Siemens equipment query EQ10011
Siemens Circuit Breakers Failing. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this equipment query about the fuses and circuit breakers. Opened Dec 29, 2010, closed Aug 24, 2011 after 8 months. It led to safety recall 11V399000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn November 11, 2010, Siemens Corporation (Siemens) notified the NHTSA that it had decided certain plug-in circuit breakers, manufactured between June 1, 2010, and July 31, 2010, contain a safety related defect. Siemens stated that certain circuit breakers contain a spring clip that may break or fail due to improper heat treatment during manufacturing. Should a circuit breaker spring clip break or fail, excessive temperature, arcing or thermal damage leading to a fire is possible. Should a fire occur from a circuit breaker installed into a recreational vehicle, both personal injury and property damage are possible. Siemens noted that these circuit breakers were sold under both the Siemens and Murray brand names and installed into load centers and meter combo enclosures manufactured between June 23, 2010, and August 25, 2010. This issue was assigned recall number 10E-053. Coachmen RV originally reported this issue in a Part 573 Report for their vehicles on September 15, 2010. When this EQ was opened in December 2010, only Coachmen RV, Dutchmen RV, and Keystone RV had filed subsequent Part 573 Reports for vehicles they manufactured with these circuit breakers. In response to an information request (IR) letter Siemens stated that all of their circuit breakers sold for possible use in motor vehicles were purchased by Dave Carter & Associates, a motor vehicle equipment distributor. Dave Carter & Associates' IR response noted that it sold the affected circuit breakers to Coachmen, Forest River, Keystone RV, Fleetwood RV, and Dutchmen RV. Keystone RV and Dutchmen RV had previously filed Part 573 Reports for their units, recalls 10V-606 and 10V-589, respectively. Coachmen had also filed their Part 573 Report, recall 10V-433, prior to the opening of this EQ. On July 26, 2011, RMD mailed IR letters to Forest River and Fleetwood RV. Forest River responded on August 9, 2011, that after researching the circuit breakers they purchased, their Coachmen division was the only group that used the equipment in their vehicles. Coachmen filed their Part 573 Report in September 2010, recall 10V-433. Fleetwood RV responded to their IR letter by filing a Part 573 Report on August 1, 2011, recall 11V-399, to remedy their affected motor homes. As all vehicle manufacturers using these defective circuit breakers in their vehicles have responded with appropriate measures to recall their products, this Equipment Query is closed.
A Equipment Query is a query about a piece of equipment — a component, a tire, a child seat — rather than a whole vehicle. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themNHTSA filed this action against SIEMENS CORPORATION without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs EQ10011 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 11V399000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is EQ10011 still open?
No. It closed on Aug 24, 2011 and led to recall 11V399000.
Which vehicles does EQ10011 cover?
NHTSA filed it against SIEMENS CORPORATION without naming a model year.