E21NE fitted with a front mounted solar panel safty notice

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Copy of what I received from ETI

"What is this and Who is affected?

This is an IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE regarding your trailer if it is an E21NE fitted with a front mounted solar panel. This does not affect rear mounted panels on the E21NE. This does not affect panels installed on the E17A, E17B, E19, E21C (known as the E21 prior to 2020) or E5.0 (also known as the E5.0TA). I apologize if you have received this email is error.


The Issue:

We have very recently noted front mounted solar panel failures on the E21NE. These failures could cause the entire front mounted solar panel assembly to fail catastrophically. These failures are related to excessive vibration caused by wind speed (from vehicle speed and/or headwinds, and potentially exacerbated by bumpy road conditions). We have completed 'on road' testing and have determined the failure mode.


What you need to do:

• We advise customers with Front Mounted Solar Panels on our E21NE to refrain from travelling until a solution is in place (we expect to have a solution available to mail out within 2 weeks).
• If you must travel, please consider removing the panel and await further instruction before reinstallation. The front panel can be removed with no impact to battery charging from the rear panel. The panel can be removed by drilling out the rivets holding the panel to the roof bracket and drilling out one rivet holding the wire, and then disconnecting the wire (Escape will release a video on this process). We estimate 30mins to drill out the 17 rivets and secure the cable with a cable tie or tape. We will reimburse 1hr of labor from any RV shop or for your personal time to remove the panel to a maximum value of $100USD or $125CAD.

The final solution:

We are currently finalizing remedies. These remedies include stiffening the solar panel leading/trailing edges and deflecting airflow. We have validated a solution and are in the process of final confirmation testing, after which we will procure and mail out to all affected customers. The solution will not require you to remove the front mounted solar panel but will require a ladder access to the panel."
I am glad there working on a solution for this. I must say I a little concerned about my 19 with front panel. They say its not affected. Does anyone know why this would only affect the 21NE ? It seems to me that the other 21C comes from the same mold and has the front panel mounted in the same location. Depending on there fix I might add it on my 19.

[cpaharley2008]

This reminds me of a similar situation back in 2014 with solar panels regardless of position. Owners had to retrofit their panels with bolts thru the o/h cabinets.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by NEWYORKHILLBILLY

It seems to me that the other 21C comes from the same mold and has the front panel mounted in the same location.

One would think but due to vent/bath fan location the panel on a 21C is set farther back and also looks to be installed closer to the shell. As seen here:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post379084

(The brackets appear to be the same but it sits closer to the shell in the middle due to the roof contour)