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Yeah, I've been busy. I'm now writing several full-length articles every week in RVtravel.com and my RVelectricity.com newsletter is taking off rapidly. I will be presenting at least two No~Shock~Zone seminars at your rally in Goshen next June, 2019. I have a lot more NSZ demonstrations set up...

With the blessing of Forum Admin, Jim Beletti, I am reposting my recent article on RV hot-skin testing here. I'll also be presenting this demonstration in a seminar at your national rally in June, 2019. I'm Mike Sokol, an expert on RV electrical hookups and safety, and writer of the...

I'm Mike Sokol from www.NoShockZone.org. Thanks for linking to my articles about RV electricity. Here's a recent video I just made about testing pedestal outlets for proper voltage, polarity and grounding. Please let me know if you have any questions about RV electric power...

Yes, that's the most important thing to do. First check it on a "turned on" outlet on the pedestal, and it should beep and/or light. Then check your RV for a hot-skin voltage. The fear is that the batteries or electronics could die and the tester wouldn't beep on a real hot skin. BTW: That's...

Please post the following to any forums you belong to. Mike Sokol from The No~Shock~Zone will appear live on the RVtravel webinar on Saturday, June 21 at noon EST. He'll be discussing RV electrical safety as well as announcing his upcoming eBook on Amazon titled "No~Shock~Zone - RV...

FYI: I'm now working on a article about something I call a reflected hot-skin condition. This occurs when a section of daisy-chained pedestals lose the main ground connection back to the service panel's G-N-E bonding point. If an RV with a hot-to-chassis short is plugged into this section of the...

I've received dozens of emails over the last year detailing where broken grounds and neutrals in the shore power cord or even the RV's breaker panel was to blame for the hot-skin condition. And while you can measure RV skin voltage to earth using a standard volt-meter, that requires a ground rod...

Are you referring to the EC&M Article, or the one in RV Education 101?

Thanks for posting my Hot-Skin article here. And yes, there's at least one mis-wiring condition than ALL EMS/Surge-Guard/Protectors will neither detect nor disconnect your RV from. I've named it an RPBG condition which causes a high-current hot-skin voltage, which is perhaps the most dangerous...

Re: Bighorn problems. If you have a hot-skin situation, the first place to check is always any adapters or extension cords plugged onto the shore power cord. While there are many quality "dog-bone" adapters available, some of the single-piece power adapters are very poorly made and can result...

Here's the basics: http://www.noshockzone.org/the-noshockzone-part-xi-%E2%80%94-extension-cord-testing/ However, any standard VOM (or DMM) is going to push so little current through the wires, that it's difficult to read low ohms, plus it can be fooled by loose and corroded connections. That's...

Jeremy, you did exactly the right thing.... didn't accept getting shocked, and didn't leave a broken pedestal for the next person to find. I believe it's socially irresponsible for anyone to simply plug into another outlet that works, leaving behind a potentially deadly situation that could kill...

Yes it should have. There would be a open ground indication and the relays should have remained open and not send power to your RV. I've done a bench test of this using a Progressive Industries Surge/Voltage protector, and it works exactly as advertised. HOWEVER if you have a portable...

Here's a video of me testing a 40-ft RV for a hot-skin condition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8h64X33aKg While I artificially created this condition in the video, it only takes two things to occur for it to happen on your RV. First, you need to have an open safety ground connection. While...

Hey, I'm Mike Sokol, the writer of the NoShockZone articles about using a Non Contact Voltage Tester (NCVT) to check your trailer for a hot-skin condition. What everyone else has said here is 100% true. And yes, you really need to document the failed pedestal outlet and bring it to the attention...

Rick, There could be a loose ground connection that would explain your hot-skin, but there's always the possibility of an RPBG in any "upgraded" pedestal using old wiring. Sadly, most electricians and inspectors don't even know that an Reverse Polarity Bootleg Grounded outlet can exist, let...

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...

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...

Great idea, Jim. I think you should also include copies of my NoShockZone article on how to use a NCVT to find an RV hot skin voltage. See http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-part-iv-%E2%80%93-hot-skin/

Agreed... Here's the best NCVT available at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100661787?productId=100661787&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&cm_sp=BazVoice-_-RLP-_-100661787-_-x#.UYl_YoLLD6Q I've tried this out on my portable demonstration hot-skin tester, and it seems to have to...

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...

For an RPBG, most certainly Yes. For an open ground, most probably no.

Ys, even a perfect ground rod won't actually "ground" your RV. Those ground rods are really for lightning protection. As I've noted before, your RV's safety ground wire must be connected back to the Neutral/Ground/Earth bonding point at the electrical service panel to carry any significant fault...

You're correct on all your points... But sadly, many RV parks don't have a certified RV technician on call, so they just move you to another pedestal and leave the mis-wired one for the next unlucky person to find. However, I couldn't live with myself if I walked away from a dangerous outlet...

He first needs to confirm that the pedestal outlet has both proper polarity as well as a properly "earthed" ground. Have him watch these videos at http://www.youtube.com/noshockzone which demonstrates how to use a NCVT (Non Contact Voltage Tester) to check for absolute outlet polarity. If it...

Actually, the earth itself is a pretty poor "ground", with a typical 8 foot ground rod measuring as much as 100 ohms, and still legal according to code. The safety ground wire in the pedestal outlet must be connected back to the service panel's Neutral/Ground/Earth bonding point, which creates...

I'm Mike Sokol, the author of the NoShockZone article mentioned in this thread. Please see my article at http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-part-iv-%E2%80%93-hot-skin/ about how to use a Non-Contact Voltage Tester for check for a hot skin condition. Yes, you most likely have a...

Re: Spring reminder - think electrical saftey So I tracked down the author of this article, and he happens to be a good friend of mine and fellow RV expert Gary Bunzer. I think your reference to his article describing using a Fluke VoltAlert to test an unplugged RV is in error. That is, he was...

Re: Spring reminder - think electrical saftey Yes, I've actually experimented with this and discussed the topic with a few power companies. It's a well known fact among lineman that if they park their truck under high-tension lines that they need to jump clear of the truck when getting to the...

Re: Spring reminder - think electrical saftey Thanks for posting this. It's always good to review electrical safety procedures since it's very easy to get complacent around electricity. I have a new series of electrical safety articles I'm working on for the RV and Pro-Audio industry including...

Everyone.... I'm working on a really simple and safe test method for checking the continuity of RV frame grounds as well as the ground connections in all extension cord and dog-bone/pig-tail adapters. This method uses a substantial fault current which is much more robust than any digital ohm...

Please pass on the links www.noshockzone.org and www.youtube.com/howtoseminars to any other forums you're on. Public education about shore power hookups is the key to keeping everybody safe while enjoying your RVs. And let me know if there's anything I can do to help. (and no, I won't back up...

You're welcome... If your RV is wired correctly, the pedestal outlet has a properly bonded safety ground, and all your extension cords and dogbone/pigtail adapters are perfect, then you should NEVER feel any sort of shock while touching your RV. However, a single break in any part of your...

I'm Mike Sokol, the author of the No~Shock~Zone articles and videos. Please read this: http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-part-iv-%E2%80%93-hot-skin/ and watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8h64X33aKg&feature=plcp You may contact me directly if you have any...

I see there was another electrocution death in the news. This happened to a women who jumped into an irrigation ditch shile trying to save a dog being shocked by bad irrigation pump wiring. Then the two men who tried to save her were electrocuted and died as well...

I'll be around the Hershey show all day on Saturday, and Gary B. says the Saturday seminars are the best attended. However, if anybody else has a booth at the show and would like me to do a 15 minute No~Shock~Zone demonstration sometime during the day, send me a PM.

My day at the Hershey RV show with Gary Bunzer has changed to Saturday. I'll be doing a No~Shock~Zone presentation sometime during his 5 PM to 7 PM time slot on AC power. Are any of you going to be there? If so, say hello if you see me. :D

If any of you will be at the Hershey RV show next month, I'll be making a guest appearance with Gary Bunzer (the RV Doctor) at his AC voltage seminar on Saturday Sept 15th where I'll be demonstrating hot-skin testing. I'll also be hanging around the show all day kicking tires, so if you see my...

Yup, I actually have four different testers for my grounding experiments. Originally called a GLIT (Ground Loop Impedance Tester) my first Circuit Tester from the 70's was made by a UK company called Woodhead. I now also have an Ideal SureTest, an Amprobe INSP-3, and an Extech CT-70 on my test...