Forest River, Inc. is recalling 215 Pause travel trailers because the wrong connector was used on the 12-volt solar panel wiring, a mistake that the company’s filing says may increase the risk of a fire. The recall covers Pause trailers from model years 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 and is logged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as campaign 26V686000. The agency recorded the report as received on Oct. 20, 2026.
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The consequence statement in the filing is one sentence long: a loose wire may increase the risk of a fire. It names no injuries and no fires that have already happened, and it is phrased as a possibility rather than a finding. A trailer is also a place where people sleep, which is why a loose electrical connection in a camper draws attention even when the filing offers no incident count to go with it.
An incorrect connector on the solar wiring
The NHTSA campaign record for 26V686000 identifies the manufacturer as Forest River, Inc., the make as Forest River, the model as Pause and the model years as 2023 through 2026, with 215 units potentially affected. The component is filed as electrical equipment, accessory generator, solar panel, and the defect summary reads that the incorrect connector was used to secure the 12 volt solar panel wires. The federal recall dataset carries the same 215 figure. The record does not say which connector was installed, which connector was specified, or how many of the trailers were built with each.
Forest River gives its own number for the action as 426-2107. NHTSA stores the recall as four near-identical entries, one for each model year, and the federal dataset reports the 215-unit population for the campaign as a whole. A search by any one model year, whether 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026, therefore returns the same defect text, the same remedy and the same letter estimate, so an owner reading a single year’s entry sees the whole campaign described in identical terms.
What the Pause is and where solar fits
Forest River sells the Pause as an off-road towable it calls an “Overlanding Coach,” built for self-reliant travel to remote places. Its Pause product page lists floorplans from about 17 feet to 28 feet, around 25 inches of ground clearance, a fully articulating hitch and independent suspension. Solar is a headline feature: the page lists 1,000 watts of roof solar as standard on the Pause X, 200 watts on the Reboot Edition and an optional 200-watt package on the Restart Edition. The page shows 2026 and 2027 selections, and the floorplans it displays are 2027 models, which fall outside this recall.
That matters for buyers comparing model years. The recall population is limited to 2023 through 2026, and the record does not say whether the 2027 trailers use the same connector or a corrected one. Owners of an older Pause cannot assume from the product page which wiring their trailer carries. The page also divides the Pause into three lines, Pause X, Restart Edition and Reboot Edition, and the recall record names only the Pause model, so it gives owners no line-by-line guide to which versions carry the wrong connector. The recall number and the VIN are the reliable identifiers.
A new connector, and a mailing date of Nov. 28
The remedy on the NHTSA recall page is simple on paper: dealers will install a new connector, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on Nov. 28, 2026, and owners can contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-535-2748 and quote recall number 426-2107. The record gives no repair time and states no instruction to disconnect the solar system in the meantime, so any interim step would have to come from the dealer or the manufacturer directly.
The recall is a product of the reporting duty in 49 CFR Part 573, which requires a manufacturer to file within five working days of deciding that a defect is safety related and to include the number of potentially affected units, a description of the defect and its risk, the remedy and the dates owner notification will begin and end. Forest River’s Oct. 20 filing contains each of those elements, down to the Nov. 28 mailing estimate.
Because the 215 trailers are spread across four model years, owners of a 2023 Pause and owners of a 2026 Pause hold the same campaign number and the same remedy. The filing offers no breakdown by year, and it does not state the production dates of the affected trailers. Under Part 577, the letter that Forest River mails has to describe the defect and the safety risk and repeat that the repair is free, so owners should expect the same plain wording as the NHTSA record: a wrong connector, a loose wire and a fire risk, with a new connector as the answer.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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