Hot skin issue please help

beemerphile1 wrote:
I very much doubt it is an open ground. Most likely it is a case of reversed polarity. Read this;
http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-part-iv-%E2%80%93-hot-skin/

Then also read this;
http://www.noshockzone.org/category/rv-safety/

If you read my NoShockZone articles carefully, you'll see that a standard "reversed polarity" (swapped neutral and hot) outlet will NOT cause a hot-skin condition on a properly wired RV with its own neutral and safety ground separated according to NEC and RVIA code.

However, there is one very dangerous outlet condition I've named an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground) outlet, which sometimes occurs when an old ungrounded outlet is "upgraded" to a grounded outlet by putting a jumper wire between the neutral and ground screws, rather than running a new ground wire. If the incoming hot and neutral wires have been accidentally swapped, then the ground and neutral contacts in the outlet will be at 120-volt above earth ground, while the hot contact will be at earth potential. This creates a condition where the entire skin of the RV has a low-impedance connection to 120-volts, which is the most dangerous hot-skin condition possible. But, crazy as it seems, the entire RV will appear to operate properly even though its wired "upside down". And there's no 3-light tester in the world that will detect an RPBG condition, nor can you measure for it using a voltmeter across H-N, H-G and G-N contacts in the receptacle. The ONLY ways to detect this condition is to measure the trailer skin/chassis voltage to an earth ground (ground rod) or by using a Non Contact Voltage Tester (NCVT) such as a Fluke VoltAlert. Please read my article about RPBG dangers and how to test for them on Gary Bunzer's site (The RV Doctor) at RPBG Outlets

I'm an advocate for everyone testing their RV's for hot-skin conditions using an NCVT which are available anywhere for $20 or so. Typically used by electricians to see if an outlet is "hot", they can be used a a very safe and simple proximity test for an RV hot-skin condition. Watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8h64X33aKg where I hot-skin electrify a 40-ft RV and test for it with a Non Contact Voltage Tester.

Mike Sokol
mike@noshockzone.org