NHTSA Complaint #11421248 — 2021 GRAND DESIGN REFLECTION

Improper routing of 110v wiring on RV Gas/Electric Refrigerator circuit wiring leads to wire contacting the refrigerator "chimney" (boiler flue) which over time burns through the wire insulation cover and results in "live wire" to metal contact and can lead to FIRE! Grand Design RV is aware of this issue! One customer had a fire as a result of this poor installation practice and posted the info on Facebook, stating Grand Design, a Fire Inspector for the Insurance Company and an agent for Norcold Refrigerator determined the cause of the fire as improperly routed wiring. Grand Design has not alerted owners of this potential critical safety issue with a Safety Bulletin, VIN Recall or any other means to alert owners of the hazard. After reading it, we inspected our unit and found the same issue. Grand Design failed to authorize an Emergency Inspection and Repair for 3 business days (4.5days total) despite me notifying them of the fire in another unit. I also informed them that on Grand Design Owners Technical Forum, several other owners are finding the same issue. We hired (at our expense) a Mobile RV Service Technician to inspect and repair our wiring. He found the wire in question to be completely burnt through to the individual wires. It was a matter of time before we would have a fire as well. He made the necessary repairs on 15 June 2021 and we filed a Warranty Claim with Grand Design. We had no circuit breakers trip or any other indication that there was an electrical wiring issue. The refrigerator worked normally and was drawing the correct amperage and all outlets worked normally. Grand Design's poor routing and installation of the wires is creating a significant safety hazard and their failure to notify customers in any way of the potential hazard is very disturbing. Coupled with their lack of urgency in addressing the issue when I called in can possibly lead to unsuspecting owners having fires that could lead to serious injury and death.