2022 Winnebago Ekko

The Balmar alternator installed on our RV, which provides electrical power to charge the coach battery started a noticeable whine at idle, it stopped providing a charge to the coach battery, and upon further inspection, after opening the hood, we noticed a faint burning electrical smell. To confirm that the Balmar alternator was failing, I checked its electrical output to the battery, and it was not charging. I then proceeded to unplug the regulator for the alternator to see if the whine and smell were still present. They were not. Since the whine was not present with the Balmar alternator unplugged, the burning smell had dissipated, and no charge coming from the alternator when plugged in, I determined it was starting or already failed. Knowing that there have been multiple reports from other owners that their EKKO's caught fire or had severe smoke coming from the engine compartment, that was later found to be the Balmar alternator, I made the decision to leave it unplugged. I was concerned about our safety and the real possibility of a fire if we continued with it plugged in and running. This just happened to us so we have not had it looked at by a dealer or independent service center yet, but we could make it available for inspection upon request. Please note, this is the second Balmar that has failed on us in our four year ownership of this RV, and we have a friend that has had five Balmar's fail on him! Winnebago needs to be held accountable and should be required to remove and replace the Balmar alternator from all owners RV's and replace it with a more suitable and capable alternator that will provide the secondary power they advertise when they sell this model to consumers.

October 10, 2025. The vehicle is a 2022 Winnebago EKKO RV on a 2021 Ford Transit with 49,000 miles. The incident occurred after driving the vehicle for about 5 minutes with outside temperatures around 50 degrees Fahrenheit and noticed an unusual high pitch whine. When I opened the hood the Balmar MC-618 Alternator unit was extremely hot, smoking, and had a strong burning smell. Since the EKKO models have had numerous reports of secondary alternator/Balmar malfunctions I knew enough to disable the alternator by unplugging the 4 pin connector on the Balmar 618 regulator before traveling any further. The following morning I plugged the Balmar unit back in and the whining sound and burning smell immediately returned. There is a NHTSA Safety Recall 23V-234, Campaign # 174 EKKO 12V Charging System, sent out by Winnebago for this very safety issue due to fires. This recall was completed during the time that the original owner had this 2022 Winnebago EKKO (prior to our purchasing this 2022 Winnebago EKKO in June 2024). There have been numerous failures on Balmar units that have had the campaign #174 recall completed, including ones performed at the factory. The Winnebago fix is obviously not working and is still an extreme fire issue.

This is to report a failure after NHTSA campaign number 23V234000 was addressed by Winnebago through their campaign number 174. I had the fix performed by Winnebago at their factory service center about 20k miles ago and the alternator failed again with the exact same symptoms. This is my 5th alternator failure in 60,000 miles and 3 years.

1The stock Balmar alternator failed on or around [XXX]. That alternator was replaced on or about November 22, 2022 by a certified Winnebago service center in Connecticut. 2The second failed on or about [XXX] following Service Campaign 7303 work performed at Forest City. It was replaced under the 174 recall on or about February 7, 2024 at a certified Winnebago service center in Las Vegas.  3The third alternator failed on or about [XXX]. 4The fourth was installed October 7, 2024 by a certified Winnebago service center in New Jersey. 5. The fourth alternator failed sometime between [XXX] and [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The vehicle is a 2021 Ford Transit with a 2022 Winnebago Ekko RV. The incident occurred when I started the engine and noticed an unusual high pitch whine. When I opened the hood the Balmar unit was extremely hot with a strong burning smell. Since the Ekko models have had numerous reports of secondary alternator / Balmar malfunctions I knew enough to disable the alternator by unplugging the 4 pin connector on the Balmar 618 regulator before traveling any further. The following morning I plugged the Balmar unit back in place to see if the high pitch sound reoccurred. The sound immediately returned and I used my infrared thermometer which read 438 degrees Fahrenheit on the Balmar alternator. The Lithionics battery app indicated the batteries were 90 percent full but would no longer charge, leaving me only shore power to recharge the batteries. There is a NHTSA Safety Recall 23V-234, Campaign # 174 Ekko 12V Charging System, sent out by Winnebago for this very safety issue due to fires. We had this recall completed at the Forest City Iowa Winnebago factory in April of 2024. There have been numerous failures on Balmar units that have had the campaign #174 recall completed, including ones performed at the factory. The Winnebago fix is obviously not working and is still an extreme fire issue.

The Winnebago factory installed secondary alternator (manufactured by Balmar) responsible for charging the batteries in my motorhome started to whine and overheat. Luckily the week prior, I had read about another EKKO owner experiencing the same symptoms before it created enough smoke that caused the driver to immediately pull off the road and extinguish the engine bay with a fire extinguisher. In an effort to avoid that, I disconnected the Balmer until it was able to be replaced. This original problem was supposed to be addressed in recall 174. Over a year later the recall supposedly addressed the issues by moving the regulator out of the engine bay, replacing the Balmer and a major reworking of the electrical system. After multiple components failed during the recall repair, my EKKO took over 6 weeks to get a working solution at a Winnebago dealership. That was a year ago. 10 days ago the same symptoms of whining and overheating returned resulting in me returning to the same dealer with them diagnosing the Balmer as defective and a health risk. Had I not disconnected the Balmer it would’ve overheated and resulted in melting the primary drive belt and potentially damaging the engine and other major components as documented by numerous other EKKO owners.

8 October 2024 Winnebago Ekko owners are looking for clarification on NHTSA recall 23V-234. The number of owners who have experienced Balmar alternator failure after the recall work is growing. We are among them. A post-recall fire has also been reported (October 6 2024 in Washington State) Manufacturer's response to this situation has been, so far: 1) Replace the alternator at no charge 2) Replace the alternator at no charge, with a verbal warning that no more alternators will be furnished free of charge, directing owners to instead contact the component manufacturer (Balmar) for additional relief. Both are unacceptable. The recall was ordered to prevent 1) alternator failure and 2) a potential fire. The recall does neither and the RV manufacturer must be held accountable. Our 23V-234 recall work was completed in February 2024. The alternator failed in June 2024. Yesterday, October 7, the dealer installed a manufacturer-authorized replacement alternator (our fourth, to date, since the RV purchase.) No other work was performed, to our knowledge. We asked the dealer what work the manufacturer was planning to complete to fix the root cause of the alternator failures. Answer: no additional work; only an alternator replacement. Wrong answer. If the manufacturer is planning modifications to address the root cause of multiple alternator failures (and fire risk) the owners have a right to know. To date we have received no indication that any such plan is underway. I am not suggesting they are -not- planning a fix. But we have no indication to the contrary and we have a right to information. In fact we have indications to the contrary. This is not just a major inconvenience (it is - when the alternator fails, it makes everyday life in the RV very challenging.) It's much more than that - it's a fire risk that could impact both life and property. What remedy is the manufacturer planning, and when? Thank you.

Winnebago adds a 2nd alternator to the engine for charging the coach/house Lithionics batteries. This 2nd alternator is a Balmer brand. The Balmer alternator suddenly developed a high pitched whine. Once whining it ceased to charge the batteries. The Balmer regulator begins to smoke quickly once the alternator is whining. We’ve been told to disconnect the regulator quickly or a fire can happen (we’ve been told others have had fires). This is our 2nd Balmer alternator failure. The first failed alternator was replaced at the factory end of July 2024 (apx 60 days ago). Changing the alternator is not addressing the root cause and the danger of a fire. Winnebago and Balmer have been aware of this risk for months and have not been able to identify the root cause.

Winnebago recall 174 (NHTSA campaign 23V234000) regarding improper electrical wiring design and installation by Winnebago was recently completed on my RV. After completion of this recall I experienced another electrical fire in the engine compartment (my alternator had previously caught fire due to wiring and design defects noted in Winnebago recall 174). After extinguishing the fire I observed the Winnebago recall 174 remedy had been completed in such a way that an engine compartment wiring harness was under tension and in contact with the threads of a bolt on the backside of the new alternator installed as part of the Winnebago recall 174 remedy. This seems to have resulted in electrical anomalies and eventual ignition of the wiring harness. There were repeated brief intermittent brake and rear hatch warnings shortly before the fire (there is no rear hatch). The windshield washer system failed after uncommanded operation of the windshield wipers. Multiple other warnings and cautions flashed on the screen too fast for me to identify them. This all happened just prior to the fire which occurred during an engine start attempt while parked. I have video documentation of the smoke and photos showing fire damaged wiring and its location relative to the alternator bolt. Components are available for inspection. I have not yet contacted a dealer, service center or manufacturer yet since this event happened only days ago. My safety has been compromised by two engine compartment fires involving the same defect both before and after the Winnebago recall 174 remedy. For this to happen I have to assume either faulty mechanical completion of the recall or the recall remedy itself. This is but the latest fire hazard I have experienced with this unit (two actual fires, loose propane fitting which slowly flooded the coach with propane, overheated air conditioner that melted insulation in the ceiling and impending NHTSA campaign 24V541000 for solar fuse fire hazard).