Strange electrical problem.

[samhain7]

I have a wierd one today.

I was showing my father in law my distribution hitch. I was standing barefoot in the driveways and I touched the steel unpainted L pin that holds the bars to the L bracket attached to the trailer tounge.
Guess what. I got a mild shock. My father in law touched it with his shoes on and got nothing of course...
I also touched the painted A frame tounge of the trailer and didn't got a shock. It is only the unpainted L pin.

Any ideas on this one....

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

bowebow wrote:
How often has a problem been found with campground or trailer electric?

🙂 Hi, the biggest problem that I have found is 30 Amp outlets that were very loose and /or broken. I haven't found any wired incorrectly yet, but I know people who have.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

SoundGuy wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
Hi, I have two polarity testers; One is always plugged into an inlet in our trailer's kitchen and the other one is connected to a 30 amp RV adapter, mounted in a piece of black plastic pipe, (so you can see it better) and used at the power source before connecting my shore power cord.

Bob:

I'm wondering what value there is in leaving a polarity checker always plugged in inside the camper :h ... after all, once the campsite source supply has been verified as being correct it's not suddenly going to change. If you'd want to monitor anything it would be the incoming source voltage which can change during the course of your stay.

🙂 Hi, SoundGuy; I have a few outlets in my kitchen that I don't often use, so I keep my polarity tester plugged into it. Early on, I asked my wife to watch the polarity tester as I connected to shore power, or if a curtain was open, I could see for my self. I made a polarity tester for checking at the power pole and I use it too. I also have a Kill-A-Watt plugged into another kitchen outlet for checking voltage and cycles. So far I haven't found any problems, but my brother and a few other people have found problems in camp grounds / RV Resorts.

[SoundGuy]

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
Hi, I have two polarity testers; One is always plugged into an inlet in our trailer's kitchen and the other one is connected to a 30 amp RV adapter, mounted in a piece of black plastic pipe, (so you can see it better) and used at the power source before connecting my shore power cord.

Bob:

I'm wondering what value there is in leaving a polarity checker always plugged in inside the camper :h ... after all, once the campsite source supply has been verified as being correct it's not suddenly going to change. If you'd want to monitor anything it would be the incoming source voltage which can change during the course of your stay.

[bowebow]

How often has a problem been found with campground or trailer electric?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Before I plug in this goes into the shore station.
After I plug in this goes into an outlet inside the RV.



Let's you know what is going on at the shore station and when plugged inside it tells you when something does happen later.

🙂 Hi, I have two polarity testers; One is always plugged into an inlet in our trailer's kitchen and the other one is connected to a 30 amp RV adapter, mounted in a piece of black plastic pipe, (so you can see it better) and used at the power source before connecting my shore power cord.

[Nvr2loud]

samhain7 wrote:
I'm an idiot.

Checked my adapter and it he ground is broken off

That happened to me last season, touched the bolt head on my snap-up bracket for the WDH and got a mild shock. I immediately checked my shore power 30amp to 15amp adapter and found no ground pin. Never found the pin, must have broken off in the pass thru during travel.

[allen8106]

downtheroad wrote:
I am assuming that you are plugged into shore power..
Sounds like you have a faulty ground. Check the ground wire to the frame. Mine is near the steps to the door on the frame. It might be corroded, loose or missing.

Same thing happened here a year or two ago. Fixed the ground prong on the extension cord and the shock went away.

[TenOC]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Before I plug in this goes into the shore station.
After I plug in this goes into an outlet inside the RV.



Let's you know what is going on at the shore station and when plugged inside it tells you when something does happen later.

2X about $6.00

[samhain7]

I have a polarity tester actually.
It reports at the plug that all is fine and I tested every outlet in the trailer and they all say fine too......

[SoundGuy]

samhain7 wrote:
So how can I check if the problem is really fixed? Multi meter?

I sure wouldn't just assume the problem has been "fixed" ... get a polarity tester like that recommended by rockhillmanor and check your source supply to make sure it's correctly wired, no wires loose, etc. Assuming it is then plug in your trailer and use the same tester in the trailer to confirm there aren't any errors being introduced by the trailer. Assuming no errors are found it's probably safe to say you've found the source of your problem but from here on in do what rockhillmanor and I and many others do every time we camp - test that source supply with a polarity checker before you plug in.

[rockhillmanor]

Before I plug in this goes into the shore station.
After I plug in this goes into an outlet inside the RV.



Let's you know what is going on at the shore station and when plugged inside it tells you when something does happen later.

[Puttin]

OOP,

Did you look at the "useful tool" link I posted? If you use the foreign voltage detector by probing the skin/coupler and other parts of the rv, it will light up- indicating there is still voltage present. If it does not light- your condition has been fixed. In basic terms, use a good surge protector at the pedestal- it will tell you if something is mis wired. You can also use outlet testers or make your own if you like. Google "RV Electric" and you'll gets lots of good info.

[samhain7]

So how can I check if the problem is really fixed? Multi meter?

[Harvard]

When the RV chassis/ground is allowed to float (ie like others said, no ground conductor to Earth) and while 120 VAC Hot and Neutral are connected, the chassis/ground will attempt to establish itself 1/2 way between Hot and Neutral due to capacitative coupling between the Hot, Ground and Neutral circuits.

This leaky capacitative current path is enough to feel a tingle when you made a conductive path from chassis to Earth but not enough to effect a serious shock. It is a friendly warning of a serious faulty ground condition in that your first level of safety is compromised.