trailer grounding

[keggerman]

Can i, or should, I ground my trailer with a grd. rod to frame,even if my rv shore cable is grounded thru the rv recepticle box? My trailer is permenent on its site.

[mhardin]

Even if you added a ground, you'd have to drive about an 8 foot rod into the earth. The rod won't come out easily and if you camp a lot and drive a rod every time, it will get expensive. I don't worry about it - the shore power ground is good enough for me.

[tatest]

With respect to external electrical service, a RV is an appliance, receiving ground and neutral connections through the power supply connection. That's different from a structure, where the power company connects only 1-3 phases of "hot" and and connects "neutral" and "ground" for the distribution system to the earth where possible.

I don't see that it would hurt. Even if there were small potential differences between your ground rod and the power cord ground, you are not usually hooked up long enough for significant galvanic corrosion, not like a boat sitting in salt water. Your ground rod might help you detect faults in the wiring of ground at the power box.

[time2roll]

No need for additional grounding.
Surge and power protection device would be far better investment.

[beemerphile1]

I don't think lightning is a valid concern as a reason NOT to ground. First off it is already grounded through the service connection. Secondly, if the lightning can travel many miles from the clouds to your RV, a couple extra feet to the ground isn't an issue.

[krobbe]

Bzeitham wrote:
Yes, you can. It will provide additional safety should there, for some reason, be an "open" from your RV to the electrical ground. Should, for some reason, the frame of the RV come in contact with the hot side of your AC and there is not a ground, you could have 120 volt potential between the trailer and ground. I saw this happen at a camp ground many years ago. For some reason the trailer was not grounded electrically and the campers complained that they were getting shocked when exiting the trailer. Yes, I think if you can you should. It's better to be safe!

I agree from a safety standpoint, if there is an open ground through the service connection, there is a potential for a shock hazard from any metal part of the trailer to earth.(If the trailer frame has a short to the current carrying conductor)
On the flip side, As for lightning, it's arguable that grounding the chassis to earth could actually make you more likely to get hit. Simply put, lightning discharges happen when there's enough of a difference in charge between the air and the earth to overcome the "resistance" of the space in between.
If your camper is up on rubber tires, it's not likely to have the same charge as the ground it's sitting on, so it would be a less attractive path for the bolt. But of course, in the end lightning is like the 500 lb gorilla. He does whatever he wants to.

[Bzeitham]

Yes, you can. It will provide additional safety should there, for some reason, be an "open" from your RV to the electrical ground. Should, for some reason, the frame of the RV come in contact with the hot side of your AC and there is not a ground, you could have 120 volt potential between the trailer and ground. I saw this happen at a camp ground many years ago. For some reason the trailer was not grounded electrically and the campers complained that they were getting shocked when exiting the trailer. Yes, I think if you can you should. It's better to be safe!

[beemerphile1]

Homes and buildings always have multiple ground points by code. RVs normally do not but it wouldn't hurt if it is permanently parked. There is safety in redundancy.

[thomasmnile]

Doug33 wrote:


If you have Chinese tires you will be grounded sooner or later. LOL

:B:B:B

[Dog_Folks]

Can you? Yes. Would it improve anything? No.

[Doug33]

Nvr2loud wrote:
Do you have Chinese tires?

If you have Chinese tires you will be grounded sooner or later. LOL

[Darryl_Rita]

NO!

[Nvr2loud]

Do you have Chinese tires?

J/K You shouldn't need to ground it, but it won't hurt anything. It is a bit of a security blanket to add a ground.

[ScottG]

It should already be grounded through the plug and won't make any difference if you add a ground rod. It would not make a lightening strike anymore likely or damaging either.

[JJBIRISH]

Certainly not my area of expertise but I would think it would be alright to do… most are grounded already (although poorly) through the stabilizers and tongue jack…

But please don’t take my opinion to seriously… someone with more knowledge about this will certainly jump on with better and more accurate advise than I could give…