sgtsteve
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RV Hot Skin. Mystery solved!
Hi all, Turns out there were two wires crossed in my garage's fuse box. I've owned this old house for 18 months and the garage is also quite old. I am not an electrician, but my contractor buddy said there were two sets of wires in the fuse box that should have been black to white and black to white. Instead I had black to white and white to black. The 2nd set was the problem. As soon as my buddy switched the second set to black to white, everything was fine. This problem never affected the lights and other interior garage outlets or anything else I plugged into them. However, once i added an exterior outlet for the trailer, the problem surfaced. I still am going to have the fuse box replaced with an updated electrical panel and the outlet for the trailer switched to a proper GFI outlet. I am just so thankful my wife is doing much better and the issue wasn't with the trailer. She initially was refusing to ever use the trailer again, but now is warming (no pun intended) up to the idea of camping again.2.6KViews0likes8CommentsRe: RV Hot Skin (Exterior electrification)
Thanks to all who have written on the topic! I had an electrician come out and test the outlet the trailer was plugged into. The result was there is a proper ground in the outlet. On another note, when the "electrification" occurred, no circuit breaker was thrown, not in the house and not in the trailer. There is no electrification when the trailer is not plugged in. The garage outlet is not a GFI so I am going to get that changed. I am going to get my own electric voltage tester so I can touch it to the outer skin as I conduct more tests. I'll update everyone as I continue the investigation.410Views0likes0CommentsRV Hot Skin (Exterior electrification)
This past weekend my wife was electrocuted when she stepped onto the trailer steps and grabbed the handrail while in bare feet. She was subsequently thrown from the rig and landed in the grass. She sustained a broken L. Foot and an injured R. Hand in the fall. The trailer was plugged into an outlet on my garage. So how did this happen? It seems we have been doing something wrong for many years. I plug the RV power cord into an exterior household extension cord which I then plug into an exterior outlet on my garage. In doing some research, I found the topic of "RV Hot Skin" which relates to the electrification of the exterior of the trailer. Apparently, using a household extension cord in combination with the RV power cord is a no no. I have been told that action can actually cause a reverse polarity which becomes a hazard. Using a voltage checker revealed that parts of my trailer's exterior was registering 9 to 16 volts. However, no circuit breakers in the trailer were thrown and there is no "Hot skin" when the trailer is not plugged in. To further test this theory, I am going to go to a local campground and plug into an appropriate power tree and again test the exterior of the trailer. I'll bet there a lot of folks like me that have been making this same mistake and never knew there was a problem. If my wife had not been in bare feet she probably would have been fine. What makes this more embarrassing is that we have been travel trailer owners for 20 years. We are so very thankful my wife is gonna be ok, but this was definitely a tough lesson to learn.15KViews0likes87Comments
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