Getting shocked.

[mudbud255]

Ok we just bought this camper 3 weeks ago. 2008 Explorer made by frontier rv. The dealer had it set up when we did the walk through, everything was fine. Set it up at home everything fine. We set it up today to pack it and get it ready for our first trip, had it plugged in and the stabilizers down, the AC on and my wife and I were inside and my teenage son tried to open the door from the outside and got shocked pretty good. I went out side and grabbed the door and nothing happened until he grabbed me, then we both got shocked real good. Now he is barefoot when this happens, he gets shocked real bad when he steps on the steps also. 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. And it's not just a little trickle is a good jolt. I might add also that we are plugged in from an adapter from the camper 30 amp plug to a standard 110 extension cord to the outlet on the house. Is it something I'm doing or what? Need help please.

[beemerphile1]

Heck with touching, should have dared them to put their tongue on it.

[the_happiestcam]

I would suggest something like this Voltage Regulator - it lets you know the status of the ground without having to go inside and look at a meter plugged in.

[va_camper]

Under normal circumstances, a ground wire is a non current carrying conductor. If you have voltage on a ground wire there is a problem somewhere. And I agree with hohenwald48, there are some inacurracies in some of the posts. If there is any doubt in your mind about the safety of your camper, talk to a qualified electrician. It'll be money well spent.

[allen8106]

smkettner wrote:
I assume the corrected ground may now be masking the ground fault issue.
Try plugging into a GFCI protected outlet.

And no mention of using an outlet tester... so polarity could still be an issue.

Most all campers require a ground. If the ground pin on his extension cord was broken off or wasn't make a good connection the ground will try to go through anything else it can find. The corrected ground was the solution and hasn't masked anything. Try hooking your camper up at home withot a ground pin on the extension cord in it will turn the camper skin or any metal part into the ground and shock you, just like it did his kids.

[hohenwald48]

Folks, I'm not going to get into the discussion regarding what is the problem and what is not. There are too many inaccurate posts in this thread to bother trying to sort it out.

However, IT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO USE A HUMAN BODY AS AN ELECTRICAL TESTER WHEN WORKING ON VOLTAGES THAT CAN BE FATAL. NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!!

If you don't have a meter and the skills to use it you should probably not be working on lethal voltages.

[Hannibal]

Even when properly grounded, I've felt a tickle when we have the a/c on and I'm barefoot on wet ground. Same with elevators I work on for a living if I have sweaty wet hands and touch both the elevator cab and outside door equipment. I've since made it a habit to wear flip flops or something to keep me from being grounded when using electrical appliances, tools, elevators or vehicles.

[Beaker]

Ok thanks everyone. I found culprit. The heavy duty extension cord I was using must be bad

I had the same experience except mine was the adapter between extension cord and trailer cord.

Don't remember exact number but checked voltage between bumper and ground(wet concrete) was around 8v.

[_1nobby]

I'm glad the problem has been resolved.

But that doesn't change the fact that your family willingly lines up to get zapped.

Now THAT is the best part of this thread. 🙂

[Gdetrailer]

Ed_Gee wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

darsben wrote:

3oaks wrote:

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

House current is AC (alternating current). Impossible to be wired polarity specific.

black or hot to brass
white or neutral to silver.
Try reversing them and see what happens

UMM.. NO.

What part of the OPs last post don't you UNDERSTAND.

THEIR EXTENSION CORD IS FAULTY..

THE EXTENSION CORD HAS A FAULT, THEREFORE NO REASON FOR THE OP TO SWITCH OR CHANGE ANY OF THE HOUSE WIRING.

OP IS NOW USING A DIFFERENT EXTENSION CORD AND NO ONE IS GETTING SHOCKED..

PLEASE DO NOT TELL PEOPLE TO RANDOMLY SWITCH WIRES AROUND ON OUTLETS.

THE PROPER WAY TO DIAGNOSE FOR MISWIRED OUTLETS IS TO USE AN OUTLET TESTER..

Gdetrailer - He wasn't telling the original poster to 'randomly' switch wires. He was responding to the guy who said AC has no "polarity". Semantically that is correct, but not in reality. AC wiring has a HOT and a Neutral. Neutral must be bonded to ground at the source. Hot wire by code is Black, Neutral is White. The AC outlet must have the hot wired to the Brass colored (small) slot connector and Neutral to the silver connector. This is what people should look for to determine if their outlets are wired properly. Fortunately, the original poster had a bad extension cord so apparently he need not look further, but personally I'd have also checked the outlet anyway.

Someone who voluntarily uses his children for electrical Guinea pigs under these circumstances needs to have head examined, in my opinion. The situation could well have been fatal.

Scientifically speaking, AC is ALTERNATING CURRENT, IT DOES HAVE A "POLARITY and its "polarity" indeed does "switch", in the US it does this 60 times a second or 60 hz.. when compared to DC which does not.

The trick here is one side of the two wires which come from a AC power source is actually "bonded" to EARTH ground.

That "bonded" wire of the power source is now called "NEUTRAL", this wire MUST be WHITE.

At your main breaker panel the NEUTRAL is "bonded" with the earth ground.

The NEUTRAL is supposed to be the only "return path" for the energy coming from the non neutral wire.. That is called the HOT line which is designated by the BLACK wire, or can be other colors like red, blue but never white or green.

The Equipment ground which can be bare wire or green comes from the SAME termination point in the main breaker panel as the Neutral wire. Equipment ground MUST NEVER carry current. It is there to ensure the devices connected have the same earth ground voltage as the earth around you (IE ZERO VOLTS).. It is there to prevent shocks from capacitive coupling as in the case the OP had.

To be super clear, a portable generator does not truly have a NEUTRAL wire.. Instead BOTH the HOT and NEUTRAL are HOT.. Capacitive coupling allows one to measure about 60V AC on each generator wire if you were to place a meter lead into damp earth near the generator..

It comes down to REFERENCES, a portable generator has no real EARTH GROUND as a "reference" where a power source from a power company does..

[time2roll]

Harvard wrote:

smkettner wrote:
I assume the corrected ground may now be masking the ground fault issue.
Try plugging into a GFCI protected outlet.

And no mention of using an outlet tester... so polarity could still be an issue.

When an RV Ground/Chassis is allowed to float (ie: open ground), the capacitance between HOT to GROUND and GROUND to NEUTRAL will cause the floating Chassis to assume a voltage level < 120/2 = 60 VAC above Earth. The resulting current leak, which is normal, may or may not be enough to trip a GFCI.

Yes of course.

I still recommend plugging into a GFCI and using the plug tester before I said it was all clear and safe.

[DutchmenSport]

I'm glad the OP figured out the problem and it was a simple fix. But one statement he made really made me laugh!

"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. And it's not just a little trickle is a good jolt."

I can just see it ....

"Go ahead daughter ... touch it! It's OK, just touch it!

"I don't want to... I'm afraid!"

"It's OK, it won't hurt you!

ZAP! Ohhhh!!!

"That's OK ... go ahead ... do it again! Really, it's OK ... do it again!"

"But Dad!"..."But, but, but...."

"Now sweetie, just do it. It's all in your head!... go of it ... GO!"

ZAP! ZAP! (Ohhh... OHHHH!).

"Very good Dear ... now, just one more time!......" :B :S

I knew we had kids for a good reason!

[FLGup]

budwich wrote:
there is still something wrong in the trailer......

Oh, there's something wrong in the trailer all right....

[budwich]

there is still something wrong in the trailer. If the ground was broken / gone in the cord, and the trailer "power units" are correctly wired, it is unlikely that there would be any issue that is "shocking". If the neutral was gone in the cord, then IF it was plugged into a gfi at the house, it should have trip as the OP indicated there were running systems in the trailer. Somewhere some neutral is "touching" a ground. Likely, one issue was the cord had a "broken ground" but there is still another issue.

[myredracer]

3oaks wrote:

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

House current is AC (alternating current). Impossible to be wired polarity specific.

A reversed hot and neutral connection is referred to as reversed polarity.


What happened to the OP situation is not to be taken lightly as it can kill. A 3 year old boy was electrocuted 2 years ago and an 18 year old boy in '11 by a hot skin on an RV. Feeling even a slight tingle is not good. The OP should be absolutely certain that the cord indeed was faulty and something else isn't lurking. Google "RV hot skin" for lots of info. Good older discussion on another forum here. It's not uncommon for CGs to have bad wiring and pedestals and you need to be vigilant.