Voltage reading from stabilizers and exterior

[Da Bungles]

Hello everyone, we are newbies to the tt world and Airstream. Recently purchased a 2016 23FB FlyinG Cloud. Loving it so far! Was under the front right lubricating the stabilizer and noticed a tingle from it. Of course kept going back for more until I realized I was getting shocked. 😬. Using a multimeter it read 2-3v just touching the stabilizer with the positive probe, grounding it out (to the ground) it jumps to 12-13v. All stabilizers up and front jack on plastic pads. Only happens when connected to shore power. Have had issues with the batteries and thought the converter cooked the batteries. So just ordered a multi stage at Best Converter and will replace the batteries. But looks like there may be other issues. Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I’m pretty handy but electrical is not in my toolbox. Thanks so much

[GMFL]

Is the voltage AC or DC ?

[Al and Missy]

If is possible to get a slight shock from the trailer to ground if the frame is completely isolated from the local ground. The frame and body of the trailer is supposed to be connected to the green wire safety ground of the power cord. Use your meter in ohms mode to measure the resistance from the point on the trailer at which you are getting the tingle to the round pin on your unplugged power cord. It should read zero. IF not there is a problem in the trailer wiring.

Even if it is properly connected, the ground wire is connected to a ground rod at the point where power enters the facility. At your home, that is probably the power meter. At a campground, all bets are off. Regardless it is possible for the potential of the ground at the trailer to be substantially different from the potential at the ground rod and thus you will read a voltage.

There are several clues in your message. The meter always measures the potential difference between the positive probe and the negative probe. The fact that you are getting a reading with only the positive probe connected indicates that the source is very high impedance.

Put your meter in AC current mode and measure the current between the trailer and ground. I'm guessing it is very low, a milliamp or two. If it is much more than that, it could be dangerous.

You might be able to identify the source by turning off breakers in the trailer. The main breaker will probably kill the shock if there is a problem in the trailer. If it doesn't then the problem is elsewhere and is showing up as a ground potential difference. An example of that is a leaky underground power cable somewhere in the vicinity of either the service ground rod or the trailer.

If the main breaker kills the problem then turn it back on and turn off the other breakers one by one until you find the circuit which is the cause. Then determine which loads that breaker feeds and disconnect them one-by one. Your converter is a possible source of ground leakage.

If all else fails and you are convinced the fault is not in the trailer, you could just take the plastic pad out from under the jack foot and see if that helps.

[Da Bungles]

Voltage is AC. Thank you for the replies working on the ohms test.

[Da Bungles]

Overkill and Rivet Master, thanks again for your replies. These forums and your knowledge has helped us out many times already.
Think my issue was self induced. I tested the garage receptacle I have the AS plugged into, come to find out it’s an ungrounded outlet 😳,had no idea. So switched to a Properly grounded one and issue is resolved. Will get the other outlet grounded correctly.
Again thanks for the great information and I’m sure I’ll need to bend your ears again.
Enjoy the rest of the holiday!

[rmkrum]

Seriously consider adding a surge protector/EMS to your electrical setup. It would help detect an ungrounded outlet situation and keep power off the Airstream until the connection is safe. Progressive makes one. They are available both built-in (what I use) or portable. There are more than a few discussions on the subject on AirForums.

A decent one will also monitor and disconnect if the supply voltage is low or too high. That low voltage situation cost us an air conditioner burnout before we added the EMS. Fortunately the replacement was covered by insurance.

[bibbs]

I had a similar experience, turned out there was screw that had penetrated the wire insulation inside the trailer. It would trip when plugged into a GFI power source. Just a small tingle

[guskmg]

You are lucky the voltage was low. I was with a friend camped at a new campground. He receive a pretty good shock from his trailer after plugging into the pedestal. It turns out the owner had friends helping build the sites and they wired the hot and neutral reversed. If the ground had been wet it would have been fatal. It only takes 50v @ 3a to kill you with a good ground.
guskmg