Hope the electrical experts can help me solve this dilemma! Last night I'm working on the exterior my 2000 19 ft. Hi-Lo Towlite. I had the air conditioner running so as to ensure it was operating properly. As I was working near the rear bumper I happened to lean on it with my forearm. I felt a slight tingling sensation and didn't think twice about it. Later I leaned against a screw on the left rear, metal corner trim piece - same result. I checked the right front corner with the same results. I shut down the A/C, touched the bumper & trim piece -same tingling sensation. I then unplugged the camper from the 110 wall outlet. Where do I start to determine the source of the stray voltage? Is it a bad ground or other type of electrical problem? I have limited electrical expertise! Thanks in advance to any advice.
Mr. C
I am not a licensed electrician but have had a lot of experience wiring our new home and barn for AC electric service and doing electrical work for friends. I am also familiar with how DC works having attended several company schools in my younger years. That being said, I will give you my thoughts on your problem through my past experiences. I do not encourage you or anyone to attempt extensive repairs for electrical problems but if you wish to check out what I think the problem may be and take proper precautions, you should be able to make a few basic steps and possibly fix your problem without incurring $60/hour electricians fees.
You did not say if the 'tingling' sensation was still there
AFTER you pulled the Hi Lo AC cord from the land line. I would think the tingling is coming from the AC and not the DC. My first thought is grounding; perhaps a loose ground connection where your AC feed is tied into the Hi Lo or from there to your circuit breaker panel. I would unplug the AC land line and check every neutral connection [white wiring] and ground connection [bare copper wire] for tightness in your breaker panel. All the white wiring should terminate on a common connecting terminal and all the bare copper wires should terminate on a
separate terminal. There should not be a mixture of white and bare copper wires on the same terminal block. The polarity checker will tell you where to begin to check if there is a problem; I.E. open neutral, open ground, hot/neutral reverse, hot/ground reverse, etc.
You should also check the source outlet for proper polarity and grounding. For an AC circuit to function properly, it must have a return path to the power company neutral [the white wiring in your power panel]. If there is a problem there, the grounding becomes extremely important as the current must have a path to ground to complete the circuit. The power companies also have a circuit that goes to 'earth' ground.
As a former SW Bell employee, we were always cautioning our installers and repairmen to check every mobile home, RV, or Marine installation with their AC tester before ever beginning an installation or repair. There have been many deaths caused by faulty wiring in a mobile home [usually not properly grounded ]and I would suspect occasionally one gets by the inspectors of RV's as well. A loose or missing neutral or ground connection will not allow voltage a safe return path to ground and will cause an unsuspecting individual who unknowing touches a frame [and experiences a tingling sensation] will then become the grounding rod.
If, after checking all your ground connections, your problem persists, then get an electrician to check all your connections. If you do not feel comfortable checking the wiring, then get a qualified electrician for it is not worth risking your life since you stated you are not knowledgeable with electrical circuitry.
We leave our polarity checker plugged into an unused AC outlet all the time; makes for a handy night light if you have to get up for a potty break and it will always be there to indicate an electrical connection when you set up.
Hope this helps.
Jcurtis95
Fredericksburg, TX
