Shocked When Touching RV

[Oilman]

Today while working on my RV I noticed when I knelled down on the damp ground and touching a metal portion of the RV I would receive a mild shock.

I have the RV plugged into a 15 amp home outlet using an extension cord and standard 30 to 15 amp adapter. The plug on the extension cord is missing the ground prong. I realize using that cord was my first mistake.

What I am trying to determine is if that alone is my problem. Even if the ground was missing as it was should current be running through the RV the way it is or does that indicate a different problem? Thoughts?

Tim

[Harvard]

Rmcgrath53 wrote:
My neighbor had the same problem. It turned out to be the electrodes in the hot water tank were fried. He had winterized the camper and drained the tank but did not turn the switch off on electric and he was still using the camper pluged to the pedestal. It took a while to figure it out

He had to have an OPEN GROUND conductor (the primary fault) in order for him to feel any ill effects of the second fault in the water tank. With a properly grounded frame the tank problem may have caused a breaker to trip, maybe not, but the skin would not be hot to cause a tingle.

[Rmcgrath53]

My neighbor had the same problem. It turned out to be the electrodes in the hot water tank were fried. He had winterized the camper and drained the tank but did not turn the switch off on electric and he was still using the camper pluged to the pedestal. It took a while to figure it out

[jbarry]

To the OP...you might want to have a look at this link.

No Shock Zone

[Gene_Ginny]

wolfe10 wrote:
Check for missing GROUND connection at the outlet or extension cord.....

OP already said the ground was missing.

[Gene_Ginny]

Oilman wrote:
... The plug on the extension cord is missing the ground prong. I realize using that cord was my first mistake....

Yes, you will get a shock when the ground is missing even when there is nothing else wrong with the wiring.

This situation seems to get posted frequently.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"If the fault current is not high enough to trip the supply protection, even with your own "earth" connection, you can receive a shock between the fault & the earth."

Try it sometime. I managed to pass 75 amps of 120vac dead short through such a ground wire jumper. Then I connected in series a 500 watt quartz (is this enough of a shock?)light in series to a TT with the jack insulated. A deadly series connection through the light and to the trailer skin. Lamp did not glow.

252 Volts potential between the trailer and earth ground. 500 watts of potential fault. Opened power switch, connected grounding rod, and jumper wire, threw switch and there was ZERO potential between trailer and earth ground. Oh yeah the quartz lamp was blazing mightily. For an hour. The idiot of of a Mexican Engineer (structural) who had argued this point stomped off.

ELECTRICAL IS UNFORGIVING. I spent several hours recently with an unstable heartbeat because of my sheer idiotic laziness. Did not want to reach for the gloves.

I do not ever intent to MIRACLE GAZE at some over-used under-tended RV park receptacle and wonder "what it looks like" on the other side. ONE CORRODED STRAND of ground wire can out-stupid the finest, most expensive "connection tester" available to the general consumer. The connection can read PERFECT! GREEN! And then fail when a too slight ground fault completes the connection degradation. I ain't no freakin' guinea pig. I have seen people blown on their ass, asssssuming a connection meets code. And others with vertical hair because they were sure their Mother Fletcher's Do It Yourself Tester would not fail them. I am just a stupid Electrical Engineer. I intend to stay merely stupid and not Dead Stupid.

[allen8106]

I had same issue this summer, replaced the extension cord with a new one that had the ground prong and problem went away. Problem is that with the ground prong missing you become the ground when you touch the rig. Be careful this can kill.

[PaulJ2]

I have always wondered---do people in Europe who travel in RVs have this trouble with open neutrals, backwards wiring etc with their 220 volt systems that are standard like in all of England? Just wondering I guess.

[Bobbo]

Oilman wrote:
Today while working on my RV I noticed when I knelled down on the damp ground and touching a metal portion of the RV I would receive a mild shock.

I have the RV plugged into a 15 amp home outlet using an extension cord and standard 30 to 15 amp adapter. The plug on the extension cord is missing the ground prong. I realize using that cord was my first mistake.

What I am trying to determine is if that alone is my problem. Even if the ground was missing as it was should current be running through the RV the way it is or does that indicate a different problem? Thoughts?

Tim

The odds are better than 99% that this is your problem. Fix this one and check again.

[parkmanaa]

I encounter this complaint in my RV park periodically, and invariably
it will be a neutral connection missing, broken, or loose.
The neutral wire is misunderstood, or many have no idea, as to the
importance of this white wire.
With a good meter, start a the RV end of the line checking line/ground (should get approx. 120v), line/neutral (about 120V), neutral to ground. (should get almost nothing, possibly a couple of volts).
If everything doesn't check there, work your way back until you have found all good readings, then repair the problem.

[vermilye]

One minor (or, what could be a major one) point. The main purpose of the separate ground wire is to provide a low resistance path so that a fault between a hot wire & the metal of your trailer will cause the circuit breaker or fuse protecting the circuit to trip. If the fault current is not high enough to trip the supply protection, even with your own "earth" connection, you can receive a shock between the fault & the earth.

Adding your own connection to the earth will often not cause a fuse or circuit breaker to open during a fault because the resistance of the earth or your connection to it is too high to carry enough current to cause a trip. For example, in our area you are required to drive 2 8' ground rods spaced 10' apart to provide a low enough resistance earth connection to satisfy our local utility.

If the campground ground connection is bad, making your own provides a false sense of security unless you are sure the resistance of your earth connection is as low as what the campground wiring would have provided.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I just love all the accepted 101% assssssssssssumption flaky ways to kill one's self. It isn't you guys on any of these threads. Your answers are the rote "correct" way to address the problem.

When I ground stake my chassis to earth ground via my green eight gauge wire, the entire freakin' campground wiring can go up in flames and I don't give a damn about someone else's problem. That wire can pass a hundred amps for a short while. I can therefore "pass" for a while longer.

But to assume something is correct is not my bag. Like assuming a connector is "good" because some gizmo lights up and shouts SAFE! Then under load the flaky ground goes away. And maybe, so do you. Forever.

[beemerphile1]

Read this thread, particularly the post from Mike Sokol;
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27212532/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

[time2roll]

First throw the broken cord in the trash or repair it for use with holiday lights. Next check the outlet with a common 3 light tester(post the results). Then get a new cord with #12 wire for use with the RV.