Sidewall repair kit

[jimandsue60]

I was told that this could be a problem but never thought it would happen to me! When we were getting our Eagle Sean Dempsey of Go AnyWhere suggested that we get the flourescent light upgrade due to fire hazards.

I didn't think much of it at that point. We do carry our mountain bikes in the camper when traveling. Somehow my handle bar hit the light switch (while traveling) on the right side of the roof and proceded to melt thru the light lens and then melt the right front inside window cover. It did not go thru to the clear or screen cover but did get my attention. This could easily happen if storage containers were placed on the couch if they were stacked high enough to hit the lite switch.

I had left the master switch on so my aux Waeco 12 volt fridge/freezer could run.

This could have been a major problem if I had not gone into the camper to get a beer oh I mean some water. I was able to smell the problem before the melting went all the way thru the side wall.

I think that there could be an easy fix for this, maybe disabling the lights when the top is down and still be able to use the 12 volt plug in above the fridge?? And obviously not allowing anything to turn the switch to the light on.

So I have 3 questions:

What flouresecent lites is fwc using?

Is there a repair kit for the grey sidewall fabric?

Are there any better suggestions to prevent this?

I will post some pictures soon.

Thanks
Jim

 

[SunMan]

I beleive that same thing happened to Jay when he had Tomas' Ranger...correct me if I'm wrong guys. Doesn't solve your problem but might make you feel a little better.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Yes it did happen to my Ranger. I still Have Gorilla tape over the holes that Jay put there as temporary repair.

Must have been a scary smell

Jay, i believe you have a story and photos.

If I were more savy I would have a little blue highlited link to his thread on the subject

I told myself I was going to blacktape the lights off whenever I went offroad. Two trips now without, but wasn't very loaded on either.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

I am considering replacing the incandescent bulbs with 12V LED arrays. That would trump fluorescent in both heat generation and efficiency...

 

[chnlisle]

Light Hazard

Jim & Sue
I am really sorry to hear about your fire. It is really scary. We feel lucky the entire camper didnt burn to the ground. We were just off Mt Whitney Hwy when we pulled over to camp and discovered our melted light and side wall. We made the mistake of closing the top with the bedding in place and the rough road must have jiggled the switch to the on position.

Our new Hawk a master switch like your camper. You have a good point. If you want to run the fridge you need to leave the master on. I thought of switching to flourecents but I think I'll just pop out the bulbs until we get to where we're going and that should solve the problem.

Stan should be able to provide you with the vinyl material and the glue and solvent to make your repair but as Tom told you I used Gorilla Tape and aside from the obvious cosmetic issues it has seemed to work very well.

 

[Sam]

If it makes anyone feel better, it is a pretty big jump from melting to fire. I think chances are the worst that will happen is what we have already seen here. Melted lens and sideliner.

 

[camelracer]

To eliminate this problem you could put a disconnect or switch in the wires going to the roof. These wires are located in the left front of the overhead.

 

[jimandsue60]

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas, I think I will put a switch up front and install flouresents.

Thanks
Jim