Navion LED ceiling lights are failing

Camper Ken · 08-12-2016, 11:36 PM

Half of the ceiling mounted LED lights in my 2016 Navion have failed. A couple are completely out, the others have some of the segments out. I called Winnebago today and they admitted they had an issue with their vendor and are sending me replacments.

Has anyone else experienced similar failures? And, what's involved in replacing the fixtures. I removed the glass cover on one, and it appears that the just LED element itself is not replaceable,

MtnTrek · 08-13-2016, 03:13 AM

Unfortunately I've read some other threads on various product lines where there have been some other 12V LED failures. Similar to you failures as well as some rapid flickering (strobe) that is very annoying.
In those cases there was a need to drop the fixture (maybe 3 screws) and the wires were attached with "crimp" type connectors. Some folks re-crimped them, some used the similar crimp type "plug" connector for easier next time. Most reported the replacements were improved units. Like any LED insure your polarity is correct before cinching it down.
I'm fully expecting to have some issues too (**wood knocking sound).
Best of luck.

alank · 08-13-2016, 07:39 AM

I've replaced most of mine. As of July 2015, Winnebago told me they had purged all their inventory of the bad lights. Guess they lied a little bit about that. They will cost you about $45 each when you have to start buying them, so get all replaced under warranty that you can.

The Clock Meister · 08-13-2016, 10:49 PM

Been there, done that!

Have replaced all of our lights at least once, some twice and have one out now on its third time.

WI has been great, I can give them a call and they are great sending me replacements.

It seems that the replacements are doing much better now - have only had one fail in the last three months, was having failures almost immediately at first.

Chris

crh97 · 08-14-2016, 07:05 AM

My 2015 coach had the same problem. If you google the issue, you will find it's not WBG but ITC the manufacturer who is at fault. They used leadless solder or something. Whatever it was, it was a mistake.

My advice is to tell WBG they are all failing so you can get a fresh batch. They will all eventually fail.

Just my opinion, as long as my coach stays in the barn where I have insulation and little intense heat, I have never had an issue. When my problems started, my coach sat outside at a Ford dealer waiting on parts for 48 hours in intense heat. That seemed to start my issues.

It's a quick 3 minute per light fix.

Camper Ken · 08-14-2016, 03:25 PM

crh97,
Does the wiring at each fixture plug in or do I have to cut & splice the wires?
Winnebago is shipping replacements for all the burned out fixtures plus a couple of spares.

The Clock Meister · 08-14-2016, 10:10 PM

They are hard wired. Three screws holding the fixture in place.

I used crimp on wire connectors, but wire nuts could be used if done correctly.

Chris

Smartis · 08-18-2016, 02:09 PM

Yes. We just purchased a 2016 Itasca Sunstar and 75% of our dome lights are dead after only 2 months. Its really getting hard to see at night.

We are getting ready to a go on an extended trip to New England our dealer, General RV in Ohio, has come back to us asking for pictures of the bulb and the part number and the dimensions. I thought they should have done that we we took it in for service for the lights.

We are frustrated.

hfbundy · 08-18-2016, 06:35 PM

Camper Ken, here is my post from the Ford forum this morning.
TeJay, it is the circuit boards in the light fixtures. All you can do is replace them. You have been lucky so far. I have a 2016 Vista 30T and I have had about 10 of these fixtures replaced under warranty - some twice. My warranty runs out in a few weeks and I am holding my breath. If the current replacements aren't higher quality than the originals, this could become very expensive. My dealer tells me that they have replaced a lot of them under warranty. We probably should be asking Winnebago what they have done to improve the quality control of their supplier. It certainly is in order for Winnebago to make good will warranty adjustments.

Winnebago needs to do something about this supplier.

Camper Ken · 08-20-2016, 06:21 PM

OP here...
I called Winnebago on Friday 12th about my LED light fixture failures. They said no problem, yes they had a problem with the product from the supplier. I ordered 6 replacement fixtures. They sent them no charge even though I'm a couple of weeks out of warranty. The new fixtures arrived in one week (Friday 19th) Iowa to Oregon. Installed them today, looks good. Two of the 6 fixures had failed completely. The others had 1/2 to 2/3rds of the LED elements out.

I'm very impressed with Winnebago's prompt response on this issue.

Forza Tom · 08-21-2016, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper Ken

Half of the ceiling mounted LED lights in my 2016 Navion have failed. A couple are completely out, the others have some of the segments out. I called Winnebago today and they admitted they had an issue with their vendor and are sending me replacments.

Has anyone else experienced similar failures? And, what's involved in replacing the fixtures. I removed the glass cover on one, and it appears that the just LED element itself is not replaceable,

Our 2016 Forza has had the same issue. We have replaced 9 under warranty.

Note that you can find the same lights that Winnebago uses for the replacements online much cheaper. Just google the part number on your work order receipts.

We have 2 different sizes in our coach so I ordered one of each.

The originals are plugged from the factory. The replacements come without plugs even directly from Winnebago. You just snip of the plug and use butt connectors.

At least its that way on my Forza

hfbundy · 08-21-2016, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper Ken

OP here...
I called Winnebago on Friday 12th about my LED light fixture failures. They said no problem, yes they had a problem with the product from the supplier. I ordered 6 replacement fixtures. They sent them no charge even though I'm a couple of weeks out of warranty. The new fixtures arrived in one week (Friday 19th) Iowa to Oregon. Installed them today, looks good. Two of the 6 fixures had failed completely. The others had 1/2 to 2/3rds of the LED elements out.

I'm very impressed with Winnebago's prompt response on this issue.

Thanks for the feedback Ken. I have about 4 that have not failed. My warranty expires shortly, but I plan on asking Winnebago for free replacements if any fail anytime soon. If not defective, they should be lasting for years.

Howard

ddethridge · 07-30-2018, 10:05 AM

Yes, every time we replace one the next one goes out in our new to us 2016 Adventurer. We have had this motorhome 4 months and have had several things go out! My husband replaced two already and we bought 2 spares for the future!

crh97 · 07-31-2018, 07:08 AM

I had some fail the second time. When I called Forrest City they sent me directly to the manufacturer of the lamps. Before you call, get one out so you can read her the numbers. They were very quick to send free replacements. They know they've got issues.

ddethridge · 07-31-2018, 08:34 AM

Thank you for the info. We will call them when we use up the replacement ones we bought

powercat_ras · 07-31-2018, 08:41 AM

When you replace the fixtures, save the old ones. You can find the circuit boards with the LEDs on them on Amazon and if more fail down the road and you are handy you can remove and replace the LED circuit board and reuse the rest of the fixture. Suspect that Winnebago won't provide free replacements at some point down the road.

Hopeful1 · 07-31-2018, 02:08 PM

We have a 2016 Aspect and all LED lights have failed. I called ITC directly and they replaced. Easy to replace. Our son did our replacement... about 5 minutes per light. We were not under warranty, but they were replaced at no cost.