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gat75's avatar
gat75
Explorer
Apr 13, 2015

Got shocked while washing trailer

My neighbor has a FR Heritage Glenn Lite bumper pull that is just past a year old; (no more warranty). He just told me that he was shocked while kneeling & hand-washing top of RV.

He was washing the alum trim pc that seals the front cap to main roof body.

He furthur stated that he did not get shocked when he had just washed the other roof areas where the other alum strips were located.

He unplugged shore power & finished the job with no more shocks.
Anybody have a clue on what might be causing the problem?
  • Raften wrote:
    Who the heck washes a trailer while plugged in?


    Why not.........

    They get rained on while plugged in.
  • BFL13 wrote:
    One way to get a GFCI fault is to get the outside receptacle wet. He was washing his rig when this happened. So..... ?

    The problem is not a GFCI fault, it is a hot skin. Someone threw in a comment about a GFCI fault just to muddy the water.
  • Bobbo wrote:
    BFL13 wrote:
    One way to get a GFCI fault is to get the outside receptacle wet. He was washing his rig when this happened. So..... ?

    The problem is not a GFCI fault, it is a hot skin. Someone threw in a comment about a GFCI fault just to muddy the water.
    I added testing for a ground fault but let me clarify.

    The rig has an open ground that needs to be resolved and fixed. And something is causing the skin to be "hot" which is a ground fault or leak to the frame. The frame won't be hot after fixing the open ground but the current leak to ground or ground fault may still exist. After fixing the open ground plugging into a GFCI will trip if indeed the current leakage is 5ma or greater.

    It other words the rig in question may have 2 problems that need to be fixed:
    1. Open ground
    2. Ground fault

    It's a good idea to plug your RV into a GFCI plug periodically to make sure you don't have a ground fault. If OK turn on various appliances one at a time to test them.

    If further testing using a GFCI plug muddies the water then so be it.
  • Bobbo wrote:
    BFL13 wrote:
    One way to get a GFCI fault is to get the outside receptacle wet. He was washing his rig when this happened. So..... ?

    The problem is not a GFCI fault, it is a hot skin. Someone threw in a comment about a GFCI fault just to muddy the water.


    I don't know the electrical details so my terminology is not to be trusted.

    ISTR past threads where they got a tingle from the trailer skin or frame while doing something and it turned out the problem was GFCI related.

    Once they plugged the shore cord into a GFCI receptacle it popped, revealing the problem, and after fixing what was causing that, the tingle problem wet away too. Can't say which is chicken and which is egg for that.

    Usually the shore power cord adapter being out in a puddle or some such reason to do with rain IIRC.

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