Berkshire Equipment

Berkshire is recalling about 1,069 vehicles over a problem with the equipment. Continued use of the vehicle without replacing the transfer switch increases the risk of fire, personal injury, and property damage.

Campaign
12V341000
Manufacturer
FOREST RIVER, INC.
Reported
16 July 2012
Vehicles
1,069
Built between
Not published
Models
22
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
11 July 2012
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 360FWS
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 360QS
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 390BH
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 390FL
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 390QS
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 390RB
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 390TS
  • 2005-2011 Berkshire 410QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 360QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 360TS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 400QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 400TS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 405QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410DST
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410FK
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410FS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410FWS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410LR
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 410QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 430BH
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 430QS
  • 2005-2011 Charleston 430RB

What the defect is

Forest River is recalling certain model year 2005-2011 Berkshire and Charleston Motorhomes, equipped with an IOTA ITS-50R transfer switch. These switches may experience heat related failures when exposed to elevated electrical loads associated with RV use in higher ambient temperatures. The failure may lead to an increased risk of electrical damage to other appliances.

What could happen

Continued use of the vehicle without replacing the transfer switch increases the risk of fire, personal injury, and property damage.

What gets fixed

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace the Iota ITS-50R transfer switch, free of charge. The recall began on July 11, 2012.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA16 July 2012
  2. Owners notified11 July 2012

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 16 July 2012.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Forest River at 1-574-295-8749.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
FOREST RIVER, INC.
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Forest River's recall campaign number 40-712.Owners may contact the National Highway Safety Administration's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); or go to HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand