC

Well, here's a new post. These pictures are what I encountered in our new 2009 BH 3370RL. I don't think QC has improved over the last two years.
The first one is the original position of the converter. You can barely see it, (it's mounted on the floor) let alone get access to it or its' fuses, etc., and the wiring maze around it is totally unacceptable. How in the world a manufacturer/engineer/QC inspector can expect an owner or technician to work on or trouble shoot a problem with it, in this position, is beyond me.
Second one is the re-location I did to the converter. Thank goodness I had the foresight to move it because we had a major flood. That's another story of poor QC. (See plumbing nightmare in this forum.)
The third is a picture of the plumbing behind the Docking area. Wow!!

 

[David Broadbent]

A call should be made to UL (underwritters Labratory ) who oversees all O.E.M manufactures,such as Heartland, once warnings are issued by them, they must comply,to wire these units to the National Electrical code, if they do not, they loose thier certification,and thier production of manufacturing Rv'S stops,and fines are applied.The owners that have this Electrical mess should report it to UL to have this stopped,their are already safety mesures in place for just this such problem,all one has to do is report it, because this is safety liability issue.

 

[biggziff]

A call should be made to UL (underwritters Labratory ) who oversees all O.E.M manufactures,such as Heartland, once warnings are issued by them, they must comply,to wire these units to the National Electrical code, if they do not, they loose thier certification,and thier production of manufacturing Rv'S stops,and fines are applied.The owners that have this Electrical mess should report it to UL to have this stopped,their are already safety mesures in place for just this such problem,all one has to do is report it, because this is safety liability issue.

Do RV manufacturers have to comply to the NEC? I don't know...they're building a vehicle, not a building. I'd like to find out what, if any regulations there are that they have to comply with.

 

[JohnDar]

A call should be made to UL (underwritters Labratory ) who oversees all O.E.M manufactures,such as Heartland, once warnings are issued by them, they must comply,to wire these units to the National Electrical code, if they do not, they loose thier certification,and thier production of manufacturing Rv'S stops,and fines are applied.The owners that have this Electrical mess should report it to UL to have this stopped,their are already safety mesures in place for just this such problem,all one has to do is report it, because this is safety liability issue.

Hang on there a second! UL is not a government agency and compliance is NOT mandated. It is voluntary, unless a government agency has adopted their standards into a municipal code of some kind. Even in the automotive safety area, Flammability specifically, of which I was involved, we were not "governed" by UL standards, but FMVSS. This link is to UL's answer about being mandatory. I believe CSA is the same.

http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/corporate/contactus/faq/general/background/

 

[cookie]

biggzif, I think that I have read some words in the NEC book relating to mobile homes and or RVs. I can only say I think. I wonder if people commenting on fire hazards actually know what would or would not be a fire hazard, or just don't like the way the wiring looks. Case in point, when I remodeled my house, which was built by one of the areas premiere home builders, I saw in my kitchen soffits what appears to look like the area behind the bulkhead in the Bighorn. A birds nest of wires feeding the upper level. All having passed the electrical inspection. Also the place I used to work for had electrical drive enclosures.......think of a box of multi-colored spaghetti. Nothing says it has to look pretty, especially if it is going to be covered up by drywall, or a bulkhead in a RV.
Maybe someday in another post I will talk about what is actually in the walls.......... more stuff you don't see.
I don't mean to make light of anyones post, but this is the real world.

Peace
Dave

 

[John T Bettencourt]

You all have a good point and I can agree. I have a 09 LM Agusta and I would advise anyone who ownes a Heartland trailer to check the 110v wiring under the bed as I had a smoke fire in mine. Some idiot is running the wires right next to the steel rail that the slide moves on. After a few times the wire wears through and starts to burn. I have e-mailed a company rep. and have had no response. But I strongly advise averyone to check it. It is only a mater of taken out two screws to see it.

 

[Larryheadhunter]

Such small mistakes that can turn into disasters. What a shame as Heartland makes a wonderful product. If they just beefed up quality control inspections, most of these problems would be gone. I blame some of the outsourced mfgrs. who are make our products as cheaply as they can get by.