RV "Hot Skin" and GFCI?
Yesterday I discovered I had the troubling “hot skin” condition. After some troubleshooting and testing of different configurations, I determined I could only resolve the hot skin condition by physica...
Forum Discussion
The earth I stand on is the conductor I am joined to. Without entering an arena of idiotic semantics the only point of issue that I deal with when discussing "hot skin is "The other point of conduction, the earth my feet trod"
A bit of reality versus E=MC2
Owner of property I was renting in Mexico pshaw-ed my claim that he had a massive leak that caused a potential between the concrete stops set in earth and the earth the steps were set in. Meter showed a potentially lethal voltage of 122V.
I am going to make this hopefully crustal clear - the concrete steps were set atop earth. Neighbor children were complaining of getting severe shocks when going barefoot. Step onto the first concrete step and BZZZZZZT!
Being I had no screw in light bulbs handy I went to the hardware store and purchased a sixty watt incandescent lamp, base, and wire.
I brought the doubting property owner to the site. Stuck one stripped wire end into the ground then scratched the other bared wire tip across the concrete step.
The lamp flared to full brightness for a moment then dimmed. Remove step wire and wait. A second later another scratch across the step brought forth another flash of the bulb.
You can argue this point 'till the cows come home...
And not fix the problem...
I hired two laborers with promises of a case of beer to dig up the buried service entrance lead.
Tah...Dah!
Forty feet from the house there was a splice made in the entry lead. Two wires, twisted and taped. 2nd Tah...Dah. When wires were lifted from earth the shocks stopped.
YEAH! Why Oh why oh why oh why?
Didn't the electrical leakage simply jump from taped up line splice to taped up neutral splice. Six inches away? Oh tell me oh tell me oh tell me...
Well, it didn't and that's the important part isn't it? Sometimes things do not pencil out.
I re-spliced soldered then shrank tubing over the faults. End of problem.
By establishing a leak is current limited then shunting that leak to earth-tierra firma-ground the electrocution problem is resolved.
In the case of the OP's problem it means bonding the rig to earth, the stuff you plant seeds in. not trusting that somewhere else in the park a "bootstrap" ground has been made either by accident or negligence.
I bond Quicksilver to the earth whenever I am plugged into shore power. Being the recipient of a new pacemaker my concerns over this issue have been refreshed.
Isolation of the cause can be undertaken only after the EFFECTS have been neutralized.
Bear with my nagging - when I earth bond directly there are no issues nor can there ever be issues with Quicksilver ever getting a hot skin. Impossible. I stake my life on it.
A bit of reality versus E=MC2
Owner of property I was renting in Mexico pshaw-ed my claim that he had a massive leak that caused a potential between the concrete stops set in earth and the earth the steps were set in. Meter showed a potentially lethal voltage of 122V.
I am going to make this hopefully crustal clear - the concrete steps were set atop earth. Neighbor children were complaining of getting severe shocks when going barefoot. Step onto the first concrete step and BZZZZZZT!
Being I had no screw in light bulbs handy I went to the hardware store and purchased a sixty watt incandescent lamp, base, and wire.
I brought the doubting property owner to the site. Stuck one stripped wire end into the ground then scratched the other bared wire tip across the concrete step.
The lamp flared to full brightness for a moment then dimmed. Remove step wire and wait. A second later another scratch across the step brought forth another flash of the bulb.
You can argue this point 'till the cows come home...
And not fix the problem...
I hired two laborers with promises of a case of beer to dig up the buried service entrance lead.
Tah...Dah!
Forty feet from the house there was a splice made in the entry lead. Two wires, twisted and taped. 2nd Tah...Dah. When wires were lifted from earth the shocks stopped.
YEAH! Why Oh why oh why oh why?
Didn't the electrical leakage simply jump from taped up line splice to taped up neutral splice. Six inches away? Oh tell me oh tell me oh tell me...
Well, it didn't and that's the important part isn't it? Sometimes things do not pencil out.
I re-spliced soldered then shrank tubing over the faults. End of problem.
By establishing a leak is current limited then shunting that leak to earth-tierra firma-ground the electrocution problem is resolved.
In the case of the OP's problem it means bonding the rig to earth, the stuff you plant seeds in. not trusting that somewhere else in the park a "bootstrap" ground has been made either by accident or negligence.
I bond Quicksilver to the earth whenever I am plugged into shore power. Being the recipient of a new pacemaker my concerns over this issue have been refreshed.
Isolation of the cause can be undertaken only after the EFFECTS have been neutralized.
Bear with my nagging - when I earth bond directly there are no issues nor can there ever be issues with Quicksilver ever getting a hot skin. Impossible. I stake my life on it.
