22E101 Corrosion on Remote Control Circuit Board – WARN VR EVO Winch Wireless/Handheld Remote

December 23, 2022 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 22E101000

Corrosion on Remote Control Circuit Board

A winch that operates unintentionally increases the risk of injury.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 22E101

Manufacturer WARN INDUSTRIES, INC.

Components ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EQUIPMENT

Potential Number of Units Affected 121,187

 

Summary

Warn Industries, Inc. (WARN) is recalling the Wireless/Handheld Remote sold with certain VR EVO 8, VR EVO 8-S, VR EVO 10, VR EVO 10-S, VR EVO 12, VR EVO 12-S winches, and Remote Service Part. Please see the recall report for a list of all affected winch part numbers. Water may enter the handheld remote control for the winch and cause circuit board corrosion, which can allow the winch to operate unintentionally.

 

Remedy

As an interim action, WARN will provide owners with instructions to inspect the remote for corrosion and disable the wireless function by removing the battery packeBay logo from the remote. If corrosion or water intrusion is found when removing the battery packeBay logo, Owners should stop using the remote and contact WARN customer service for a replacement remote free of charge. Once parts are available, WARN will make a replacement water resistant Remote available to affected customers, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 11, 2023. Owners may contact WARN customer service at 1-800-543-9276.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

 


Please be reminded of the following requirements:

You are required to submit a draft owner notification letter to this office no less than five days prior to mailing it to the customers. Also, copies of all notices, bulletins, dealer notifications, and other communications that relate to this recall, including a copy of the final owner notification letter and any subsequent owner follow-up notification letter(s), are required to be submitted to this office no later than 5 days after they are originally sent (if they are sent to more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or purchaser/owner).

Please be reminded that under 49 U.S.C. § 30112(a)(3), it is illegal for a manufacturer, to sell, offer for sale, import, or introduce or deliver into interstate commerce, a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment that contains a safety defect once the manufacturer has notified NHTSA about that safety defect. This prohibition does not apply once the motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment has been remedied according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

As stated in Part 573.7, submission of the first of eight consecutive quarterly status reports is required within one month after the close of the calendar quarter in which notification to purchasers occurs. Therefore, the first quarterly report will be due on, or before, 30 days after the close of the calendar quarter.

 


TO: Warn Distributors
FROM: Warn Industries, Inc.
DATE: 12/22/2022
RE: WARN VR EVO Stop Shipment

Dear Valued Warn Business Partner,

It has recently come to our attention that there is a potential quality issue with the hand-held Remote Control included with the WARN VR EVO line of winches. A small number of Remotes which have been exposed to or submerged in water have exhibited failure. We are investigating this issue and actively developing a solution to remedy the situation. Out of an abundance of caution at this time, we have initiated a stop shipment on the following EVO part numbers from Warn Industries.

103250 VR EVO 8
103251 VR EVO 8-S
103252 VR EVO 10
103253 VR EVO 10-S
103254 VR EVO 12
102355 VR EVO 12-S
104218 S/P Remote & Control Module

As we finalize our solution, we ask that you stop shipment on these part numbers as well. We will provide you with more information regarding the solution as soon as it is available.

Sincerely,

Kyle Shiminski
VP & General Manager

 


VR EVO Remote Battery PackeBay logo Removal Instructions

1. Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the three screws from the remote control cover.

2. Remove the remote control cover and locate the battery packeBay logo.

3. Cut the gray and white wires to release the battery packeBay logo from the remote.

4. Remove and discard the battery packeBay logo completely.

5. With battery packeBay logo removed, replace the remote control cover and the three screws.

6. When winch is not in use, unplug the remote control cable from the remote control base AND the winch remote socket. Store the remote control in a protected, dry place.

 


Chronology :

08/15/2022: Customer returned winch with explanation that while his vehicle was parked, the VR EVO winch power cables had experienced some event that caused the insulation on the wiring to melt.

A review of previous customer complaints and product returns was conducted. Since the EVO product was first sold in 2019 approx. 25 reports were found mentioning unintended operation of the winch. During this period over 200,000 winches were sold worldwide and over 120,000 in the USA. It was found that several of these winches had been returned to Warn for inspection and no cause was determined for the failure.

08/15/2022: Product and information regarding the product failures was sent to the contract manufacturer for review and analysis.

09/09/2022: Customer returned product exhibiting the same type of failure as the one on August 15, 2022. “Customer states that his EVO 10 started running by itself…”

09/30/2022: Customer returned product exhibiting the same type of failure as the one on August 15 and September 9.

10/14/2022: Contract manufacturer is unable to diagnose root cause of the failures. Warn’s engineering team initiates investigation into potential root causes of failures.

11/22/2022: Investigations indicate that water intrusion and corrosion on the circuit board are potential causes of the type of failures observed.

11/29/2022: Production hold placed on EVO winch line. Stop ship notice placed on all sales of EVO winches from Warn Industries.

12/07/2022: Testing activities validate water intrusion and corrosion as root cause of unintended operation of the winch.

12/16/2022: Field rework process identified to mitigate the potential for unintended operation of the winch without notice by disabling the wireless function of the remote control.

12/16/2022: Warn Industries reviewed the issues and decided to implement a recall and issue a bulletin to consumers notifying them of the hazard including instructions for inspecting for corrosion and disabling the wi

 


1 Affected Product

Equipment

BRANDPART NO.PRODUCTION DATES
WARNVR EVO WINCH

 


12 Associated Documents

Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc) – Stop Ship Notice

RCMN-22E101-0133.pdf 111.191KB

 


Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-22E101-1163.pdf 717.337KB

 


Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-22E101-1107.PDF 219.966KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-22E101-2474.pdf 184.786KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-22E101-0841.pdf 1257.664KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-22E101-1991.pdf 186.335KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-22E101-7014.pdf 194.899KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-22E101-5933.pdf 192.839KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-22E101-7747.pdf 187.139KB

 


Recall Quarterly Report #1, 2023-1

RCLQRT-22E101-1965.PDF 211.132KB

 


Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2023-2

RCLQRT-22E101-8818.PDF 211.231KB

 


Recall Quarterly Report #3, 2023-3

RCLQRT-22E101-2159.PDF 211.458KB

 


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