Getting shock off trailer

piet10

Active Member
If the problem is in the pedestal, would a non contact voltage tester light up near the metal pedestal?
 

scottyb

Well-known member
I had a similar problem with my Cyclone after the dealer replaced a transfer switch. Thanks to Mike's blogs, the NCVT lit up like a Christmas tree from about a foot away. Unbelievably, they admitted their error and repaired it. I knew it wasn't a pedestal issue because I had the problem at multiple pedestals at different locations. My question now is, since I recently installed a Progressive EMS hardwired after the transfer switch, would that have prevented passage of power to the RV?
 

Ricoh

Past Ontario Chapter Leader
Just got an email from the owners and they said the electrician just left and the 30 amp plug was OK. Will go back up on the weekend and check it out and let you know what we find.

Rick
 

jmsokol

Active Member
Just got an email from the owners and they said the electrician just left and the 30 amp plug was OK. Will go back up on the weekend and check it out and let you know what we find.
Rick
You first need to confirm there's a low resistance connection from the frame of the RV all the way to the ground pin on the shore power connector. It should measure less than 1 ohm from the RV frame to the primary shore power plug's ground pin. Then plug in any dogbone or pigtail adapters, and measure again. Any increase in resistance tells you theres a break in the safety ground.

Also, double-check the pedestal outlet yourself for correct voltage, polarity, and ground. Remember, if it is wired as a RPBG, then the electrician probably didn't discover it with his normal test methods. I really do think you should purchase a NCVT (Non Contact Voltage Tester) such as a VoltAlert. Make sure to get a Non Contact Voltage Tester rated for 90 to 1,000 volts or so. Even though it's rated for a minimum of 90 volts, when pointed towards something as large as an RV it should light on contact with as little as 40 volts hot-skin voltage, and light up from a foot or more away with 120 volts hot-skin. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8h64X33aKg for how this works.
 

ParkIt

Well-known member
I'm seeing more Plug in GFCI's at campground on larger units of all kinds lately, many established RV parks are older and trying to make wider spaces to accommodate our 4 and 5 slide out units. They are cutting corners on wiring, water and gray/black water hook ups so we need to have additional electrical, water and plumbing attachments to not damage our units regardless of what they are.
One park close to us 'upgraded' their sites this last winter for larger units but I found water pressure at the tap to be pushing 127psi and a half hacked power pole that I would even touch the metal cover. They are also having issues with hook ups to the sewer with a charge to come and dump your tanks for you in a truck they bought - I'm thinking the money they spent on the truck would have been better spent on the sewer lines.

This isn't a factory issue, its a RV park issue but at least we can purchase after market products to keep everything working properly.
 

jmsokol

Active Member
Rick,

This is very dangerous and I would recommend that you disconnect from shore power until you figure out what's wrong. In addition, a non-contact voltage tester from Home Depot or other hardware store will let you check for voltage without actually touching the trailer. A good one is about $20. Skip the $7 variety.

Agreed... Here's the best NCVT available at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100661...p=BazVoice-_-RLP-_-100661787-_-x#.UYl_YoLLD6Q

I've tried this out on my portable demonstration hot-skin tester, and it seems to have to proper sensitivity.

If the trailer skin is electrified, there are most likely TWO problems. Something in the trailer has a short circuit, AND you're missing a ground path. Because of the missing ground, the electricity that normally would be routed through the ground connection instead is electrifying the trailer skin. Then when you touch the skin, you're providing a better path to ground. You could be seriously injured or worse.

This is not 100% correct. While there indeed needs to be an open ground path, you don't have to have a direct short circuit to create a hot-skin condition. Many appliances will normally have internal leakage currents of a few milliamps, often allowing them to self-bias to about half of the line potential, or 60 volts AC. And every surge strip will normally leak current to ground, so if it's not properly grounded it can raise the potential of the RV's chassis/skin. Of course, these are high-impedance hot-skin conditions, many of which won't be life threatening. However, they can easily turn into low-impedance hot-skin conditions, and that will easily kill you. I've been teaching how to use NCVT's for the last several years, and still think it's the best and safest way for every RV owner to quickly check their vehicle for a hot-skin condition.

As others have noted here, and I teach in every NoShockZone seminar, You should NEVER feel any kind of shock from your RV.
 

evolvingpowercat

Well-known member
Suggest you include a one page "how-to" handout with each one on how to use it correctly. If people read the whole jmsokol article its all in there but I know a lot of people won't read more than 100 words at a time :) The cliff notes one pager would be something like this: Note - there are more steps that can be used to check for wiring problems at the shore power outlet that could be added to this flow chart but this would be the minimum.... 1) put the non-contact tester in your pocket (does no good if in the camper) :) 2) Plug in shore power cord - don't touch the RV anymore yet ! 3) If you use surge guard with time delay, wait for the delay to occur and power to be applied thru the surge guard, then continue 4) Stand on ground by RV with hand all the way around the non-contact tester and press its test button 5) Place the tip close to any metal on the RV like the door or the step 6) If the thing lights up and makes noise then there is voltage on the skin and don't touch ! 7) If nothing then you should be OK - just to make sure the tester is really working you can hold the plastic tip next to the narrow outlet prong on your outdoor 110V outlet
 

wdk450

Well-known member
I'm seeing more Plug in GFCI's at campground on larger units of all kinds lately,

Are you sure those are plug in Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters you are seeing or Electrical Management System (Like Progressive black box) devices?
I couldn't find a corded GFCI from the online RV suppliers I checked, and ended up having to make my own with RV 30 amp connectors from a resource I found on the internet. My GFCI cord and box are bright yellow. The EMS may or may not cut off the power for a potential shock condition, and truthfully the GFCI might not cut off the power until a shock accident starts. But in the first 1000th of a second when someone is getting shocked the GFCI WILL cut the power. As soon as the current flow in the hot supply wire does not equal the current flow back into the neutral return wire by within 5/1000 of an ampere, a relay shuts off the supplied current.
 

jmsokol

Active Member
I'm seeing more Plug in GFCI's at campground on larger units of all kinds lately,

Are you sure those are plug in Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters you are seeing or Electrical Management System (Like Progressive black box) devices?
I couldn't find a corded GFCI from the online RV suppliers I checked, and ended up having to make my own with RV 30 amp connectors from a resource I found on the internet. My GFCI cord and box are bright yellow. The EMS may or may not cut off the power for a potential shock condition, and truthfully the GFCI might not cut off the power until a shock accident starts. But in the first 1000th of a second when someone is getting shocked the GFCI WILL cut the power. As soon as the current flow in the hot supply wire does not equal the current flow back into the neutral return wire by within 5/1000 of an ampere, a relay shuts off the supplied current.

FYI: There are NO GFCI's on the market that will disconnect the safety ground wire during a "trip" (that's according to code), so if you're plugged into an inline GFCI outlet, it can't disconnect you from a RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground) or a Reflected Hot Skin Condition from daisy-chained pedestals at a campground that have lost their bond connection back to the service panel. This problem is being corrected in the newest version of the NEC, but all previous installations are grandfathered in. So don't expect your local campground to rip up all the pedestal wiring to correct this anytime soon.

Also, I'm not saying that a system GFCI isn't a good idea, when it's an EXCELLENT one. Just that it can't detect or disconnect your RV from a hot-ground pedestal. A disconnect of the safety ground is not allowed by code, so it's not going to happen.

Be aware that you might experience random GFCI tripping if you happen to have any "surge protected" power strips in your RV. It's little known that most MOV based (surge protected) power strips will dump about 2 or 3 mA into the safety ground, and it only takes 6 mA of current to trip a residential GFCI. So the two power strips inside your RV can cause your external GFCI to trip whenever it feels like it. That could explain a lot of seemingly random GFCI tripping.
 
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jmsokol

Active Member
Suggest you include a one page "how-to" handout with each one on how to use it correctly. If people read the whole jmsokol article its all in there but I know a lot of people won't read more than 100 words at a time :) The cliff notes one pager would be something like this: Note - there are more steps that can be used to check for wiring problems at the shore power outlet that could be added to this flow chart but this would be the minimum.... 1) put the non-contact tester in your pocket (does no good if in the camper) :) 2) Plug in shore power cord - don't touch the RV anymore yet ! 3) If you use surge guard with time delay, wait for the delay to occur and power to be applied thru the surge guard, then continue 4) Stand on ground by RV with hand all the way around the non-contact tester and press its test button 5) Place the tip close to any metal on the RV like the door or the step 6) If the thing lights up and makes noise then there is voltage on the skin and don't touch ! 7) If nothing then you should be OK - just to make sure the tester is really working you can hold the plastic tip next to the narrow outlet prong on your outdoor 110V outlet

Jim Beletti, please contact me about this. I should probably create a "hot-skin NCVT test for dummies" sort of article.

Yeah, my magazine editors used to kid me that I couldn't write my own name in less that 250 words, so my articles tend to be longer rather than shorter. But an SOP on testing electrical systems needs to be very concise since there's electricity involved (go figure :rolleyes:)
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Be aware that you might experience random GFCI tripping if you happen to have any "surge protected" power strips in your RV. It's little known that most MOV based (surge protected) power strips will dump about 2 or 3 mA into the safety ground, and it only takes 6 mA of current to trip a residential GFCI. So the two power strips inside your RV can cause your external GFCI to trip whenever it feels like it. That could explain a lot of seemingly random GFCI tripping.

Mike and all:
I was once staying at a small campground near Seattle, and because all of the 30 amp RV sites were taken, they put me in a 20 amp GFCI outlet tent/RV site. I had problems with my Apollo microwave tripping the GFCI (not the circuit breaker). I found that moisture generated during microwaving was causing enough leakage current within the microwave to trip the GFCI. Drying out the microwave solved the problem.
 

jmsokol

Active Member
Mike,

You were originally recommending this tester;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EJ332O/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Still good to go?

Yes, both the Fluke and the Klein testers work exactly the same for my RV proximity hot-skin test. The Fluke seems to be built a little stronger (IMHO) but are hard to find in stores and need to be ordered online in most cases. While you can walk into any Home Depot and buy the Klein NCVT off the rack. I have at least a half dozen other brands and models of NCVT's I've tested for this function, but it would be a lot of work to write a definitive review of all possible testers. Of course, if I had a little industry support I would be glad to write such an article, but that support does not appear to be coming anytime soon.
 

Ricoh

Past Ontario Chapter Leader
Update on electrical problem. Went and bought the Klein tester yesterday and went back up to the trailer. They plugged me into a different outlet but said the other one tested out fine. Tested the trailer and the skin was not energized. My son is coming up today with some testing equipment and we will check a few things out. The cgfi in the trailer all popped. I did not reset them till we go back up today. Thanks for the help.

Rick
 
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