Getting shocked.

mudbud255 wrote:
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We had our daughter try it barefoot also and as long as they are standing barefoot on the ground when they touch the metal on the trailer they get shocked. .....

snip.......

wow. like, just, oh wow......

First thing, unplug it!

Next Google trailer hot skin and you will learn a lot of good repairs as well as bad information.

First thing I would check is polarity on the outlet at the house.

The only way your trailer sees the frame grounding is through the three wire connection you make to your house...

You really have to respect this as what may just be a tingle shock to you might have real bad results to someone else or a small animal etc... UNPLUG your cables until you figure out what is wrong...

Two things to check... You have to be sure your are using all three conductors. Sometime folks cut off the GROUND PIN on the extension cords for some reason.

Then you need to check to see if the receptacle is wired properly... I use one of those CIRCUIT TESTERS from LOWES plugged into the 120VAC Receptacle in the house side... It will tell you the ground is not connected properly.


I also always use a 10 gauge (10-3) HD contractor grade extension cord... However a 12 GAUGE will work also. The smaller gauges red/orange 16-gauge cables from the WALMART is too small and will get hot on you especially if you are using your air conditioner.

I also always use the RV30A-15A LONG DOGBONE type RV adapters that looks like this..


Using the small round adapters would always get hot for me and eventually will burn up your good cords...

Roy Ken

RoyB wrote:
The only way your trailer sees the frame grounding is through the three wire connection you make to your house...

Or, in this case, the kids are grounding the trailer. :S

Yes Royb I have a contractor grade extension cord, I believe it's 10 gauge and the same adapter plug that you have pictured. The kids without shoes on, are they acting like a ground audio 0 they touch the camper. My daughter was fine until she came out and was standing on the steps.

Problem has to be with the receptacle then in the house side... Need to measure them....

Sometimes the ground wires gets not installed and has becomes diconnected some how...

I lucked on my house setup and had an abandoned 20AMP circuit where previous owner had an air compressor setup... This was the only thing being used on this circuit breaker in the house... With the breaker being 20AMPS I got to use more juice haha...

This is going to be a great thing for you to have when camping. lots of times I have run into I needed to power up from a house 15/20AMP receptable. Great to have it all working good...

Try a different receptacle location perhaps but it best to use a tester to know for sure it is wired properly on the house side... Mine only cost arund $10 as I recall from LOWES.

Hopefully your 30AMP shore power plug doesn't look like this one. This is what happens to them when you don't use the lohg DOGBONE type RV Adapter..


Roy Ken

you probably have a couple of issues. One the extension cord maybe and two, the outside receptacle should be ground fault based and should have trip previously and three, possibly a ground / neutral issue in the trailer wiring.

RoyB wrote:
The only way your trailer sees the frame grounding is through the three wire connection you make to your house...

You really have to respect this as what may just be a tingle shock to you might have real bad results to someone else or a small animal etc... UNPLUG your cables until you figure out what is wrong...

Two things to check... You have to be sure your are using all three conductors. Sometime folks cut off the GROUND PIN on the extension cords for some reason.

Then you need to check to see if the receptacle is wired properly... I use one of those CIRCUIT TESTERS from LOWES plugged into the 120VAC Receptacle in the house side... It will tell you the ground is not connected properly.


I also always use a 10 gauge (10-3) HD contractor grade extension cord... However a 12 GAUGE will work also. The smaller gauges red/orange 16-gauge cables from the WALMART is too small and will get hot on you especially if you are using your air conditioner.

I also always use the RV30A-15A LONG DOGBONE type RV adapters that looks like this..


Using the small round adapters would always get hot for me and eventually will burn up your good cords...

Roy Ken

X10!
I have this same tester. IMHO the best thing you can buy for your RV.


It 'clearly' tells you what is wrong so you know what to look for. I actually LEAVE this tester plugged in, 'inside' my RV so if anything changes I know right away. It's plugged in above the sink.

Sounds like you have an 'open ground' where YOU become the ground.

As a side note I too most certainly would NOT allow your children to be messing with what could be a dangerous electrical problem.

Ok thanks everyone. I found culprit. The heavy duty extension cord I was using must be bad. I had another one and we swapped it, now no-one is getting shocked. Thank you for all the suggestions. We are all packed and ready to go. We leave Thursday for a 5 day trip to the springs. It will be our maiden voyage, I'm super excited. Again thanks everyone.