Equipment: recreational vehicle/trailerRecall 11V-056 · Custom Designed vehicles

TRAVEL UNITS INC. recall 11V-056 covers 9 Custom Designed vehicles for a equipment: recreational vehicle/trailer problem, reported to NHTSA on January 20, 2011.

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Vehicles repairedNo manufacturer report yet
Vehicles affected94 models
ReportedJan 20, 2011Owners notified Feb 5, 2011
Complaints since0Same system, after the recall

Source: NHTSA recall 11V056000 and manufacturer quarterly reports. Started by an NHTSA defect investigation.

What's wrong

The problem

TRAVEL UNITS IS RECALLING CERTAIN CUSTOM DESIGNED RECREATIONAL VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 1200-SERIES NORCOLD REFRIGERATORS. THE POPULATION OF REFRIGERATORS BEING ADDRESSED CONTAINS EITHER A SENSING ALGORITHM OR THERMAL SWITCH TO SHUT OFF POWER TO THE REFRIGERATOR WHEN HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE DETECTED IN ORDER TO PREVENT A POTENTIAL FIRE. THE RESPONSE TIMES OF THE SENSOR ALGORITHM AND THERMAL SWITCH DEVICES TO STOP POWER ARE NOT SUFFICIENT.

The risk

THE SENSING ALGORITHM OR THERMAL SWITCH INSTALLED TO SHUT OFF POWER TO THE REFRIGERATOR WHEN HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE DETECTED DUE TO A POSSIBLE HYDROGEN GAS LEAK MAY NOT SHUT OFF IN SUFFICIENT TIME TO PREVENT A FIRE.

What to do

The fix

TRAVEL UNITS IS WORKING WITH NORCOLD TO IDENTIFY AND NOTIFY ANY AFFECTED OWNERS. OWNERS WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT NORCOLD DEALERS TO RECEIVE THE REMEDY FREE OF CHARGE. PLEASE SEE NORCOLD'S DEFECT REPORT 10E-049 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 5, 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NORCOLD AT 1-800-767-9101.

OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO <A HREF=HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV>HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV</A>.

Recall repairs are free. Confirm whether this recall is open on your vehicle by entering its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Background

The investigation behind this recall

  1. Norcold Refrigerator FiresEQ10010 · closed Jan 9, 2012
    NHTSA