Hey there everyone! New to the forums and I need a bit of electrical help. I've got 2 RVs, well a 5th wheel and an RV, one I live in and its fixed in place pretty much, it's a 35 foot old as dirt 5th wheel from I wanna say the late 80s or early 90s.... No idea TBH lol. Anyways it just sits there on the first, flat tires, been leveled and we ran two 120v 30amp wires from a warehouse nearby on the same property via a pole then dropped that down into a set of 2x2 plugs. The 5th wheel plugs into one of those plugs and some other stuff into the other 3. Anyways I think I need to ground this beezy and should ground this thing because I've got a lot of expensive electronics and radios in here and lately I've noticed a drop in my swr consistent with a bad ground so I've got an 8 foot copper grounding rod. I've got the clamps and 6awg wire. Now do I drive it in next to the pole, then run the ground from inside the outlet to the rid and then strip the paint from a section of the hull and clamp a wire from there to the same rod or what? Keep in mind I'm pretty poor even though I have some nice electronics (I saved forever or bought junk and broken stuff and fixed it) and I just straight out can't afford a lot of stuff. Asking the people who own the property and ran the wires and pole for he isn't a good idea, they won't do it or don't care and the less contact we have right now the better. So what to do? Ground rid bybpoke, poke to ground then clamp on frame to same ground? I've seen mobile homes call for 2 rods but they're wired totally different. Oh yeah it 120 not 240. Any help here would be great and anyone travelling to Sequoia National Park up the 198 hwy drop me a msg to BBQ

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

Keep in mind your normal TRAILER SKIN GROUNDING is accomplished through the SHORE POWER three wire connection to 120VAc SOURCE connections...Pretty much like this campground PEDESTAL drawing is done... google imageMake sure your SHORE POWER connections are to code using one of these 120VAc CIRCUIT TESTERS...Also be sure your 30AMP SERVICE is measured with a MULTIMETER and conform to these readings between the three shore power connections...30A SERVICENOTE: you want to see a very low AC reading between the NEUTRAL and GROUND wire connections coming from the 120AC SOURCE...If extension cords are involved here coming from the 120VAc Source connections all three conductors must be used. Some folks like to cut the ground terminals off their extension cords for whatever reasons... I use heavy duty contractor grade 10-GAUGE YELLOW COLOR Extension Cords here...My OFF-ROAD POPUP TRAILER setup has this layout with external Ham Radio antennas installed on the roof edge around my popup roof. The only time I have ever drove a copper rod into the ground for these antennas was when I was using RG COAX feeding my OFF-CENETER all band 75M through 10M Wire Antenna. This is up in the air approximately 25-feet at the feed point point and may be as high as 40-50 feet up into some tree limbs connections... The overall length of the antenna wires are at 135 Feet long but fed off center. Separately Grounding the RG Coax outer braid helps big time with this antenna. The other roof mounted antennas are only grounded to the metal flange of the roof. My TARHEEL SCREWDRIVER Antenna is grounded to the lower frame of the POPUP trailer with a separate wire and works just fine for the 75M through 40M bands it is most used for... I have two 5-foot sections of 3-inch tripod tower sections that fold down to the rear bumper of the trailer. When folded up I use a metal center conductor section up the middle of the tower sections to get up to around 25-feet off the ground to hold my wire antenna center section for my OFF-CENTER 135-foot wire antenna. Then I get the wire leads up into the trees that gives me a INVERTERD VEE so to speak with the center feed at 25-feet above my trailer and the outer wires up around 40-50 supported by high tree limbs keeping my VEE angle as shallow as possible... This out-performs my TARHEEL Screwdriver antenna big time haha... My HF RADIO is a ICOM 706MKII using remote head... My VHF/UHF radio is a Kenwood TM-V708A... My second VHF/UHF antenna on my POPUP trailer roof feeds a scanner radio...Roy's image All of my Ham Radio RG cables outer coax are separately grounded here at my permanent setup locations at my house using a large copper rod going into the ground where my HAM Radio antenna Coax leaves the structure area...Been doing this OFF-ROAD Ham Radio operations using this setup since 2009... I also have about the same capability installed in my truck as well including the TARHEEL Screwdriver antenna and two VHF/UHF side mount antennas.My original love was getting up into the wooded high country between VA and WVA behind Harrisonburg VA along the winding state line and running ECOM nets with our MARS RADIO nets... That part has all closed down now so about all I get to do now is just do alot of yaking on the radios anymore...All of this is definitely a dying breed anymore...Roy Ken

Primary electric grounding should be through a wire back to the main supply panel.

The only thing missing from Roy's diagram above is a new NEMA requirement for a second ground rod placed 8' form the first. They are to be connected by a single, continuous 6 awg wire buried 3~4" in the ground.

I would drive that ground rod in some place close that sees consistent moisture and ground it straight to your frame. Also double check your power inlet to ensure a good ground connection to the pedestal.I remember in areas with a low water table we would S roll a ground wire from the radio beneath our dipoles to help out with an artificial ground plane.I remember living in remote locations such as Kenya back in the day and how great an asset it was to us to have the MARS folks to do relays through.

Grounding fixed in place 5th wheel | Good Sam Community

Tiger02
Explorer
Jun 14, 2017
I would drive that ground rod in some place close that sees consistent moisture and ground it straight to your frame. Also double check your power inlet to ensure a good ground connection to the pedestal.

I remember in areas with a low water table we would S roll a ground wire from the radio beneath our dipoles to help out with an artificial ground plane.

I remember living in remote locations such as Kenya back in the day and how great an asset it was to us to have the MARS folks to do relays through.
ScottG
Nomad
Jun 14, 2017
The only thing missing from Roy's diagram above is a new NEMA requirement for a second ground rod placed 8' form the first. They are to be connected by a single, continuous 6 awg wire buried 3~4" in the ground.
time2roll
Nomad
Jun 14, 2017
Primary electric grounding should be through a wire back to the main supply panel.
RoyB
Explorer II
Jun 14, 2017
Keep in mind your normal TRAILER SKIN GROUNDING is accomplished through the SHORE POWER three wire connection to 120VAc SOURCE connections...

Pretty much like this campground PEDESTAL drawing is done...

google image

Make sure your SHORE POWER connections are to code using one of these 120VAc CIRCUIT TESTERS...

Also be sure your 30AMP SERVICE is measured with a MULTIMETER and conform to these readings between the three shore power connections...

30A SERVICE

NOTE: you want to see a very low AC reading between the NEUTRAL and GROUND wire connections coming from the 120AC SOURCE...

If extension cords are involved here coming from the 120VAc Source connections all three conductors must be used. Some folks like to cut the ground terminals off their extension cords for whatever reasons...

I use heavy duty contractor grade 10-GAUGE YELLOW COLOR Extension Cords here...

My OFF-ROAD POPUP TRAILER setup has this layout with external Ham Radio antennas installed on the roof edge around my popup roof. The only time I have ever drove a copper rod into the ground for these antennas was when I was using RG COAX feeding my OFF-CENETER all band 75M through 10M Wire Antenna. This is up in the air approximately 25-feet at the feed point point and may be as high as 40-50 feet up into some tree limbs connections... The overall length of the antenna wires are at 135 Feet long but fed off center. Separately Grounding the RG Coax outer braid helps big time with this antenna. The other roof mounted antennas are only grounded to the metal flange of the roof. My TARHEEL SCREWDRIVER Antenna is grounded to the lower frame of the POPUP trailer with a separate wire and works just fine for the 75M through 40M bands it is most used for... I have two 5-foot sections of 3-inch tripod tower sections that fold down to the rear bumper of the trailer. When folded up I use a metal center conductor section up the middle of the tower sections to get up to around 25-feet off the ground to hold my wire antenna center section for my OFF-CENTER 135-foot wire antenna. Then I get the wire leads up into the trees that gives me a INVERTERD VEE so to speak with the center feed at 25-feet above my trailer and the outer wires up around 40-50 supported by high tree limbs keeping my VEE angle as shallow as possible... This out-performs my TARHEEL Screwdriver antenna big time haha... My HF RADIO is a ICOM 706MKII using remote head... My VHF/UHF radio is a Kenwood TM-V708A... My second VHF/UHF antenna on my POPUP trailer roof feeds a scanner radio...

Roy's image

All of my Ham Radio RG cables outer coax are separately grounded here at my permanent setup locations at my house using a large copper rod going into the ground where my HAM Radio antenna Coax leaves the structure area...

Been doing this OFF-ROAD Ham Radio operations using this setup since 2009... I also have about the same capability installed in my truck as well including the TARHEEL Screwdriver antenna and two VHF/UHF side mount antennas.

My original love was getting up into the wooded high country between VA and WVA behind Harrisonburg VA along the winding state line and running ECOM nets with our MARS RADIO nets... That part has all closed down now so about all I get to do now is just do alot of yaking on the radios anymore...

All of this is definitely a dying breed anymore...

Roy Ken
BarneyS
Explorer III
Jun 14, 2017
Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

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