Hooking up in the rain

[FL420]

I just remembered something important. A number of years ago the family was all sitting in the living room of our S&B watching TV. All of a sudden the smoke alarm in the hallway went off. I looked up from the TV and something above my head caught my eye. The ceiling was covered in a thick black smoke coming from the hallway to the bedrooms. I jumped up and found the source of the smoke in my oldest son's bedroom.
The clock radio on his nightstand was smouldering and melting. I pulled the plug and covered it with a wet towel. It ruined the antique nightstand made of quartersawn oak.
Had we not been home and awake the story could have had a much worse ending.
I'm glad you asked your question which jogged my memory. I think I will turn off the power at the pedestal AND the water at the hose bib whenever we leave the coach.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Yikes, 1bigmess - standing in a puddle of water you still mess with electricity???

As a kid I was cutting boards with a circular saw. A sudden rain shower opened up. I put the saw down on the ground and ran back to the house. It rained hard for 15 minutes then the sun came back out.

3 minutes later I picked up the saw, standing in wet grass holding a saw that was plugged in...when I hit the trigger I got the worse shock of my life and could not let go of the saw. I got shocked for probably 2 or 3 seconds before I was able to throw the saw away from me by spinning around.

So around wet areas and or water I do not mess around with electricity.

So, your saw was full of water and your power wire ground was missing or defective. Yes, that was a good lesson. Don't leave electric power tools out in the rain.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by FL420

I'm glad you asked your question which jogged my memory. I think I will turn off the power at the pedestal AND the water at the hose bib whenever we leave the coach.

Now that I have thought about it some more I think I will turn the water pump switch OFF before leaving. Oh, maybe I should turn the battery cutoff switch OFF too.
Why stop there though? I think maybe I should go out to the battery compartment and turn the house batteries disconnect switch OFF. While there I might as well turn the chassis batteries disconnect switch OFF.
To be perfectly safe maybe I should disconnect the cable to the negative terminal of the house batteries. Oh, and the chassis batteries too.
Before we leave I should probably turn off the service valve on the propane tank.
Whew. I'm too tired to go anywhere now. This risk analysis stuff is hard work. I think I'll go inside and take a nap.

[sirtate]

Originally Posted by FL420

Now that I have thought about it some more I think I will turn the water pump switch OFF before leaving. Oh, maybe I should turn the battery cutoff switch OFF too.
Why stop there though? I think maybe I should go out to the battery compartment and turn the house batteries disconnect switch OFF. While there I might as well turn the chassis batteries disconnect switch OFF.
To be perfectly safe maybe I should disconnect the cable to the negative terminal of the house batteries. Oh, and the chassis batteries too.
Before we leave I should probably turn off the service valve on the propane tank.
Whew. I'm too tired to go anywhere now. This risk analysis stuff is hard work. I think I'll go inside and take a nap.

While we are talking about risk and naps, why get out of bed?

Almost all accidents start by getting out of bed.

[FL420]

Originally Posted by sirtate

While we are talking about risk and naps, why get out of bed?

Almost all accidents start by getting out of bed.

And a whole lot more start by staying in bed.[emoji6]

[sirtate]

Originally Posted by FL420

And a whole lot more start by staying in bed.[emoji6]

Those 'accidents' can be very expensive!

[jwmaustin]

Originally Posted by TonyMac

If you are running your wife's iron lung, by all means, hook up in the rain. Otherwise, drink beer, maybe take a nap, wait for the rain to quit.

Good one....funny as well as making a point!

[jwmaustin]

Originally Posted by FL420

Judging by the large number of miswired pedestals I found at the St. Vrain SP in Longmont, CO more than 2 years after they were installed I think your assumption is right on. The Hughes Autoformer looks like a nice piece of equipment but it's a bit pricey for me.
With a 50 amp male to 30 amp female adapter and a 30 amp male to a 15 amp female adapter and a $5 Walmart receptacle tester you can quickly test the 50 amp, 30 amp and 15/20 amp pedestal outlets for proper wiring. I think the only malfunction you may not be able to detect is if one of the 2 hot lines is unpowered.
If you add a $24 Kill-A-Watt you can measure the voltage and frequency of the power from the pedestal.

Attachment 241634
The 30 amp outlet on the left has 2 yellow lights indicating proper wiring. Although not shown in this picture the blue and green lights on my Progressive surge protector show the 50 amp outlet in the center is properly wired. The 15/20 amp outlet on the right has a red and a yellow light indicating the hot and the neutral wires are reversed causing a potentially dangerous situation for humans and electronics.

Attachment 241633
The P3 Kill-A-Watt is also useful for determining the wattage and amperage draws on any appliance or device you plug into it.

Attachment 241635
This lash up works on portable generators too. The orange wire plugged in is my homemade neutral to ground bonding connection.

I've used that simple tester too. But it won't check the 50 amp COMPLETELY right because when you are using a 30 to 50 adapter it ignores one leg. That's what you said right?

[akeagle]

There is another option - just don't mess with it at all. Like Dix39 above, we keep the generator plugged in while on the road so we can use the microwave during lunch stops. Last August while traveling back to Alaska we arrived at a campground in Calgary at that exact same time as a nasty storm. By the time we backed into the space it was raining hard and the wind blowing like a banshee. My solution was to light off the generator, kick back, and enjoy the evening without getting a single drop or rain on me. since the site was level I didn't bother with chocks either. Didn't set foot on the ground until hitting the dump station on the way out the next morning.

Another factor that helped me make that decision was that the sewer connection was at the back of the space and would have required extra time to lay out my sewer hose and an extension to MAYBE reach it. I wasn't the least bit interested in trying it!

[FL420]

Originally Posted by jwmaustin

I've used that simple tester too. But it won't check the 50 amp COMPLETELY right because when you are using a 30 to 50 adapter it ignores one leg. That's what you said right?

That's right.[emoji106]
After using the 3 LED tester I doubt I will damage anything by plugging into the 50 amp outlet. The wiring has been checked for proper wiring. The only thing that hasn't been checked is power to one of the 2 hot lines. I think if I were to plug the coach into the 50 amp outlet at this point the worst that would happen if one line was unpowered was the half of my power distribution panel on the cold line would be unpowered. I would then use an adapter to plug into the 30 amp outlet and select 30 amps as the power source on my EMS panel in the coach.
Keep in mind my expertise in 120 volt electricity was gained in a Holiday Inn Express last night

[Joe442]

Long range forecast was right. Got there my first night to rain. It was so bad just dropped camper off and went home. Didn’t hook anything up.

Next day was dry. Got there after work to hook up. The 30 amp is reading reverse polarity on hard wired surge protector. Able to use 20 amp for the time being. Office is closed probably limited hours off season.

Next day I get to the office and they solve the problem by letting me use an adapter to plug into 50 amp. But this day it’s pouring with lightning and thunder. So I wait a while and this brings us to my original question in post 1 about hooking up electric in the rain. Thunderstorms pass but still raining. But not heavy. No puddles to stand in, I plug in the 50 amp socket and use a toothbrush to turn breaker on. And all is well.

Thankful for my surge protector.

[jwmaustin]

Originally Posted by FL420

Now that I have thought about it some more I think I will turn the water pump switch OFF before leaving. Oh, maybe I should turn the battery cutoff switch OFF too.
Why stop there though? I think maybe I should go out to the battery compartment and turn the house batteries disconnect switch OFF. While there I might as well turn the chassis batteries disconnect switch OFF.
To be perfectly safe maybe I should disconnect the cable to the negative terminal of the house batteries. Oh, and the chassis batteries too.
Before we leave I should probably turn off the service valve on the propane tank.
Whew. I'm too tired to go anywhere now. This risk analysis stuff is hard work. I think I'll go inside and take a nap.

Yeah things can get a bit anal here. :-)