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philgr's avatar
philgr
Explorer
Jun 02, 2014

Effect of High Tension Power Lines

In our area, many of the RV storage centers (including mine) are located under high tension power transmission lines. When parked under the lines, touching any metal part of my 5th wheel gives me quite a buzz. My real concern however is what is this doing to my RV and its electronics. There are a lot of RVs at these places, so my first inclination is to think that if there really was a problem, everybody would have left. Maybe however, they are doing something that I am not doing. Does anyone have any experience with damage caused by being in close proximity to power transmission lines? Is there anything that can be done to mitigate this problem short of moving to a different, e.g. farther away location?

18 Replies

  • The high voltage lines (13K 66K 220K 500K 1M) are NOT insulated so there is a LOT of induced voltage from those lines.

    Yes you can light up a fluorescent light, yes you can feel a buzz but your on-board electronics are OK
  • Bull Rider wrote:


    No tinfoil hat about it, I to got shocked once when parked under a high power lines with my older class C I use to own, I have also seen fluorescent lights light up when holding them under high power lines.
  • philgr wrote:
    Thanks for the feedback. For Rockintom, the RV is not plugged in at the storage facility. I saw the earlier post from 2oldman, but I don't remember seeing anything there about any actual damage being caused by parking under high tension lines. That is really what I am interested in.


    I'm learning a lot here. I've not experienced this.
  • Thanks for the feedback. For Rockintom, the RV is not plugged in at the storage facility. I saw the earlier post from 2oldman, but I don't remember seeing anything there about any actual damage being caused by parking under high tension lines. That is really what I am interested in.
  • I had the same thing happen at a campground two yrs ago that had high tension lines within a few hundred feet. I was getting a shock off of the frame. Using my voltage meter I measured about 8v AC. I thought I had a bad ground in the fiver but when I got home, the voltage was 0. Amazing what electricity can do.
  • I've heard of high tension power lines having RFI that could cause an issue like playing havok with a keyless remote signal, but not causing an electrical buzz when touching the RV. Is your RV plugged in? If so, may be a grounding issue. Just my thoughts. rockin'