Hot skin issue please help

Found a bad ground on one early in the issue. But have tested continuity and resistance in the line and working my way thru every electrical system, outlet, visible wire, etc. But, I really think I was getting false readings from the non-contact variable meter...I have not been able to replicate anything for a couple of days. We will not be using the trailer for another month, so I have time to test every system and variables too.

Here is a great link to somebody else's test procedure:
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f71/camper-grounding-to-prevent-electrical-schock-11647.html

I had this same issue. Ended up being a bad ground on the cord.

Started from scratch, again.
Replaced the variable non-contact tester, and I think my first one was bad as it registered near a battery and could tap my hand and get it to beep...replaced that Sperry junk!

Drove a ground rod near the trailer and tested the power cord hot to earth ground and measured exactly the same as H to N.

Proceeded to test turning circuits on and off and filling and draining the water heater to check voltage from frame rail to ground each time...occasionally had some voltage readings.

Reattached battery and ground for 12volt system and all of a sudden I cannot recreate anything over 1/2 volt, ever.

It appears that the trailer has the 12volt and the 110 volt system somehow sharing a ground and without the battery attached I was not getting a good 110 ground.

I have a Kill-A-Watt meter inline right now to observe when systems turn on without switches and I plan to test for hot frame/skin when the volts/watts change. And, hopefully, with the battery reinstalled and the ground attached and the the new heater element I have the problem licked.

I'll update if I find out different.

When I saw your question, I thought "goodie, somebody may have a solution."

So, I went out to test your question and ran into a major snag.

I grabbed the tester and have hot skin again. OK, great! I turned off all of the inside breakers and still hot skin! Even when I emptied the water heater too.

Well, back to the drawing board. First I am going to drive a ground rod next to the trailer to get a good earth ground and try to measure actual voltage, if possible.

I am concerned that the meter is screwed up and/or the inverter is not wired correctly or ??

I will try to get back at it tonight and tomorrow. I could live without electric water heater, but not this intermittent shock potential.

Thanks anyway, for now.

When you turn the heater breaker off does the hot skin go away? If yes: does the hot skin go away when you turn the service switch in water heater compartment?

Update: Got new parts installed and still have hot skin.

This is a '04 26' Flagstaff by F.R. travel trailer.

With water in the heater and the heater breaker and switch turned on we have hot skin.

I have visually traced the power and ground wires where I can. Used a VOM to test proper polarity and made sure the GFCI's all work correctly.

I am asking for opinions once again. Is it possible there is supposed to be a special ground on the water heater that did not get installed, or something similar? I have only had gas before and not sure where to go next.

For now, we will just use the heater in gas mode only because we can just turn off the switches and eliminate shock possibilities and still have hot water.

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

I think the ground problem was fixed when I found the faulty ground prong on the cord from the garage to the shore power cord...that is why it did not ground and I did instead while changing tires.

By the same token, this problem alerted me to the water heater problem AND I just found out I have a gas and electric heater...never knew that. On my other 3 campers I only had gas heaters with electric start.

As a result, I found the documentation on my heater and realized there was a switch on the outside that controls AC and it has been on even when no water has been present...and probably helped to destroy the electrode too.

So, now that I knew where to look, I found the electrode and figured out how to remove it. The anode rod didn't look good, but the electrode is severely damaged...and that is why the shock.

As far as the extraneous reading on the tester around the step hinge is concerned, that tester may be overly sensitive and the reading near the frame ground point is an overload of AC current inside near this section of the camper. I note this because when the steps are extended there is no reading except right under the floor where the power line chamber is located.

I think that when I get the new parts I will no longer have a problem. Funny how a blown tire can lead to an electrical problem that can lead to a bad water heater.

Thanks for all of the those who post on this forum.

Be very sure the open ground is fixed. You have the potential of 120V AC on the rig ground and under the right circumstances can be very dangerous.

ekdesign1 You have 2 problems:
1. A ground fault in the hot water heater. Very likely that a new heating element will fix that.
2. An open AC ground. It can be in the garage plug on back to the rig. Connectors are very prone to open grounds. Replace any that are worn and clean all contacts.

When the repairs are completed plug into a GFI, cycle all equipment to make sure there are no more issues. Then do this periodically.

I have read thru multiple posts and cannot seem to find an answer to my specific hot skin issue.

I have a '04 26' travel trailer that is in excellent shape and all systems work perfectly, I thought. Only when I was changing tires while hooked to shore power did I get a tingle and started researching the problem.

Thanks to No Shock Zone I did get an adjustable (down to 12 volts) NCVT to verify that I have hot skin.

Thru process of elimination of circuits, etc. I know my issue is when my water heater has water in it, but not when it is empty.

Additionally, the NCVT at it most sensitive setting will always pick up a slight reading when I test at the steps/frame rail connection point, but not on the frame, bumper, axles, doors or anywhere else...and no actual voltage reading on a VOM.

So what can be wrong, that I can take out/replace that will stop the water heater from causing it?

Also, my water heater has a plug that I can unplug from an outlet and that obviously stops the problem too.

Curious about the "simple/non-technical" input from this forum. Thanks.

NOTE: I did find that the ground prong on my garage cord was originally damaged and it was replaced before I did my testing (but I didn't try grounding myself like accidentally did with the tire changing LOL.)