Protection for Shore Power Electrical Faults

[IowaTraveler]

Most power protection devices, if not all, that you can get for your RV (including my Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C) will not protect you from a Bootleg Ground. That is what you and your dogs experienced.

To learn more about this and to be sure you don't get electrocuted by some dummy who thinks they know how to wire campground pedestals Google and research Bootleg Ground. I think Mike Holt use to host a web site called noshockzone.org but I think he has moved on (or got commercialized).

Then go buy a non-contact circuit tester and use it every time you connect your RV to shore power (or work on anything AC electrical).

Stay safe.

Well, that's what I suspected....and that's how I figured out what was going on. When I discovered that the frame was hot even with the pedestal breaker pulled, I figured it was a hot ground. The only way I could de-engergize the frame was to (carefully) remove the power cable from the pedestal. Then I used a digital VOM that I carry and found the 120 v from the pedestal case to earth ground. I did research the reverse polarity bootleg ground issue as you suggested and I'm disappointed that the current devices don't protect for that kind of fault. What made this situation particularly insidious was that the problem didn't manifest itself when I first hooked up; only after we had a couple of days of heavy rain. I hope the combination is very rare. I did end up ordering the Hughes autoformer surge protector + POE. Guess I'll have to get in the habit of testing the pedestal ground with the VOM when I hook up in the future. It would seem to be easy for the devices to check voltage between ground and neutral to detect this kind of fault.

[Dakota]

We bought the Progressive 50 amp before our first trip. Even at $350 or so, it’s cheap insurance. Glad the dogs are ok!

[Dakota]

Most power protection devices, if not all, that you can get for your RV (including my Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C) will not protect you from a Bootleg Ground. That is what you and your dogs experienced.

To learn more about this and to be sure you don't get electrocuted by some dummy who thinks they know how to wire campground pedestals Google and research Bootleg Ground. I think Mike Holt use to host a web site called noshockzone.org but I think he has moved on (or got commercialized).

Then go buy a non-contact circuit tester and use it every time you connect your RV to shore power (or work on anything AC electrical).

Stay safe.

Yikes! Learned something new today and extremely valuable. Thanks for posting!

[deerislandbrew]

We had a scary experience with faulty electrical power at our campsite. I've never had a serious issue with electrical hook-up at a campsite for the 10 years we've camped with a travel trailer....up until now. We discovered we had an issue the hard way; when our dogs got shocked as they climbed up the metal stairs into the trailer. I had no idea why they were yelping (LOUDLY) when they touched the stairs, so I put my hand on it to see if there was glass or something that I didn't see. That's when I got shocked. Incredibly, the entire frame of the trailer was hot, measuring 112 vac to ground! After some troubleshooting, I discovered that somehow the shore power pedestal equipment ground/casing was hot. Long story short, when they were upgrading the TV cable system, the installer screwed the plastic cable box to the electrical panel and punctured one of the hot legs inside the pedestal. The problem was fixed quickly, but I've decided that a portable surge protector/power diagnostic/monitor would be a good investment for future protection. I want something that will alert power faults, preferably disconnecting the supply side to the trailer. Thoughts??

i also use the Hughes autoformer, Watchdog surge protector. The nice part about this, is that if you ever blow the main fuse inside the box, it is replaceable and there is a spare inside. Normal surges and interruptions just shut down the power to your RV like a circuit breaker and will reset when the protector determines that your power input is OK. Like a Circuit breaker, only better. It also gives error codes for troubleshooting the issue.

[tigerGUY1955]

We started from scratch becoming full-time RVers. Neither of us had ever slept in an RV much less owned one. When we went on our initial shopping spree to buy everything we thought we needed, I spent a little over $375 on the GFI that we plug into campground electric source. Spending 40+ years in construction had taught me you don't spare cost on the important tools.

[Herve Mann]

Progressive EMS and never looked back. Alerted us on a low voltage situation on L-2 three times at a KOA in Upper Peninsula, MI.

Very glad everyone is OK.
Herve

[el Rojo]

Most power protection devices, if not all, that you can get for your RV (including my Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C) will not protect you from a Bootleg Ground. That is what you and your dogs experienced.

To learn more about this and to be sure you don't get electrocuted by some dummy who thinks they know how to wire campground pedestals Google and research Bootleg Ground. I think Mike Holt use to host a web site called noshockzone.org but I think he has moved on (or got commercialized).

Then go buy a non-contact circuit tester and use it every time you connect your RV to shore power (or work on anything AC electrical).

Stay safe.

Thanks Larry. This is very valuable information. Just wanted to bring this back to the top so more folks would see it.

Red