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Topic ClosedRecall Notice (fridge wiring)

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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Recall Notice (fridge wiring)
    Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 3:50am
I received a recall notice for my new 171!

The recall concerns a wiring issue for the refrigerator.

I plan to call the dealer and ask what the fix is...exactly. 

If they will be simply moving a wire on the converter, I can do that here without having to drag the trailer 160 miles round trip for a simple half-hour fix.

NHTSA Recall # 19V356





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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 3:58am
I posted this in the wrong section. I hope a moderator can move it to the proper sub-forum.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 7:50am
Looks like all they're doing is relocating the fridge AC conductor to a 15A breaker from a 30A one. You should be able to figure out which wire it is and relocate it yourself at the panelboard. It should be pretty obvious, a 14 or 12 gauge wire hung on a 30A breaker is a no no. Thumbs Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 11:19am
Well I called the dealer and they said 'you gotta bring it in'...

CYA and all that.

I had no plans to go that direction on my next out-of-town venture...

Pinch

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 1:14pm
Its your trailer, ya don't actually "gotta" do anything ya don't wanna. They're not going to send the recall police to your house in the middle of the night guns ablazin'.LOL One way or the other, that wire should get landed on the right breaker though. It is a fire hazard leaving it like that. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 4:08pm
Oh yeah, but an un-resolved recall might cause problems if I ever decide to sell it...at any rate, I looked inside the compartment and traced a few wires, did some testing.

Turns out the fridge circuit for ONLY the fridge electronic and control is connected with a crimp to a separate heavy green wire coming from the converter box, and protected with a 30 A fuse. But the printed fuse diagram shows a 15A fuse in that slot, NOT a 30A fuse.

As far as I can tell, nothing else is on that wire. My r-pod is a 171 with no slide, so maybe the 'repair' for mine is simpler....insert the correct fuse. (can I be that lucky? dunno)

I swapped in a 20A fuse and did some more testing...no issues. I will let it run this way, testing out things, then swap in a 15A and see what happens. 

Since the recall notice mentions the 'fridge ignitor' I thought that they might possibly be referring to the 12vdc heater element...(which is protected with a 15A self-resetting 12vdc breaker) ..yes, I know that's not an 'ignitor'..the LP ignitor is the ignitor, but that ignitor is wired and controlled thru the fridge eyebrow board.

But reading thru the online documentation AND the letter I received, it is a bit unclear. The recall notices use the term '30A breaker' in some places, and use the term '30A circuit' in other places, and we know that the ignitor and control boards run on 12VDC, and are protected with FUSES. Besides, the only 'breaker' (for 120v) in the converter panel that controls the 120v fridge element is on a 15A breaker...I verified this. 

I have also verified the 12v fridge heater IS on it's own separate 15 A 12vdc self-resetting breaker. I know this because the first one failed (the plastic housing broke) and I replaced it with a new 15A breaker.

The person I talked to said that their notice will have detailed information about the 'repair'....if only I knew if that notice advised the tech to change that one 30A fuse to the correct 15A fuse (as marked) and send the owner on their merry way. 

 


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 5:05pm
Yeah I thought they meant the 120v conductors to the fridge too when they said circuit breaker. What gauge is the wire running to the fridge controls? This document indicates that it’s a 14awg counductor to the “igniter” that needs to be relocated. 14 is good for 15a and 10 is good for 30a.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 6:38pm
There-in lies some of the confusion. That's the exact letter I received.

There are no fuses or breakers in the back of the fridge on or near the ignitor itself. And the letter refers to a wire from the spark ignitor to the distribution panel. There is no such animal. 

There IS a 14 ga wire (two conductor) from the fridge (12vdc electronic) to the panel, and as I indicated earlier, it is connected with a crimp connector to the green wire from the converter, and that wire is protected with a 30 A FUSE. which I replaced with a 20 A fuse for now. 

My assumption at this point is the exact technical details are either loosely translated, or deliberately vague.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 7:13pm
That 14awg wire is no doubt the culprit. They’re just calling the fridge control wires the “ignitor” for whatever reason. In any event, that 14awg on the 30a fuse is wrong and a fire hazard, it should be on a 15a fuse. If just putting a 15a fuse in works (doesn’t blow) then you’re done. Otherwise you’d have to land the wire on another 15a fuse and go back to a 30 on that circuit.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 10:09pm
I tested the amperage thru that 30 amp fuse position and I could not get any 12v device in the trailer to bump it up past even one amp, including the fridge on 12v, 120v, or LP. This agrees with my previous tracing of the wires.

Weird, because the fuse diagram shows that fuse as "15 AMP Refrigerator Element"  but it came with a 30A fuse in that slot. That circuit is NOT powering the refrigerator 'element', it is powering the refrigerator electronics. 

When I pull the fuse, the fridge eyebrow dies (blacks out) and I hear a beeping sound. When I do an amperage test, the fridge eyebrow board is pulling about .06 amps, and just a bit more when the ignitor is firing. I forgot to test the 'door open' LED light, but I suspect that is also quite low.

So...15 amp fuse it is...now. As far as I'm concerned, this is fixed.
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