NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Equipment Query EQ10-011: Siemens Circuit Breakers Failing
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Equipment Query EQ10-011 on December 29, 2010 and closed it on August 24, 2011. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Siemens Circuit Breaker for it and links recall 11V-399 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EQ10-011 (also written EQ10011)
- Investigation type
- Equipment Query An administrative investigation that reviews recall reports to confirm that the equipment suppliers and vehicle manufacturers involved in an equipment recall have filed the recall reports required of them.
- Status
- Closed August 24, 2011
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- SIEMENS CORPORATION
- Component
- Electrical System — Wiring — Fuses and Circuit Breakers
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 11V-399: CIRCUIT BREAKER/SPRING PLUG, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- Siemens Circuit Breaker
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Equipment Query EQ10-011.
On 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.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Equipment Query EQ10-011. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Siemens
Siemens Circuit Breaker
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for EQ10-011
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.