Shock when touching metal frame

Gsutherland · 06-29-2013, 09:10 AM

It's not so much a shock, but while plugged in to 30amp service and stand outside and rock the metal door frame I can feel electrical current. If you touch a ring to the metal door frame you can really feel it.

Does this sound like something inside camper is not grounded properly?

I have a jayco 184bh.

Gsutherland · 06-29-2013, 09:37 AM

Any suggestions would be appreciated! We are currently camping with two little kids. This has me a little nervous.

The 184bh is a 2014 and this is our first trip out with it.

clubhouse · 06-29-2013, 09:47 AM

Sounds like a bad ground in the 30 amp connection. You need a tester to confirm, lots of RVs carrier them, if you don't have one you may be able to borrow from a neighbor or call the CG Mgmt.

Gsutherland · 06-29-2013, 09:58 AM

Ok, thanks. So that sounds like it might be an issue with the CG 30amp service, not necessarily my TT?

RVhiker · 06-29-2013, 02:44 PM

Agreed that bad ground is the problem. The bad ground connection could be where your power cord ground connects to the trailer. Or the plug that plugs into the outlet could be bad. Or the outlet could be bad. Since a missing ground is a dangerous situation, its good to take care of it ASAP. Maybe faster than ASAP and unplug the power cord until you get it figured out.

Murphie · 06-30-2013, 01:21 AM

Whatever you do......don't call it a short.

vaskohop · 06-30-2013, 03:54 AM

Do a search for this- just saw a thread for exact same issue. They said same thing. Ground issue. When plugged in and trailer not grounded properly, you become the ground as you step on to your trailer and touch metal. So, check your ground connections or make sure the outlet your plugging into is grounded.

RoyBraddy · 06-30-2013, 06:11 AM

I would unhook from the 30AMP service and either have the site get it fixed or move to another camp site position. ALot of us carry something with us to take a look at the site pedestal connections before we plug into it. I carry these items to use but don't use them as often as i should...

I have these items with me when camping and all plugged into to each other in this order... If the YELLOW LIGHTS on the CIRCUIT TESTER shown the "CORRECT" sequence (OFF-ON-ON) as shown on the legend of the circuit tester then I know the grounds are being provided from the site pedestal. If it is good at the pedestal and you still are feeling shocks when touching the trailer metal frame then you have something wrong with your shore power connection or something wrong in your trailer frame ground wiring. ALot of time the pedstal connector large ppin has been burned or worn out and not making a good connection when you plug into it. You can tell by just looking at the terminals if they are clean or not... I like knowing the 120VAC is also at the proper level and that s the reason I have the KILL-A-WATT meter in the mix. You can just plug the CIRCUIT TESTER directly into the RV30A-15A PEDSTAL ADAPTER if you just want to check the circuit.

Your CAMP GROUND maintenance should be able to make the same test for you if you call them...

This is a diagram of of a typical camp ground pedestal wiring where you can see where the ground is suppose to be coming from.
You can see the "GREEN" wiring is suppose to be grounded to EARTH GROUND at the pedestal and when you plug in your 30AMP SHORE POWER CABLE then this EARTH GROUND will be connected to your trailer frame ground keeping your from feeling these small shocks you are getting.

This is not a good situation for your safety if the ground from the camp ground pedestal is not connected to your trailer frame.

Please stay SAFE...
Just my thoughts
Roy Ken

Jagiven · 06-30-2013, 08:13 AM

I carry a plug adaptor and a GFI circuit tester similar to the one Roy shows. Most likely you have a bad ground. Sometimes the pedestal receptacle is very dirty and the brass is a bit oxidized, and you are not making a good connection. You can try unplugging and plugging in the cord a number of times, sometimes this will wear off some of the oxidation, so you can get a good connection.

You can pick up a plug adaptor and circuit tester for about as low as $5-6 each. A Kill A Watt meter, is a cool tool, I have one around the house to see how much power things use. I think they sell for about $30, pending on the model. I never thought of using it to test for voltage at a CG.

Gsutherland · 06-30-2013, 08:37 AM

Thanks for all the info. I also read a lot after my OP on the issue of hot skin. I had the CG mgmt test it and there is 10-11v on ground. I had them test several others and one on another panel and they all have 11v. They are taki g it seriously and have an electrician on the way.

At least it is not in the deadly range but I do plan to start bringing my own testers from now on!

Gsutherland · 06-30-2013, 08:40 AM

I should add, the 11v on the ground is the same as the 11v on the neutrel. 130v on the hot

MOCamper · 07-08-2013, 04:36 AM

I have seen this one time on a friends TT. I found that when winterizing he left the electric element on his water heater on and shorted the element. Obviously there is a ground issue where I can't help. Regardless if there is a ground issue or not you should not have electrical current traveling through your camper frame. You need to find where the electrons are leaking from, and I would guess the water heater is the best place to start.

Gsutherland · 07-08-2013, 05:58 AM

Just to follow up, I heard that the camp ground (after I identified the voltage on ground) had the local power company come in as they could not resolve it themselves. They installed another ground rod and that supposedly fixed it. I go back there in several weeks so we will see.

RoyBraddy · 07-08-2013, 06:00 AM

You dog will love you for your good citizen effort here hehe... Mine goes for the trailer wheels every time...

Boubou · 07-08-2013, 06:49 AM

Speaking of campground electrical problems, when in the outerbanks, the site where we were and both sites each side of us had lots of problems with power. Our surge protector kept tripping randomly. The campground guy was (at first) convinced it was our rig but after further investigation, he found big power surge (spikes) coming from our pedestal. Sure glad we had the power surge guard :O

It looks like the problem was also the campground power... I don't know anything about electricity but would a power surge guard help in this case too?
if you plug somewhere else, do you still get the same problem?

go wild · 07-08-2013, 11:53 AM

This same issue happened to me two years ago. The issue was that my electric post was also used to power a light pole. The pole had lost ground and every time we touched the RV door we got a mild shock. THe CG owner diagnosed the issue and rewired the post which solved the problem. All the RVs on that line had the same issue. I now have a surge guard which monitors for things like open grounds, reverse polarity, etc.

WIBadger · 07-18-2013, 04:16 PM

Hot-skin conditions need to be investigated ASAP! Tests have shown that as little as 10 mA to 20 mA of a 60-Hz current (what comes out of your electrical outlet) can cause your heart to go into fibrillation (essentially a heart attack). So you can easily get 10 times the current needed to kill yourself from a 120-volt outlet. Note that 100 milliamps of current isn’t enough to trip a standard 20- or 30-amp circuit breaker, but it’s supposed to trip a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt) as long as it’s been properly connected.

For more info on hot-skin, I recommend this link: http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electr...0%93-hot-skin/

Boubou · 07-19-2013, 05:00 AM

probably nothing to do with you but I just saw this recall
Jayco is recalling certain model year 2014 White Hawk travel trailers manufactured May 17, 2013, through May 21, 2013. The A/C to D/C converter may not be properly grounded to the frame. If the converter is not properly grounded to the frame, there may be an excessive buildup of heat and melting of the wiring, possibly resulting in a fire. Jayco will notify owners and dealers will inspect the wiring for the converter. If needed, they will add the provided ground wire, free of charge. The recall began on June 21, 2013. Owners may contact Jayco at (800) 283-8267.

Gsutherland · 07-19-2013, 05:36 AM

Good to know about the recall, correct this does not seem to apply, but thanks!

Badger: Thanks as well, I had found that site when investigating the symptoms. Scary stuff. The campground has supposedly fixed the issue, the local power company came in and added another ground rod, but that is second hand info, maybe there was something else done too.

Seann45 · 07-19-2013, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsutherland

Thanks for all the info. I also read a lot after my OP on the issue of hot skin. I had the CG mgmt test it and there is 10-11v on ground. I had them test several others and one on another panel and they all have 11v. They are taki g it seriously and have an electrician on the way.

At least it is not in the deadly range but I do plan to start bringing my own testers from now on!

You need one of these.. every RVer that hooks up to power should have one.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...y-30-amp/58464

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