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Old 12-18-2012, 05:04 AM   #1
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Fire in the overhead

We have a 2012 Meridian 36M. The other day my wife noticed a scorch mark on the ceiling above the overhead cabinets on the passenger side. What I found was the connector to the accent rope light had burned up. Fortunately it burned itself out without too much damage but it could have been a disaster. I notified Winnebago, who assured me it would be covered under warranty but seemed non-plussed about the fire hazard. I just wanted to put the info out here to other owners with the accent light.
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Old 12-18-2012, 05:08 AM   #2
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Is that accent rope lite shown an after market product?
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Old 12-18-2012, 05:31 AM   #3
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It sure looks it to me with the power cord hanging down the wall!

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Old 12-18-2012, 05:36 AM   #4
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I think it is standard feature in most newer Winnebagos I have it over the front cabinets and along the entire drivers side slide cabinets in my 2009 journey. I do not have any exposed cords like the photo
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Old 12-18-2012, 05:45 AM   #5
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Exposed wire

Quote:
Originally Posted by sellhomz View Post
I think it is standard feature in most newer Winnebagos I have it over the front cabinets and along the entire drivers side slide cabinets in my 2009 journey. I do not have any exposed cords like the photo
The accent light was standard on the Itasca. The wires to the light are completely hidden and are part of the wiring harness. I have no idea how they will get to them for the repair.

The black wire that you can see is a CB antenna lead that I ran in the trough from the driver's side over to the passenger side. It has nothing to do with the light, although it may have been damaged by the fire.
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Old 12-18-2012, 06:02 AM   #6
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Was the accent light on or off do you think. We will use ours at night but rarely leave them on very long.
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Old 12-18-2012, 12:09 PM   #7
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NukeRef,
Thanks for the heads up. I'll take a look at mine for potential issues.
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Old 12-18-2012, 02:15 PM   #8
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I have a 2012 Itasca Ellipse 42QD which has the accent rope lighting over the front cabinets which weren't working and I found the connection loose. Tightened the connection and works fine now. I also have the ceiling accent lighting above the living room and galley which on the driver's side wasn't working. Found the connection loose there also, tightened and works fine now. I just wonder about quality control on this. How can you put rope lighting in and not tighten the connections? It shouldn't work loose from the traveling if tightened correctly.
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Old 01-07-2013, 01:46 PM   #9
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I believe a loose connection can cause heat to build up and may have been the cause of the connection burning up or shorting out.
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Old 01-07-2013, 04:15 PM   #10
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Thom,
Is Winnebago going to say you moved or damaged the rope light when you installed the antenne cord?? Did you drill a hole near the rope light? Just wondering?
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Old 01-10-2013, 05:51 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dengraham View Post
Thom,
Is Winnebago going to say you moved or damaged the rope light when you installed the antenne cord?? Did you drill a hole near the rope light? Just wondering?
No, Winnebago has authorized the repair at Camping World. They are making good on everything, including replacing the singed ceiling panel.

The little bitty hole I put in the trim to mount the wire clip was not questioned.
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Old 01-19-2013, 05:03 AM   #12
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We have a 2012 42E and our rope lighting just quit working. I checked the connections and they look good, wasn't loose. I disconnected the wiring at the switch because I was worried about a fire issue. Any ideas on what else to check. The other set of lights in the overhead are working so I know there is power to the switch.
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Old 02-28-2013, 08:10 AM   #13
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while looking at a new journey 40U, I noticed the decor light rope thingy is stapled to the wall. I can see where a miss placed stapel could short and start a fire. If I had purchase one of these I would have unhook or disabled that seems to be a poor way of installing a electrical plastic strip.
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Old 08-15-2013, 08:45 PM   #14
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fire in our Itasca Meridian

We had a fire in our Itasca Meridian last August 2012 that was caused by the main wiring cables going around a square corner and not secured enough to prevent rubbing. The smoke ruined everything in the coach as well as killing our dog. RVers on both sides of the RV put the fire out before it could burn to the ground and hide all evidence of the fire. We found a coach just a little newer than ours and Winnebago had changed how the bundle was secured from rubbing. No recall on our 2004 motor coach. There has yet to be a recall so this won't happen to others. We were told by the fire marshall if we had been sleeping we would not be here today. Winnebago has not been in touch with or spoken to us. The insurance company totaled the coach. We had to take out a big loan to get a new one as GMAC did not want to pay us what it was worth. Now trying to get a new home insurance policy, our rates have gone up because of the fire. Both GMA and our homeowners policy are seeking arbitration. Winnebago has and is costing us lots of money.
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Old 12-12-2013, 08:58 AM   #15
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I had a failure last night. Fortunately the lights simply stopped working. No fire. When I moved the connector the lights flashed on and off. What I found is the connector pins were not inserted into the center of the wires. Slight melting and discoloration could be seen. I simply inserted the pins into the wire ends and put it all back together. Seems to be working fine and no more flickering when I move the connector. Here are some pictures:
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Old 04-23-2014, 06:46 AM   #16
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Fire in the overhead

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bay I View Post
I have a 2012 Itasca Ellipse 42QD which has the accent rope lighting over the front cabinets which weren't working and I found the connection loose. Tightened the connection and works fine now. I also have the ceiling accent lighting above the living room and galley which on the driver's side wasn't working. Found the connection loose there also, tightened and works fine now. I just wonder about quality control on this. How can you put rope lighting in and not tighten the connections? It shouldn't work loose from the traveling if tightened correctly.
I have the same problem in my 42QD. Which end is the connection on? I think it is on the end towards the rear of the coach. Did you have to take down some of the wood trim to get to the connection?
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Old 04-29-2014, 10:38 AM   #17
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rope lighting

ggreene- sorry for the loss of your pet. Glad you both are live to tell the tale. Good luck in your settlement issue.

We have those same style of lights in our S and B. Though they work well, I watch them closely. Three years ago, we had a short up in the valance of our porch.
What I found is that the rope lighting gets brittle over time. The Pin connector lost contact with the wiring which caused the shorting. The second photo in post #15 shows where mine separated from the casing. Luckily, we had no damage or fire. Now, we never leave them on when away.
I check them regularly each season.
Really thinking about upgrading to LED now that the costs have come down.
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Old 04-29-2014, 11:53 AM   #18
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i had this happen alot on the parade floats i made

i stop using them as there not DOT safe and dont like to go down the road / keep moving around
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Old 07-01-2014, 06:49 PM   #19
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After reading this thread we checked our own strip light (which we hadn't used in a month or so) and, not only had it stopped working, the connection looked a little scorched. Agh! We just happened to be on our way to Winnebago in Forest City, Iowa for a service appt so we added it to the list. We told them we didn't want the same solution, so they replaced the light rope with a different type that doesn't use that pin connector.
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Old 07-02-2014, 05:06 PM   #20
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Glad they addressed it in that fashion. I wish they would recall theses lights as a safety issue. We don't use ours that often. Since my earlier post I have not seen any more trouble.
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