Suburban SDS2 LP Leak Cooktop Owners

[Mike G]

George, in this electronic age it may be that a lawyer can search for ongoing lawsuits across the country where the defendant is the mfr of that cooktop; I'm sure your relatives will want to talk to a lawyer anyway, so this is one question they can ask.

Other people on this forum have said they experienced similar incidents and informed ETI, so ETI can reasonably be held to have been aware. Why they haven't informed all known owners is incomprehensible to me. I think this opens the door to potential liability for them, and any decent lawyer would normally want to include them in the same cause of action with the cooktop mfr, asking that they be held jointly and severally liable.... but if the defendants aren't in the same country, I'm not sure if this would be made impossible or not. (Been decades since I studied that stuff, and I never did have a course in international law.)

[Ron in BC]

A random thought. I was wondering if the shield was contributing to the severity of the explosiveness of the leak. Could it be containing more of a build up of gas that takes longer to reach the gas detector?

Ron

[Eggscape]

My two thoughts on that Ron…

One is that it contained and concentrated the gas directly below the stove allowing for a fast but somewhat small explosion.

If the shield was not there then the whole cupboard might fill up with gas before igniting. I can only imagine that the explosion would be much larger.

[Bobbie54]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

My two thoughts on that Ron…

One is that it contained and concentrated the gas directly below the stove allowing for a fast but somewhat small explosion.

If the shield was not there then the whole cupboard might fill up with gas before igniting. I can only imagine that the explosion would be much larger.

Another defect in the stove is that the screws holding the shield in place come out very easily and the shield shifts. Mine came completely loose long before I took the stovetop out to check it.

[Rossue]

My hope first is that no one gets seriously injured and then to see news of a Class Action lawsuit against ALL parties responsible in this debacle. And heads need to roll @ ETI!

[George Johnson]

Mike G, after reading your comment I googled "class action law suit" and came across a group calling itself www.classaction.org It is not a group of attorneys, but rather a group that says it keeps a list of active class action cases and also refers people with cases they believe may be significant to attorneys who do class action work. I do not know what their criteria might be for taking on cases, but it is an interesting idea. That said, I found nothing regarding Suburban stoves. Thanks for the thought. Look them up--its an interesting site, and I may well have missed something.



As for BB's current situation, he called ETI and they basically gave him a brush off, saying none of this is their problem. He called Suburban, and I got the impression that Suburban had been made aware of the situation, perhaps by ETI from the email BB had sent to ETI earlier, and the Suburban representative treated the incident as something of a humorous incident that should be looked at as just a part of the adventure of RV travel. I don't want to put words in my brother's mouth, but he apparently politely disagreed with the Suburban rep and told her that their product putting him and his wife at risk is not a humorous matter. It seems that the rep's approach to the problem did not change, and that furthermore, since the stove was out of warranty, the company had no responsibility for his problem. Understand that I am giving a second hand report of a conversation I did not participate in, but I think I am presenting the tone of the reception that BB received from the representatives of the two companies.


I was very disappointed to hear what my BB told me. I guess I was hoping that the reports I had read on this forum and others were simply from complainers who still wanted Mama to take care of their little hurts. Seems I was wrong on that one.

[diannelgraham]

This whole terrible, scary, life threatening situation was so avoidable if KV Private Equity which owns Escape trailers would have done the right thing when this life threatening problem came to light. All the Escape management is just following directions from the mothership to retain their jobs right or wrong.

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

This whole terrible, scary, life threatening situation was so avoidable if KV Private Equity which owns Escape trailers would have done the right thing when this life threatening problem came to light. All the Escape management is just following directions from the mothership to retain their jobs right or wrong.

True, yet will it take someone being horribly injured or worse for those at ETI to make a public statement at the risk of losing their jobs? To me this is borderline criminal.

[diannelgraham]

I totally agree with all the statements voiced here on this subject it’s absolutely mind blowing that nothing has been published on such a potential life threatening defect. We are all concentrating on ETI to put out a warning in my mind is futile, not going to happen unless corporate allows it. It’s a very hard position to be put in, keep your job to support your family or maybe save someone from a terrible death. Of all the months this issue has been on the form and no announcement from ETI we can for now assume that’s not going to happen. Maybe a public gang up on KV might get a better approach to help all the unaware Escape owners out there.

[oldwave]

Complete disregard for their customers safety.
Wow.

[Oldtimer]

Has any of the unfortunate members that have had the explosions contacted their local news stations investigations departments to see if they might get involved with investigating this serious issue. Any pressure and negative reporting might help get this resolved n get this unit off the market or corrected

David

[thunderworks]

We have this unit in our 2021, 19' trailer. It has not been a problem . . . yet . . . I have tightened the loose fittings per suggestions from others on the Forum. Ours may never be a problem, however the downside if it every became one is potentially lethal. My wife and I have decided to replace the unit.

The ever popular and consistently recommended Dickinson is really hard to find. May appears to be the earliest availability. Are there other units that we should consider. Apparently Escape is using a different model now. Does anyone have feedback on the reliability of that unit?

TIA
Rick

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by George Johnson

the Suburban representative treated the incident as something of a humorous incident that should be looked at as just a part of the adventure of RV travel..

If I could have remained civil, big if, I would have suggested that they visit a burn trauma center and share his humorous comment with them. I don't think he would have left smiling.

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

Has any of the unfortunate members that have had the explosions contacted their local news stations investigations departments to see if they might get involved with investigating this serious issue. Any pressure and negative reporting might help get this resolved n get this unit off the market or corrected

David

News stations might be a possibility if there was anything graphic to show. The real problem is that normally letters to the editor of publications related to the subject, like RV related magazines, would be the place to notify of this situation. But given that Dometic is likely a big customer for them it's probably unlikely that they'd publish negative comments about a big customer.

In May of last year Perry published a list of 9 names that had already been affected by this situation. Do we know where the number stands now and how many reports have been made?

Ron

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

Has any of the unfortunate members that have had the explosions contacted their local news stations investigations departments to see if they might get involved with investigating this serious issue. Any pressure and negative reporting might help get this resolved n get this unit off the market or corrected

Why would someone who hasn't bothered to fill in an online incident form for the appropriate government safety agency start a media campaign? Last time I checked, there was only a single report with NHTSA, and it didn't describe an explosion of any kind, so a reasonable person - including a moderately competent journalist - might conclude that there is no real problem.

[Oldtimer]

Was just a thought they e helped me in the past with simpler issues I’m done here be safe all

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Last time I checked, there was only a single report with NHTSA,

Brian, how do you find this area of the NHTSA? I tried checking compaints etc. but didn't get too far.

Ron

[cpaharley2008]

Can anyone report what Escape is installing now?

[Mark B1]

Originally Posted by thunderworks

We have this unit in our 2021, 19' trailer. It has not been a problem . . . yet . . . I have tightened the loose fittings per suggestions from others on the Forum. Ours may never be a problem, however the downside if it every became one is potentially lethal. My wife and I have decided to replace the unit.

The ever popular and consistently recommended Dickinson is really hard to find. May appears to be the earliest availability. Are there other units that we should consider. Apparently Escape is using a different model now. Does anyone have feedback on the reliability of that unit?

TIA
Rick

I have ordered the Dickinson stove, which has been delayed to March for us. I also ordered the handheld gas detector mentioned earlier in this thread and will check the Suburban stove for leaks before using it the first time at each camp set up to make sure nothing loosened or cracked while moving. I will have to turn the stove on to do this but with the "sniffer" in the cabinet right at the stove I will get early detection and can turn the stove off. I will have to do that until I am able to install the new stove. The tool is inexpensive and I will use it in the future rather than soap and water, and it can also detect sewage gas leaks if you have plumbing issues. I tested it on our gas range in the house and it is quite sensitive and works well.

I too am very disappointed that I need to change out the factory selected and installed stove at my cost, and that there has been no notification of this serious safety issue. If I had not been on this forum I would not have been aware of this issue at all. Although I feel testing before use as I described eliminates the risk, I am not willing to take a chance that someone else may turn it on and have an incident/accident. I know that in the aviation industry the component manufacturer and installer, and any maintenance or operational personal aware of a safety issue like this would have a legal (as well as a moral and ethical) obligation to advise the appropriate airworthiness authority (TCCA, FAA, etc.) and it would be likely that all affected aircraft would be grounded until the issue was resolved. I guess the standards are not even close to this in the RV industry.

[Eggscape]

Testing is good but I think there is a fine line between the gas getting to the tester showing a problem and the gas from a crack getting to the flame above the stove when you turn on the knob.

[Mark B1]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Testing is good but I think there is a fine line between the gas getting to the tester showing a problem and the gas from a crack getting to the flame above the stove when you turn on the knob.

I considered that as well. You would have to turn the stove on to detect a leak as the leaks are down stream of the valves. I would place the detector probe under the stove above the shield and then turn the stove on. If there is a leak the detector should go off right away and well before there is enough raw gas accumulated to cause an explosion. To me this is just s stop gap method until the new stove arrives, and we cook outside unless the weather is really ugly so testing may not be required anyway.