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randallmiller · 12-24-2003, 03:59 PM

When I touch my airstream without shoes on I feel a slit electrical shock. Does anyone know what maybe the problem?

Pahaska · 12-24-2003, 04:27 PM

There is continuity somewhere between the hot wire in the AC campground connector and the frame of the trailer. Don't plug the trailer into AC until you find and fix this situation.

Unplug the trailer and turn off all AC breakers. Remove the cover from the AC breaker box and use an ohmmeter to check continuity between the hot wire and the shell of the trailer. Set the ohmmeter on a faiely high range. If there is no continuity with all breakers off, then your connector and cable are OK.

Now, turn on the breakers individually, one by one. When the meter shows continuity, you have found the circuit with the problem. The problem could be in the Univolt, or it could be a wire that is pinched or has chafed somewhere behind the walls.

Tinsel Loaf · 12-24-2003, 04:30 PM

Check your ground connection to the AS. Use a volt meter from the ground pin on the plug to the AS chassie, you should have only a couple of ohms of resistance. If you don't you may have a bad AC plug, coach wire or the internal ground is loose in the AS. Check your netural for a good connection in the AS. It is important that you fix this problem or you could be electrically fried.

randallmiller · 12-24-2003, 05:54 PM

Thanks guys for your input. After reading your responces I checked the outlet my AS is plugged into and it appears to be not grounded. Could that be the issue?

john hd · 12-24-2003, 06:04 PM

is the outlet you are plugging into polarized properly?

if you have adaptor plugs and/or extention cords are they polarized properly as well?

john

Navigator · 12-24-2003, 06:45 PM

Look inside the 120v panel box.

The white wire (Neutral) must NOT be grounded!!

House wiring however does have the neutral grounded, but that is a big no no for trailers.
Dick

Tin Hut · 12-25-2003, 04:14 PM

Keep your shoes on.

Inland RV Center, In · 12-26-2003, 11:34 AM

Many years ago Airstream had installed a "polarity indicator".

The easiest way to check your rig is to plug into any outlet in the coach, a polarity indicator.

They are cheap and can be obtained at most hardware stores or Home Depot.

For those that travel and stay at a campground or park, or whatever, it is wise to leave that polarity monitor plugged in at all times. You never know when a hookup could be bad.

Airstreamimg is supposed to be an "experience" but not a shocking one.

Andy

letsgo · 12-26-2003, 06:52 PM

Like it was stated you should have a polarity tester and use it every time you hook up, another test which you should do is test the outside receptical to see if the ground fault is working, this test should be done with a set of electricians 600volt coil testers. The ground fault should trip between 10 to15 milly amps, (30milly amps (0.030ma) at 35volts will stop your heart). Also if there is an incorrect polarity the ground fault interrupt wont trip.

good luck

overlander76 · 12-27-2003, 01:56 PM

This happened to me this summer. When I went to open the door I got a slight buzz. My feet were on a wooden step I had built so it wasn't that bad but had I been barefoot on the ground it would have been a different matter. Mine was easy to figure out, I had just changed the plug end on my power cord. The skin of the trailer was hot, I assume because the power was passing over the nuetral buss in the fuse box. My cord end that I had just replaced had the hot (black) and nuetral (white) wires reversed. I wasn't paying attention when I put the cord together. A meter with one probe on the skin and the other poked in the dirt read 118 volts. I would be interested to see what a meter would read on your unit like this. I would check proper polarity from the source. A inexpensive meter like is being talked aout here is essential. You can even buy them with the GFCI tester built in.

Good luck
Brian

71safari · 08-28-2011, 08:17 AM

I'm feeling a bit of a zap when I touch my trailer (actually only feel it when a couple of cuts on my fingers touch it - not when my intact skin touches it). The only thing I re-wired was a pigtail to my tail light --- it works, but my question is - if its wired incorrectly would it be working? and also would the tail light wiring even cause this issue?

Hodum · 08-31-2011, 11:08 AM

If all repairs are done carefully by an electrician and all parks were wired by an electrician this would not be a problem. According to the national electrical code the breaker box within the trailer is considered a sub-panel. The box that you plug into at the park is usually a sub-panel also, with the main panel being elsewhere feeding several trailer hookups. All sub-panels must have the neutral (white) and the ground (green) kept isolated all of the way back to the main panel. This will help eliminate this problem. Life is precious, don't be shocked out of it.

edglenn · 09-14-2011, 01:59 PM

Residential 120/240v systems bond the neutral alongside of the ground buss at the panel. Most older homes are only 2-wire, without the ground.
However, when the 120v circuit is being used, the current flows from the hot, through the appliance, and back on the neutral, therefore, the neutral is potentially "hot", as well. So, you will have a small current on the white wire, which will go directly to ground if you let it (ie: through YOU.)
ALL neutrals are "hot" at one point, even at RV parks.
Solution:
Connect a ground conductor from the trailer frame to a good ground-rod when parked. If you can't use a ground-rod, then attach a piece of chain to the frame (or your safety chanin), and let it dangle on the ground to dissipate the charge.
Cheap extension cords don't have a ground conductor in them, either.
FYI

markdoane · 09-14-2011, 02:22 PM

That's a pretty strange theory.

Erik Olson · 09-14-2011, 03:13 PM

I'd add that I found this thread after I was shocked last weekend when touching the door skin and especially at the frame areas (like rear bumper). A constant static electricity feel. Changed my shore power to a known grounded, new construction part of my circa 1932 home (being rewired to code in phases), completely defeating the grounding issue at the trailer. The outlet I'd been using previously had been updated to newer 5-15 outlets, but I suspect no new Romex was run when it was replaced.

In the course of trying to sort this, I rewired my aging 30A shore plug (Marinco, down to Nema 5-15 Edison adapter when at home) after finding that the main service wire was corroded and frayed within the 30A connector. Good thing to keep fresh and tidy anyway!

edglenn · 09-14-2011, 08:19 PM

Strange, maybe.
Theory, no.
Proven fact, yes.
Ask any electrical engineer, and they'll be glad to give you too much information. I should know, since I'm an Electrical Designer (not an engineer), and work with this stuff all the time, for many, many years.
If you don't believe the concept, connect a good voltmeter to a solid cold water ground (ie: water heater), and touch it to a neutral of an outlet that is running a heavy load (ie: wash machine). Use common sense when you do it. You'll get 120vac to earth ground, even though the neutral and ground are connected at the breaker panel.
The difference in resistance (only 1-2 ohms) will make the voltage choose the path of least resistance.
If you test it for current (Amps) you'll be surprised that most of the current flows directly to ground, not back to the panel. That can be 10-12 amps for a wash machine.
Don't attempt any of this if you don't know what you're doing. Less than an amp can stop the heart.