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dave17352's avatar
dave17352
Explorer
Jul 29, 2014

small electrical charge on truck camper frame

I have a interesting situation where every once in a while, not often I can feel a small electrical charge on my truck camper aluminum frame or door latch. I believe it is only with the 12 volt system. Not the 120. On my last trip I pulled over and sure enough I could feel it when opening the door. At first I thought I had a metal sliver in my finger tip, but nope it was electrical. I got back in my truck and drove on further and it hasn't returned. But I could actually feel it on my truck body also at the time. Traced down my line from the truck battery to the camper and found nothing there. Any ideas how to find this culprit.

This is my 1998 Lance 980 truck camper .

Thanks

37 Replies

  • "An RV Hot-Skin condition occurs when the frame of the vehicle is no longer at the same voltage potential as the earth around it. This is usually due to an improper power plug connection at a campsite or garage AC outlet"

    Yep...there goes that grounding thing again...
  • ....there exists something called: RV hot skin. This condition (when camper is plugged into AC, among other scenarios) causes the camper "skin" and any camper metal (like door frames, metal stairs and anything metal connected to camper ground) to go electrically live.

    This isn't something to ignore. Under the right conditions, it could kill ANY warm-blooded animal (human, dog, cat, anything) in seconds.

    It is recommended that virtually every camper should be tested every time it is taken out, for this condition.

    This is too complicated to go into in this Post. Have a read here-->
  • Reddog1 wrote:
    I'm thinking static electricity.

    Wayne


    I have the same problem with the new shopping carts at a local grocery store.

    :(
  • Something is not properly grounded...
    I'd start with your wiring harness.

    Unplug the harness from truck and see if you still get zapped...

    B
  • If it was happening all the time, I would think a multi-meter would tell you which circuit was bleeding.
  • Did you just install new seat covers before this started to happen?
    Try not to slide across the seat before getting out.