Failing Rear Clearance and Identification LEDs

[JJM]

Some LEDs in three of the five upper rear lamps on our 2017 E19 have failed.

Per email from Maxxima, they will replace these under a five-year warranty. I need to remove them, then “exchange them at any Maxxima dealer”. (There are two near my house.)

Alternately, they could be removed and sent directly to Maxxima. They would then send replacements.

Is it just us? Or have others had this issue? I couldn’t find any discussion about this in the forum. We just wanted to get it out there that there is a five-year warranty on these lamps, in case anyone else is having this problem.

 

[cpaharley2008]

That is a new one for me. Since you can deal local I'd suggest that.

 

[escape artist]

Hi: J&B Mitt... Thanks for the heads up. I take a really dim view of the problem. Other than not being symetrical they still work. Just a few LED's short of full "Pucks"!!! :whistling: Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

 

[JJM]

...Other than not being symetrical they still work. Just a few LED's short of full...

They are erratic. Sometimes, only three LEDs light up in the right lamp, sometimes six, sometimes eight.

 

[escape artist]

They are erratic. Sometimes, only three LEDs light up in the right lamp, sometimes six, sometimes eight.

Hi: J&B Mitt... The only thing I know about LED's is if you wire them backwards they won't even light. I've been known to be erratic at times too!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

 

[ChuckBC]

Have others with the 5 Maxxima M42206R rear upper lights experienced erratic LED failure? Each light on our 2017 E19 has different combinations of LEDs light up with other LEDs failing.

Are these lights just attached with adhesive or screws? The removal project is complicated with Dicor around perimeter. Also wiring is hidden in upper cabinet boxed corners plus hidden under the glued on wall vinyl.

Just hoping there is a simple fix versus cost to replace all 5 along with removal. Have not proceeded with Maxxima 5 year warranty claim since trailer is just over period and I was hoping troubleshooting would enlighten me in approach to be taken.

 

[Steven M]

Mine started going out last year, or at least that's when I was made aware of it. They are screwed on, the screws are located behind little dots that are hard to remove. That's the reason I haven't started a replacement of mine. They are available from Amazon and other sources.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

https://www.amazon.com/Maxxima-M422...=&sprefix=maxxima+m42206r,aps,135&sr=8-1&th=1


I got one to do escape put on wrong. I been meaning to get to it. the screws are covered with plastic inserts. on mine i tried to get then out,but it appears that they break so I ordered a new light.

 

[ChuckBC]

I was hoping get a response from owner(s) who tackled what I'm experiencing with unlit LEDs in the rear upper clearance lights? I was wondering if they are connected in series with 1st light on the driver's side? Also is there slack in the wires to pull away from trailer once Dicor on light and screws are removed? What did others find in testing these lights for what appears premature failure?

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

they are in parallel not series. and who knows what route the wires take, they are all hidden, but all the running lights end up connected to the trailer 7-blade tow vehicle connnector, where there are 3 circuits (running/parking lights, left turn+brake, right turn+brake) and a ground (shared by everything).

there should be enough slack wire to splice on replacement lights, then reseal with your favorite clear polyurethane RV sealant (Lexel, etc etc)

 

[ksitte]

Similar but not identical

We had one of the two vertical LED arrays fail in our previous 2015 19. One or two of the LEDs in the fixture failed with a few weeks of taking delivery. Once I received the replacement, it was a fairly easy fix with my intermediate skills. There wasn't much slack in the wiring harness, as I recall, so I removed the inside corner wiring cover and loosened some wire loom retainers. Upon retrospect, however, I think there would have been plenty of wire. ETI no longer mounts the lights that way, of course.

Attached is a picture of our failed light.

If you discover a way to pre-test the next fixture, please post. Slightly related, I just installed a brand new 120 v LED shop light last week and a portion of the 4 foot tube is already flashing on/off. Yup, I wish I would have plugged it on before mounting it.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

easy to pretest, should have 3 wires, ground and two +, one for brake/turn, one for parking. connect a 12V battery, negative to the ground signal, and positive to either one of the two pluses.

 

[JJM]

Have others with the 5 Maxxima M42206R rear upper lights experienced erratic LED failure? Each light on our 2017 E19 has different combinations of LEDs light up with other LEDs failing.

Are these lights just attached with adhesive or screws...

ChuckBC, I apologize for the slow response to your PM.

Regarding the cause: I rec'd a PM from another owner advising me to look for cracks in the lenses.

Sure enough, ours have cracks in the units with failed LED's, that might allow moisture into the assembly. The cracks may have been caused by the stress of trying to tighten the light assembly against the surface that ISN'T FLAT.

The Escape 19 mold was new for 2017. Perhaps the mold was revised later to ensure that these lights would be mounted on a flat surface.

I'm a little embarrassed to say, I still haven't replaced these lights. They seem to be stable for now. I bought replacements lights, but, umm... haven't gotten to them yet. So I don't know how challenging it will be.

Dave Warren at ETI gave me these instructions to change the lamps:
I have attached a picture of how to get at the screws. There is a cap over each screw that looks like an led light, pull that out to give you access.
The lights are not applied with the tape they are screwed into the trailer body. Once the wires are connected we put proflex in the hole where the wires go reinstall the light, and then do a perimeter seal with the Proflex.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Well it seems Escape has made more unknown changes to my 2022 unit. I went out to install a step light that mounts to the the lower optioned clearance light I had the factory install on the passenger side. Well there are no wires inside to tap into. The whole light is sealed behind the lens and there are no longer 12v accessible wires as in the past? I would have to remove the whole light to gain power access! Progress has it's drawbacks!

 

[ChuckBC]

Thanks J&B Mitt for more details on job. Will need to look at my lights to see if cracked. Since yours is a 2017 E19 like mine, maybe ETI had at that time had a production line worker who liked to torque screws down tight? I noticed the Proflex was used to caulk sides and top. The bottom possibly is not sealed for drainage. I wash my trailer often so possibly spraying from below was driving water into a cracked light? i will get some lights and tackle the job.