HOT Trailer

[Niles]

If it's going to be weird, it's going to happen to me. Tried changing steps the other day(another story in itself), and as I'm sweating as an old fat guy does, I feel a little tickle. Not the wife, it seems according to my little hot stick that the trailer is full of electric. Meaning all over, I'm sure I have a hot ground somewhere, but where. Anybody know where a junction box is other than under the kitchen slide, checked that one seems good. It's on a 2008 3670RL. Any suggestions? Oh the water heater is good, that was my 1st thought, #2 thought GFI, changed it just to be sure, still one HOT trailer. Waiting on wife's hair to unwine.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Take a deep breath. You might have an open ground at the power post that is hot. It only takes one rig to have a hot chassis in a power run at a park to make all rigs hot if the parks power ground is open. I check with a meter each time I hook up. If you are home and plugged in, you may have a problem with the socket you are plugged into. So it may not be your rig. I have a Progressive Surge Protector mounted internally that will not allow the power to turn on if there is an open ground. If you have a power reel, you need to check the connections inside the reel. Unplug and pull the cable out all the way. Open the hatch, held on with eight screws and this will expose the terminals. If you do not have a power reel then the connections on the Power Plug. Next the connections at your breaker box. But first unplug and check between the ground pin on your power cable and your chassis. If is a few ohms, then it is your power source that has a hot ground. It is a good thing to check all connections I have listed for loose connections anyway. Loose power connections will have high resistance and can cause a fire. A loose neutral can cause over/under voltage to all your AC equipment and burn them out. If you are not comfortable with AC power, then take you rig in to be checked.

 

[MikeR]

Go to the following web site and read it: noshockzone.org/are-little-shocks-ok/ Clearing up your problem is extremely important.

 

[alexb2000]

Why not turn off breakers one at a time and when you don't feel it anymore that will tell you the circuit and it will be a lot easier to narrow down?

If none of the breakers stop the shock then you have a short to chassis on one of the hot legs coming from shore power to the main panel.

 

[mlpeloquin]

If the chassis is hot and his chassis is grounded as it should be, the breaker would trip. There is a missing AC power ground somewhere. And the power ground that is hot may not be in the fifth wheel.

 

[Gaffer]

Check your neutral and ground connections starting with the service receptacle then moving to the supply cord and then the connections in the load center.

 

[Niles]

Guess I should of went a little farther in the 1st post. I have a surge protector, and this is happening at home and at a campground we just went to. If I turn the main breaker off (50 amp) the trailer is not hot, this make me believe that the connections at my power reel are ok. Now when I turn the main breaker on again and everything goes hot, I turn off one breaker at a time. There are 4 to 5 breakers that seem to dispose of the hot problem. GFI, Slide, bedroom and I think fireplace. Are these wired together somewhere or at lease on the same ground wire? And it has never tripped a breaker. I did replace the GFI just because it seems to cause a lot of issues throughout the trailer when it trips so thought it might be a good place to start. Thanks for all the advice and I'm welcoming more.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Turn all breakers off. The turn on the main breaker. If the chassis is not hot, the turn on only one breaker. Check to see if if the chassis is hot, if not, close that breaker and turn on the next one. Do this until the one that makes the chassis hot is found. Find all sockets that are on the breaker using a tester. Can even be a light or a touchless voltage tester. Mark each with some painters tape. If some are on a slide, check the junction box on the bottom of the slide. Also check the wires under the corners of the slide. I had one set cut into by the metal backing for the sweep seal under the slide when retracted. Lucky that this was a ground wire. You will have to inspect the wiring in each electrical box to see if the problem is in it. All electrical junctions are made in accessible junction boxes, like under the slides, or in the plug boxes.

Cut ground wire under the slide. Open ground I had to find. This was not the socket with the open ground but where it was open.

 

[Mattman]

Motors can be a good place for these hot bleed offs that won't trip the breaker. Refrigerator compressor motors, AC motors. But turning them on 1 at a time should help you narrow it down. Unplug everything you can to. Could have an appliance going bad. Does turning your main breaker off clear it? Could you have a short in your cord? Bleeding over onto the groubd?
Let us know when you find it.

 

[Niles]

Sorry it has taken so long for me to get back to this problem. It seems that a few months ago I fried a converter, with a water leak. So we replaced the converter, and now I'm sure this is were our problem is. If I turn off the breaker for the converter the hot trailer is no more. Just to be sure I changed the plug to a different one(central vac) and the trailer is hot again, turn off the breaker for central-vac, and we no longer have a issue. I'm guessing there is a short inside the converter causing this problem. It goes to UPS tomorrow to be sent back and a replacement on the way. And the great thing is it's still covered. I'll let you know if it doesn't solve the problem, but I'm almost certain. And with that statement I'll go knock on some wood.