Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Won't bore folks with the details. but basically when I touch anything metal on my fifth wheel trailer I get a poke of electricity. Voltage reader is reading 117 when plugged in and 25 when running off of the Honda 2000 generator when I touch the jack stands with the tester. Any ideas?
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 What about when plugged into shore power? I'm not really understanding your amp reader sentence either. Have you tried grounding the generator with its grounding screw? Run a wire from it to something grounded at your house. Also, if it's possible to eliminate the generator by substituting another one, that would be a good place to start. (I was a generator tech for a long time and start work Monday as an RV tech) Fillmore
Brother King, SASS #69031 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Short going to/from the inverter is where I might start.
Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 yup, check your ground wires real well....not good!
Cheyenne Culpepper 32827 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 throw your main breaker, still get shocked, no? then turn off all other breakers and turn main back on, shock? yes, work from the converter back to power source, no shock then turn on a breaker at a time,,,,
Tracker Mike SASS #38824 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Any of the metal frame should be ground which means if you touch any metal there is no electrons flowing. If you touch metal and get any voltage then your body is acting as ground with the electrons flowing thru you which is obviously not good. You have a short somewhere to the frame somewhere - could be any hot circuit. In addition to the above suggestions if you have the ability to cutoff different circuits via breakers, you might cut them off one at a time to see if you can find a circuit that has shorted.
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Ck you common to be sure it isn't grounded- Turn off 1 circuit breaker at a time, and see if you can isolate circuit . LG
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 throw your main breaker, still get shocked, no? then turn off all other breakers and turn main back on, shock? yes, work from the converter back to power source, no shock then turn on a breaker at a time,,,, +1 Also, I have never known anyone to actually ground their trailer. Sitting on those rubber tires does not provide a ground although it should be grounded when connected to shore power. Is this a new issue or did it recently pop up? Have you recently attached anything to the inside or outside of the coach that utilized metal screws? I saw that happen once where an added awning fastener shorted 2 wires. Does this happen when the stands are up? What about when they are in contact with the ground? FC
Sedalia Dave Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Deuce Stevens, Please be careful that little jolt you are getting could become a lot bigger without warning. IF you are not 100% sure of what you are doing. pay an electrician. Most people are unaware that it only takes 30 volts of electricity to kill the average person under the right conditions. You are working with 4 times that. Beside electricians are much cheaper than funerals. Had a VERY experience journeyman electrician die where I work because he made one tiny mistake and shorted out an energised circuit. Burns over 75% of his body. Spent 3 days in ICU before he died. That little jolt you are getting right now WILL become life threatening if you are not EXTREMELY careful. Note that below I have you disconnect shore power every time. This is so you don't accidentally electrocute yourself. DO NOT skip this step You life may depend on it. Not questioning your abilities just want to be sure I have the opportunity to shoot with you some day. I work with voltages up to 50,000 Volts in my profession and have seen the results of a momentary lapse in judgement a few too many times. Start in this order. 1. Unplug the RV from all power. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. 1. On the RV, Turn off all the circuit breakers including the main breaker. Apply power to the RV and do a voltage check WITHOUT physically touching the RV with anything other than your meter probe. If there is no voltage go to step 2. If there is, Find another outlet to plug your RV into. If the voltage is still there then it is the RV. If not hire an electrician to fix your shore power outlet. I have worked with electricity and electronics for over 30 years. I am no longer surprised by the number of things that fail when no one was around. Not to mention the number of failures due to the fire ants we have here in TX Had two separate AC contactor failures due to ants in the past 10 days or so. 2. Turn off the shore power. Close the main breaker on the RV, reconnect shore power and again check for voltage WITHOUT physically touching the RV with anything other than your meter probe. If you have voltage hire an electrician. if not go to step 3. 3. Turn off the shore power. Close the breaker that powers the inverter on the RV reconnect shore power and again check for voltage WITHOUT physically touching the RV with anything other than your meter probe. If you have voltage then the inverter is bad and will need to be replaced. About 90% of the time it is the inverter. Repeat step 3 in its entirety for each circuit in the RV checking only one at a time. When you find the circuit, try unplugging everything on that circuit and retesting. You could have an appliance that is bad or it is possible that a mouse or other animal has been making themselves at home and damaged the RVs wiring. Either way if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing get a professional. I am pretty sure that the fix is very simple but if you make a mistake it could be fatal. So when in doubt hire a professional. The generator reading you took can be misleading because the generator is not connected to earth ground. So don't rely on it to troubleshoot this problem.
Rev Willy Dunkum, SASS # 61027 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 This was just on the news tonight. They said that sometimes the electrical plug itself "melts" and causes a short. Check your cords and plugs.
Sedalia Dave Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 This was just on the news tonight. They said that sometimes the electrical plug itself "melts" and causes a short. Check your cords and plugs. Forgot about that one. Especially adapting down from 30 to a 15 or 20 amp plug
Blackey Cole Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 It could also be a circuit wired wrong. Check you gfi circuit to see if it went bad. Get a 120 plug tester. It will tell you if the circuit is wired correctly or if you have a good ground in that circuit. It's a plug with several led lights on it. If you find a fault hire a pro to fix it just like you would hire a pro to fix your guns if your not knowledgable on it. You defiantly have a short somewhere it could be an appliance like a toaster oven. Mine was shocking me until I moved it away from the metal range. I think a plug to another appliance had come loose, magnetic connection, and when I moved it it moved the cord to the other appliance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Btw it's not the volts the usually kill you it's the amps. Look at the lighting ball thingy in a metal cage harm less if grounded to the cage deadly if not. It produce 100,s of volts iirc but very few amps. That's why you can get shocked by a wire on your car but a short in a distributor wire will kill you.
Crazy Mingo Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 Heeee Haaa .. Problem has Been solved.. Heeee Haaaa Crazy Mingo
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted July 25, 2014 Posted July 25, 2014 Heeee Haaa .. Problem has Been solved.. Heeee Haaaa Crazy Mingo ....and? Fillmore
Fillmore Coffins, SASS #7884 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Hey Deuce. I know all the good and caring folks that offered you good advice would like to know what you discovered. Could you enlighten us or is it a secret? Fillmore
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Hey Deuce. I know all the good and caring folks that offered you good advice would like to know what you discovered. Could you enlighten us or is it a secret? Fillmore I for sure, would like to know. LG
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 Heeee Haaa .. Problem has Been solved.. Heeee Haaaa Crazy Mingo Mingo must've killed him.
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