RV Hot Skin. Mystery solved!

[sgtsteve]

Hi all,
Turns out there were two wires crossed in my garage's fuse box. I've owned this old house for 18 months and the garage is also quite old. I am not an electrician, but my contractor buddy said there were two sets of wires in the fuse box that should have been black to white and black to white. Instead I had black to white and white to black. The 2nd set was the problem. As soon as my buddy switched the second set to black to white, everything was fine. This problem never affected the lights and other interior garage outlets or anything else I plugged into them. However, once i added an exterior outlet for the trailer, the problem surfaced. I still am going to have the fuse box replaced with an updated electrical panel and the outlet for the trailer switched to a proper GFI outlet. I am just so thankful my wife is doing much better and the issue wasn't with the trailer. She initially was refusing to ever use the trailer again, but now is warming (no pun intended) up to the idea of camping again.

[time2roll]

Sounds like reverse polarity and that recommended 3-light tester would have immediately shown the issue.
Good to hear the issue has been fixed.

[Bobbo]

Back before the days of 3 prong outlets, it was common knowledge that if you got a tingle when you touched an electrical appliance, you turned the plug over and plugged it back in.

What you experienced is called "reverse polarity."

[CavemanCharlie]

Thanks for letting us know. I was wondering if you ever found the problem.

[wa8yxm]

There is a device called a 3-light outlet tester
ideally you see green, green, dark
You'd have seen dark, green red
or Green, dark, red
(The label tells you what the problem is based on the pattern)

A handy tool and only a few dollars.

I even have one I made for 12 volt sockets (Back in the 70s many were bass ackwards) You plug in and see Green, Red or Yello
Green: Good
Red: Backwards
Yellow: Socket is AC

[enblethen]

Suggest installing a dedicated min 30 amp 30-TT receptacle and circuit.
Doesn't have to GFCI. 15/20 receptacle has to be.

[Bobbo]

wopachop wrote:

sgtsteve wrote:
I still am going to have the fuse box replaced with an updated electrical panel and the outlet for the trailer switched to a proper GFI outlet.

Sounds like a good time to get yourself a dedicated 30 or 50a outlet for the trailer. Super easy to do when you get your new service panel installed.

And, you can even GFCI protect it with a GFCI breaker if you wish.

[CA_Traveler]

Thanks for letting us know the resolution.

Excellent plan to use a GFCI plug for the RV which will trip for any future issue and hopefully there won't be any.

[SDcampowneroper]

Very glad to see you resolved the issue. Been watching your original post.
We had a hot skin issue when parked at a relatives yard, Dog got shocked hard,because of our shoes we didnt. A open neutral fixed easily. Dog had to be lifted into the rig for the rest of his life.