Fire hazard under the bed

[northern5er]

A while back I noticed that a bedroom cct breaker was popping on occasion. Then I had no power in the outlets located on both side of the bed of my bighorn 2009 3670RL. After investigation I found that both romex wires had shorted out due to the rubbing action of the slide mechanism. see photos

I purchase new romex and rerouted the wires. Everything is fine now. We are fulltimers and could have lost everything should the short have started a fire.

Please send a recall to all owners of 3670Rl and other FW with similar installation.

Mike Doyon

 

[jimtoo]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Hi northern5er,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to help if needed.

I was in the valley a couple of weeks ago for the luncheon also... maybe we met then, if not maybe in the future at one of the rallies.

Your picture did not make it.. so please try again, or give us more details about the wiring problem you encountered.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

 

[jnbhobe]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

I had the same problem on my 09--3370, the slide mechinism cut into the 110V wiring under the bed. I repaired it along with the bed frame that had pulled away from the wall. JON

 

[Kevin_Finn]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

We have since secured the wiring to the bed frame and have not had those issues.

 

[DougLynne]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Kevis, is this something older model Bighorn owners should be concerned about?.../Doug

 

[northern5er]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

here are the pictures..I hope this work now.

 

[rvn4fun]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Thanks for replying Kevin, I was just heading up to the bedroom to check on this. You're post saved me from having to do it.

 

[Gaffer]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Can you tell us when they started securing the cables. My unit was built August 2009.
Thanks

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

We have since secured the wiring to the bed frame and have not had those issues.

Secured them starting with what VIN??? You do record when you make engineering changes during a production run, don't you? Or do I have to go out to the storage yard and pull up my bed and have a look, since mine is a 2009 BH3670, as well? Good thing Mike caught that when he did. Could have been real ugly.

 

[John T Bettencourt]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Jim, You know this is nothing new as I wrote about it last fall. I almost lost my LM over this. Their needs to be a national recall on this. Thank You John

 

[argyll1st]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Oh Boy.........that is a school boy error, that is so bad, you guys have built enough little add-ons and stuff to Know that there is no way you would let that go out your workshop door let alone go on production and sell to the public, As far as mistakes go thats a life looser............................RECALL

 

[newbie]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Jim, You know this is nothing new as I wrote about it last fall. I almost lost my LM over this. Their needs to be a national recall on this. Thank You John

John, I did a search for that post and couldn't find it. Can you post a link?

Thanks- John

 

[Kevin_Finn]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

I am trying to get some answers for your questions. All I know now is that we secure the wires to the bed frame and there has not been a national recall for any wire issues under the bed slide.

When I have more info I will post it.

 

[jimtoo]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

John, I did a search for that post and couldn't find it. Can you post a link?

Thanks- John

This is where he made post about wiring last fall.

Jim M

 

[RoadJunkie]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Wow, this is interesting. I have this problem. When I picked up my rig (last week), the tech was showing me the breakers and--sure enough--the breaker was tripped. He explained the detailer was in there with a heavy duty vacuum and probably tripped the breaker. It didn't trip again during my 3 night stay, so I didn't give it another thought. When I got to the next campground I again noticed the breaker was tripped. At the subsequent campground the breaker was not tripped, but then again I connected to shore power after the slides were extended. So, if your checklist calls for connecting shore power after the slides are out, or disconnect from shore power before you move them in, you might not see this problem. I guess you have to examine the Romex for the electrical "skid-marks" to see if the problem exists.

 

[DickO]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

Had same problem with our 2010 BH 3055. Was only 3 weeks old when we smelled burning wires and lost power to bed plugs. Unit was built in April.

 

[northern5er]

Hi Guy,

Just to let you know guys that my Bighorn 3670RL was manufactured on September 23, 2008. So all the ones built before that should be a concern.

Mike D.

 

[RoadJunkie]

Re: Fire hasard under the bed

As a follow up on my previous post:

I did indeed have a problem with AC wires ("Romex") becoming pinched (read, mangled) between the steel telescoping slide and the box that supports the bed. The insulation was ripped, which exposed the internal wires, and thus scraped the insulation from both hot lines entering and exiting the outlet box. It's probably worth taking a look at this area to ensure the wires are free and no damage is apparent. Be sure to move the wires so that you can observe the section of wire that is normally hidden behind square steel tubing.

 

[DXprowler]

Tnx for the heads up on this issue! Just picked up our new 2010 BH 3410 yesterday and will have a look this morning.

 

[ralphpam]

We just checked under our bed (manufactured April 2009) and the wire is secured to the upper bed frame going across from side to side. However, on the right side (looking forward to the head of the bed) the wire is run down, looped and is against the square rail that moves in and out. Ours, by feeling (you cannot see this), has started to rub through the insulation. It looks like it needs to be run down, under the square rail to the outside of the bed frame and then to the plug to avoid this issue. This is a potentially dangerous situation! We think ours may be due to the queen bed which does not allow as much space to run the wire. Heartland is taking care of the problem and we could not be more satisfied in what Heartland has done for us.