Hot Skin Electric Shock Troubleshooting
⚠️ DANGER: "Hot Skin" Hazard
A hot skin condition can be fatal.If you receive an electric shock when touching the outside of your plugged-in RV, immediately disconnect the shore power at the pedestal if it is safe to do so. Do not touch the metal skin of a plugged-in RV if you suspect a ground fault or reverse polarity issue until the power is off and the issue is corrected.
A user writes...
I've just noticed something on my new-to-me '88 Lance camper:
When plugged in to shore power, if I touch something metal on the camper while being grounded outside the camper, I get shocked (feels like holding a hot 110V wire and ground, only a little less of a shock). Everything electrical that I've tried works on the camper. I'm no electrical wizard, but do own a multi-meter. Does anybody have advice on where to start looking for the leak?
Answer...
You are getting a shock from the camper's metal skin due to incorrect wiring or a hot skin condition in some part of the system. You can purchase a 110-volt circuit tester for under ten dollars on Amazon. The device plugs into an electrical outlet and has three lights on it to indicate if there is a problem and where the fault lies. Every RVer should have one of these to test campground shore power outlets beforehooking up the coach to the power source.
Does this happen every time? Have you plugged in using an extension cord that may be wired wrong, or changed any receptacles or added anything screwed into the walls or ceiling?
Also, staple or screw heads can sometimes work their way into a wire through road vibrations and short the hot wires to ground. This is a dangerous situation and must be corrected before any further use of the camper.
Reader follow-up...
Thanks so much for the info and the warning (we just unwittingly used the camper this weekend!). I will disconnect the battery when I get home and pick up a tester to start checking. The only electrical work I had done was installing a new deep cycle battery. I did try switching outlets and going with/without an extension cord. It sounds like I should start with the source circuit...
Follow-up update:There's nothing wrong with the Lance! I picked up a circuit tester on Amazon, plugged it into my garage outlet, and found that the outlet had the hot and neutral wires reversed. Once I found a properly wired outlet and plugged the Lance into it, the shocking was completely gone.
Answer...
Glad to hear you found the root cause!
Take that circuit tester with you on every trip and test campsite hookups before plugging in. You never know who last serviced or changed a receptacle!
Must-Have RV Safety Tool
Don't risk a hot skin condition. Use a standard 110V circuit tester to check every campground pedestal before you plug in your RV.
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