URGENT SAFETY ISSUE - Sturgis Regulator Recall

[HoffmanP]

Originally Posted by khollister

This is the culprit - notice the indicator completely disintegrated at the top

Thanks!

[pbarstow]

No Kidding...of course this happens over the Thanksgiving holiday. We have our new 2016 26 U airstream home, and 3 days later the propane quits. We got ahold of Sturgis on the friday after Thanksgiving, preparing to find out what we were doing wrong, and the rep there says, funny you should call, I am here working because that regulator has failed and we are recalling it. He promised to send us a new different regulator, which arrived today. We have yet to take out the defective regulator, but it looks like we may have an issue with the length of the main supply hose. And not a peep from Airstream or the dealer as we sit here 9 hours away!

[Wayne&Sam]

I'm sure there are procedures Airstream has to follow once a recall has been initiated. I'm pretty sure that requires notification by mail to your home address. The internet makes us aware of issues before the required process is completed. That's good, so those affected can take immediate acton. But it's not reason to claim Airstream isn't responding. And remember, this is a problem caused by one of Airstream's suppliers, not Airstream itself. So there's an extra layer compliance involved.

[khollister]

I think you are giving AS way too much slack on this. If you read the timeline in the defect report on NHTSA, Airstream decided to do a recall the first week of Nov (I forget the exact date). I called on Dec 1 and they professed ignorance. That same day my dealer said he emailed my photos and info to them as well. Now it turns out the recall letter to the dealers (which apparently was snail mailed) is dated Dec 1 (uploaded to NHTSA as well) and when I called back on Dec 2, they admitted knowing about the problem but told me they didn't know what the solution was.

Given the potential safety risk on this, I think it is sloppy that AS didn't get on the phone to dealers ASAP after management made the decision to recall. They fiddled around for almost a month before notifying anyone or even admitting to the problem on the warranty phone line.

If my situation had ended in anything other than losing a few dollars of LPG, you can be assured I would have pursued legal redress for their delay in notifying dealers and consumers (assuming I was alive). I'm pretty sure they collect email addresses for most new buyers - how long would it have taken to send out a mass email at least letting folks know the danger.

It's not like this is Ford or GM - there is a relatively small number of dealers and owners.

[lbillingsley]

Exactly what mine looked like. Thanks to this forum, I found out that I was part of the recall!

[Rich Jenkins]

The sight glass window just blew off the top of my auto changeover regulator. It looks exactly like the pictures above.

Thank God my wife heard it leaking coming back from dinner.

Is this an Airstream problem or an MB Sturgis problem? (Looking to find out who to call tomorrow.)

We've received zip from Airstream on this issue, and have a build date in Nov '15 on our 2016 FC. I'm not very happy about this.

[lbillingsley]

The same thing happened to my LPG regulator in February. The recall came out on November 13. I bought my AS Nov 12. The lack of information even with pictures similar to these was unsettling. I found the recall on my own and then called AS. They tried to tell me an email was sent - never tell an university assistant professor that you sent an email. We can track an email better than the FBI - or the lack of one - such as the case with students who use this lame excuse. My granddaughter and I spent the coldest night in Louisiana without heat. Which lead to the purchase of a small electric heater to be carried to the end of time. Now I know how every nook and cranny gets packed with random items. In the end AS sent a different Sturgis regulator and all was well again.

[lbillingsley]

Yes. I got one. How lucky are we?

[centennialman]

I have one of these...bought the Airstream new in February from a dealer in Tucson. I live in Colorado. Do I contact Tucson or the dealer in Colorado for a fix?

[centennialman]

My bad....I decided to go back out and take a look at what I have. I actually was envisioning the regulator I had on my old Airstream. It was installed a long time ago. The one I have is not the one in the recall.

[Rich Jenkins]

I talked to Jackson Center yesterday. They confirmed our coach is under the recall.

I made an appointment today at our closest Airstream Dealer in Mesa AZ, to get the regulator fixed. They worked us in and replaced the regulator with a white one.

I'll have to contact Airstream and see where our recall notice is.

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by Llando88

I talked to Jackson Center yesterday. They confirmed our coach is under the recall.

I made an appointment today at our closest Airstream Dealer in Mesa AZ, to get the regulator fixed. They worked us in and replaced the regulator with a white one.

I'll have to contact Airstream and see where our recall notice is.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I reached out to my dealer today and they verified that mine is also part of the recall. Not sure yet how it will be resolved, but I am glad I know about it before we take our next trip.

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by SeaLevel

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I reached out to my dealer today and they verified that mine is also part of the recall. Not sure yet how it will be resolved, but I am glad I know about it before we take our next trip.

Yes sir.

I will take a picture of the new one that was installed today soon. They took about 40 minutes to do the job, including a manometer test. I tested the range tonight and have no issues. High marks for Desert Autoplex, the Airstream dealer here in Mesa AZ. Very professional job.

Now I think about it, I'd smelled a whiff of propane when opening the tanks after a travel day over the past month (we have been on the road since 3/4/16.) STUPID ME for ignoring that.

[Rich Jenkins]

Quick photo of the regulator that was installed yesterday on my 2016 27' FC:



I believe they also replaced the two tank supply hoses as well.

[khollister]

That is a Cavegna regulator - Italian made


Keith
Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[J_Bean]

I don't normally go out of my way to act on recalls, maybe I should.

I went to run some errands and when I got back home I heard a noise that sounded like water rushing through pipes coming from the propane tank compartment. I opened the lid and saw the glass window had popped right off. I shut both tanks. The right one had ice built up all around the base.

My '16 16ft Sport was parked in the driveway, thankfully no smokers were walking by but the smell wasn't that pronounced so I have a feeling that the leak wasn't too rapid.

If you have this part get it changed ASAP.

[Kittycatcat]

We just bought our 2016 AS Flying Cloud a few weeks ago - granted, it had been in the dealer's possession at least since Jan 2016 - Our LP regulator just stopped working with no obvious sign of failure. Found out about the recall after I called Jackson Center to see if they'd ship us a regulator and save a trip to the dealer. Seems dealer should have fixed this before it left the lot, but whatever.

Airstream is willing to ship a replacement part, but not directly to us - they insist that it has to be sent to a service center. Our dealer doesn't want to just give us the part, saying they need to install it themselves on the trailer. Husband managed to install a working one from our old trailer - seems to not be difficult, so what is the problem? Big pain to haul trailer all the way to service center just for this.

We're about ready to just buy one and not bother with the recall.

[RamblinManGa]

Hi KittyCatCat. . . have you tried the new AS dealer in Duluth,GA ? When we lived there, we went all the way to the Mothership for real service (685 mi). . .just wondering, Craig

[Kittycatcat]

Hi RamblinManGa - Thanks -good to know about Duluth which is way north of Atlanta - Our dealer is in Norcross, just NE of Atlanta, and they seem OK, but we're about 30 mi SE of ATL - problem is driving past Atlanta even on back roads - the drivers are all insane, to put it kindly. Pack all the insanity bumper-to-bumper and we look for any and all alternatives.

There is an RV place that services Airstreams about 15 mins. from me - SouthernRV - don't know anything about them but might give them a call.

Fortunately, husband actually is very handy, so I have no problem with him putting on a replacement regulator. Also, we just traveled 2 weeks and 2K miles with the regulator from our old white box trailer that he transferred to the Airstream, worked great. Used the old regulator because the new one quit when we tried to switch the fridge to gas the morning we were to leave......

I did call MB Sturgis, as someone else mentioned here earlier, and they said to call back Monday when the guy who's handling the recall is in, so maybe they'll send us one. Paula

[overlander63]

The issue is one of safety and liability. Airstream wants to ensure a qualified technician replaces the regulator, just in case.