WARNING on USB Charging Ports!

[Frozen001]

Just wanted to post a warning to everyone who has the built in USB charging ports on their camper/RV. We have a 2017 Grey Wolf 29BH that has 6 of these through out the camper, 3 of which are in the bunk house where my children sleep. So for two of them have failed. The first on is the one located near the couch on the slide. This win I had my smartphone plugged in charging when I unplugged the cord from the socket I noticed if was HOT to the touch. I immediately pulled it from the wall as cut the lead 12V supply lead, and was going to replace it when I had time. Now this weekend I used the port by our bed to again charge my smart phone. Unplugged the cord completely, and all was good. An hour or so later I go into the trailer and smell burnt electronics. After searching around and getting to the are where it was the strongest I touch the USB port that I used to charge my phone (no cord was it all) and it was HOT. I immediately pulled it out of the wall and clipped the power to it.

We got home yesterday and I opened up the two failed USB ports to find this.

USB Port Internal pictures

There are three photos. The one with the circuit board in my hand is from the latest failure. The other two are the first failed port. The earlier port is not as bad, but you can see signs of overheating on both the board and components.

Beware.

I am in contact with forest river and will report back their resolution.

[drsteve]

Frozen001 wrote:
Just wanted to post a warning to everyone who has the built in USB charging ports on their camper/RV. We have a 2017 Grey Wolf 29BH that has 6 of these through out the camper, 3 of which are in the bunk house where my children sleep. So for two of them have failed. The first on is the one located near the couch on the slide. This win I had my smartphone plugged in charging when I unplugged the cord from the socket I noticed if was HOT to the touch. I immediately pulled it from the wall as cut the lead 12V supply lead, and was going to replace it when I had time. Now this weekend I used the port by our bed to again charge my smart phone. Unplugged the cord completely, and all was good. An hour or so later I go into the trailer and smell burnt electronics. After searching around and getting to the are where it was the strongest I touch the USB port that I used to charge my phone (no cord was it all) and it was HOT. I immediately pulled it out of the wall and clipped the power to it.

We got home yesterday and I opened up the two failed USB ports to find this.

USB Port Internal pictures

There are three photos. The one with the circuit board in my hand is from the latest failure. The other two are the first failed port. The earlier port is not as bad, but you can see signs of overheating on both the board and components.

Beware.

I am in contact with forest river and will report back their resolution.

Forest River will tell you either a) it's normal or b) it's your fault.

[brulaz]

http://shop.pkys.com/Marinco-SeaLink-Dual-USB-Charger-Receptacle_p_6752.html

Blue Sea also makes quality products.

[bob_nestor]

wa8yxm wrote:
As I recall the "Standard" for USB ports is 500mA or 1/2 amp

My phone can suck 2 or more amps off a well designed charger/adapter via the USB cord..

NOW. a WELL DESIGNED USB port WILL limit the current... but the key word is WELL DESIGNED.. Not ever designer even knows HOW to limit current (i do but hey. I paid attention in DC Theory)

For USB 1.x and 2.0 the power is 0.5A; for USB 3.0 it is 0.9A.

[wa8yxm]

As I recall the "Standard" for USB ports is 500mA or 1/2 amp

My phone can suck 2 or more amps off a well designed charger/adapter via the USB cord..

NOW. a WELL DESIGNED USB port WILL limit the current... but the key word is WELL DESIGNED.. Not ever designer even knows HOW to limit current (i do but hey. I paid attention in DC Theory)

[1320Fastback]

I'd honestly find good ones on Amazon with great reviews and change them myself. I would leave the dealer out of the equation as they are just going to replace like for like.

[Frozen001]

4x4van wrote:
Interesting. What do the built-in USB ports look like as installed? I have added a few of these aftermarket USB plugs to my RV, which lacked even the old school 12v outlets anywhere other than the dash, and have had no issues as of yet. But I will certainly keep an eye on them.

They look similar to those, but no writing on them.

[Frozen001]

Voltage is 13.4-13.5 at the wires where the port was, so it is not a problem. One of the first things I checked. Additionally if I had a problem there other 12V accessories would be failing as well.

[riven1950]

The main usb port in our new 2017 TT failed on the first trip. Replaced under warranty. I'll have to check to see if it runs hot. Never noticed any smell. Thanks for posting.

[dougrainer]

You need to check the 12 volt Power Converter and the RV 12 volt line voltage. that many failures in just YOUR RV when they have 10's of thousands out there points to a possible 12 volt problem in your RV. Doug

[4x4van]

Interesting. What do the built-in USB ports look like as installed? I have added a few of these aftermarket USB plugs to my RV, which lacked even the old school 12v outlets anywhere other than the dash, and have had no issues as of yet. But I will certainly keep an eye on them.

[MrWizard]

i have several 12v to USB adapters plugged in
my wilson SLEEK cell cradle amplifier has been plugged into one for several years
with no problems

[Kayteg1]

On the other hand, I used one of those 12V sockets to USB plug that come with "something" to our house.
I had it plug in constantly to power my MI-FI modem and occasionally for phone charging.
2 months of constant use with no problem for plug that come with no extra charge.

[Rigman123]

Ive heard a lot of bad reports about built-in usb ports on campers

[Kayteg1]

After dealing with $5-10 bathroom faucets in RV for 30 years, this is not much of surprise.
Whole RV building industry is focused on "make it look good and worry about reliability and safety later"
Lot of RV are barely used so if 1 of 20 will catch defect during warranty, they still don't have much problem.

[GordonThree]

Frozen001 wrote:
So heard back from Forest River and they are willing to replace the existing ones with the exact same ones. Not going to happen. After really looking at these, between the DC-DC converter IC looking like a counterfeit from an manufacture with no website (www.xlsemi.com) I am going to opt for a different solution than these. I am not going to wasting my dealers time to put the same garbage in only to have to worry about this happening when I am not around.

Good plan. Maybe round-out the hole a little the usb doo-dads were mounted in, and install a bulkhead type cigarette lighter type receptacle?

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