All I could think about was our RV electrical issue and how it was going to affect our plans and timing. Technically, we could live without plugging in or using the generator, but we didn't want to .... at least not for an extended length of time. So, some decisions were going to have to be made.
In researching what may have caused our problem, I stumbled upon a thread in a Winnebago forum. In 2016, there was a recall - NHTSA Safety Recall 16V-598 - related to this very issue, AND it affected our 2015 Winnebago Aspect.
Description: Winnebago Industries, Inc (Winnebago) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Itasca Cambria, 2015-2017 Winnebago ERA, Travato, Fuse, Aspect, and Vista recreational vehicles, and 2015-2017 Itasca Sunstar recreational vehicles manufactured May 6, 2014, to April 22, 2016. The affected vehicles may have a electrical connection to the automatic transfer switch (ATS) that may not be properly tightened.
Consequences: A loose power connection may cause a build up of heat at the connection, increasing the risk of a fire.
We didn't buy the Aspect until April of 2018, and we had no idea about this. I immediately called Winnebago to see if they had any record of the necessary repair being done. They didn't. So, the prior owner didn't take care of this, a minor fix to prevent a potentially major problem. And worse, La Mesa RV didn't take care of this prior to selling us the unit. That really hacks me off.
Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I called La Mesa and asked them to check the records on our unit just in case Winnebago's records were missing the information. Nope. They confirmed that they definitely did not make the repair. When I asked them "Why not?", they had no answer.
So, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway. Don't RV dealers do a VIN and model check to make sure there are no outstanding recalls on the used units they sell? I don't know of any law that requires this, but wouldn't that be good business practice? I can tell you I wasn't all that thrilled with La Mesa anyway, but this assures that we'll not likely buy anything from them again (although, to be fair, I suspect this is an issue with a multitude of dealers).
Lessons learned. First, before buying a used RV, check for any outstanding recalls 'cause your seller or dealer probably didn't. Second, check the electrical connections in your Automatic Transfer Relay or have someone do it. We haven't discussed in the Journal checking electrical connections for a while, but it's something all us RV owners should do from time to time. Our units go through a tremendous amount of vibration, and loose connections can lead to shorts and, potentially, fires.
The photo below that I took yesterday is what can happen.
Remember, we didn't throw an internal breaker or a pedestal breaker. I suppose the tripping of our GFCI is what protected us, but I don't know enough about electricity to confirm that. The burned electrical smell and smoke are what alerted us, and that's a little scary.
Now, to Winnebago's credit, they emailed me a recall letter immediately and said if we took it an authorized repair facility, they would take care of the repair. I sent them the above photo, and they, like me, were assuming that the issue was the result of loose connections per the recall notice.
The problem of course, is we're in remote Alaska, Haines to be specific, and their only authorized repair facility in the state is in Anchorage 750 miles away.
Winnebago would ship us a new transfer switch at no cost, but the labor would be on us if we had it fixed locally. We were pretty sure our extended warranty would take care of the repair, but after a few phone calls, my confidence in Haines RV repair was pretty low and it might take two or three weeks to get the part to us.
After some discussion, we decided to cut our time in Haines short and make the trip to Anchorage. I called the repair facility - Great Alaskan Holidays - and we set an appointment for Monday morning, June 17. They had to see the issue, and work through Winnebago before they could order any parts. And it usually takes seven to ten days for them to get parts. But we needed to get the ball rolling. We were still functional, so we could get back on the road and explore while the parts were in transit.
So, those phone calls and discussions wiped out a few hours of our morning and took some wind out of our sails. It wasn't a pretty day and I didn't feel like exploring, so I decided to go back to the library, and Linda decided she would drop me off and do some beach combing.
Near town, at what is known as "Picture Point" where there is a "Welcome To Haines" sign, Linda searched the rocks below the large turnout and found a bunch of chunky sea glass.
So, she had quite the successful afternoon, and she now has a bag of sea glass marked "Haines". She's keeping her treasures separated by location as we travel.
I stayed at the library a little longer as the cruise ship passengers departed and the Wi-Fi improved and it got quieter. I texted Linda when I was finished, and she retrieved me. If it hadn't been raining again, I could have walked back to the RV park.
That night for dinner, we finished off Esther's seafood soup after we added a little package of shrimp we had.
Tomorrow, we have our charter fishing trip (which I was now wishing I hadn't booked), and then we're going to start our journey toward Anchorage. Hopefully, this is just a minor setback, and perhaps something amazing will happen due to our change in plans. Stay tuned to find out.
Better be careful with Linda, she may become like Lucy and her rocks!
Posted by: Tom D | Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 09:49 AM