Shocking electrical problem!

[truetreky]

Hi, hoping that someone can give me some suggestions regarding the possible cause and fix for our problem. We have a 92 Dodge/Roadtrek, purchased one month ago. We are total newbies to RVs and working at learning how (and if) the facilities all function.
When we hook up to the power (110) in our garage, the outside of the van gives off a strong shock when touched. Any ideas? Links?

Thanks in advance

[milasman]

Try a different outlet, outlet may not be grounded properly.

[RVThere]

Buy a circuit polarity tester and first see if the garage plug is wired correctly:



If that is OK, then plug the circuit tester into one of the electrical outlets in the motorhome.

If the garage outlet a GFI?

Seems like a live wire is being shorted to the frame.

[chawkins99]

I had the same problem on mine. Traced it to a melted wire nut in the inverter. It had been overloaded by too many power appliances. The plastic of the wire nut had melted partly exposing the metal coil inside which was touching the inverter case.
It really should have tripped something but I'm guessing as it wasn't a clean contact there was insufficient current.

We were alerted by the dog... http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/our-...og-154699.html

I would start by checking your outlet to ensure it is properly wired and grounded. Then try and isolate which circuit is shorting. Turn off all breakers and use a multi-meter to check the chassis against a known good ground. Touching the chassis to check it is not smart... Don't ask me how I know
If with all breakers off, the chassis is not live, switch each breaker on in turn until it becomes live. Then you know where to investigate further.
If after turning off all breakers, it is still live, I would look toward your ATS.

It should really be tripping your utility breaker if there is truly a short.

[truetreky]

Cannot wait to show this post to my DH! Thank you so much. Will let you know if this solves the problem.

[rgvtexan]

The outlet OR power cord could be wired wrong. The RV chassis should be wired to the ground prong of a 3 wire cord.

[RickO]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Great advice on how to troubleshoot your problem, but do get it fixed ASAP. It's nothing to mess around with.

Best of luck. We're glad you found us.

Rick

[TQ60]

No ground, simple and deadly.

The round pin is the safety ground.

It connects the chasis to ground, a short should pop a breaker, since it does not, check all ground connections to insure working