Grounding Your Camper

[Larwyn]

Hi Mike, all

Where do we finally stand?

.

George,

With that post I find that we agree more than I origionaly thought...

[mikeschn]

Is that the key? To have an outlet tester? With that all problems go away?

Mike...

[Chuck Craven]

A $5.00 tester can save ones life. That is cheap that is worth it’s weight in gold!
GFI Yes but breaker is not really that necessary for a simple system like two or three outlets. With one in the galley, one in the cab and one out outside for plug in lighting or bug zapper. If you are connecting up a light or two with wall switches then the breaker would be a good Idea. If you are doing a house job like- Air, Microwave, E-furnace, tons of outlets and lighting. A power panel and a 50a service would be best. But that is what I would do! It is really up to the capability of the person doing the build or their resources.
Chuck

[Larwyn]

An outlet tester is a good idea. I have one more or less permanetly pluged in the outlet inside the door of my 5th wheel and always use it to check the outlet at a campground before plugging in the power cord (requires an adapter to test the 30 amp outlet). The tester will let you know that the hot wire is in the right place. It will not however let you know if the ground wire is actually grounded to the planet earth.

On my company service truck I have a ground test set. For what the company paid for that test set I could buy a couple of Camp Inn's. I'd rather have the Camp Inn's and take my chances ........

I remember the old pump house on the farm where I grew up. there was only one wire going to the pump, a hot wire, the neutral was connected to the water pipes going to the house, the return path was the actual earth to the ground rod at the meter box which had a "distribution panel" with two screw in fuses (both of which were bypassed with pennies (I'm sure at the time that the fuses would have cost little more than the pennies used to bypass them).

Nobody died, there were no electrical fires. We were lucky. Today there is so much knowlege, leading to worry, that I wonder if we are not a bit overly cautious at times. The only way to be totally safe would be to avoid everything, only, that would lead to starvation.

[GeorgeTelford]

Nicely put Bruce


Softwired Installation (No 120V wiring in trailer)

- Portable cord with integral circuit breaker, GFCI and ground is okay, as long as is it is accessable and not buried in the walls.


Now lets move on to DC grounding shall we?

If we get serious on this subject, they will really think we have gone mad.

Like having an earth stake into the ground (dirt, underfoot earth) and then getting power for free by using the difference in potential between power company earth and ground. This Phenomena is why having a bad earth stake can kill
Earthing is actually far more complicated than any of the live neutral stuff.

[bledsoe3]

If we get serious on this subject, they will really think we have gone mad.

Too late.

[angib]

Earthing is actually far more complicated than any of the live neutral stuff.

Tell me about it. I was once trying to get a decent earth from an earth rod and found it next to impossible - I even tried pouring salted water into the ground around it to see if it would earth, without success. Even wiring direct from the live to the earth rod didn't cause the breaker to trip! I concluded the house was built on non-conducting ground......

Andrew

[TD4FREEW/CTD]

Earthing is actually far more complicated than any of the live neutral stuff.

Tell me about it. I was once trying to get a decent earth from an earth rod and found it next to impossible - I even tried pouring salted water into the ground around it to see if it would earth, without success. Even wiring direct from the live to the earth rod didn't cause the breaker to trip! I concluded the house was built on non-conducting ground......

Andrew

how were you testing the quality of your ground, besides creating a direct short? did you use an ammeter when you did that? you can always try and measure the resistance between your supposed ground and a known ground, which is actually what some of the more anal building inspectors will make you do if you drive a new rod.

i know the land where you drive the rod has an impact on ground quality. many desert cities require the use of 2 8' copper grounding rods. what was your ground rod made of, how deep, and how old?

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi TD

You say anal building inspecters, but they are doing a serious test which could save your life, the difference between those 2 earths could potentially kill you.

[TD4FREEW/CTD]

Hi TD

You say anal building inspecters, but they are doing a serious test which could save your life, the difference between those 2 earths could potentially kill you.

i dont call them anal with resent, they are doing their jobs. fact of the matter is, most of them dont. i've seen inspectors walk into a brand new 2 story home and never go upstairs!

[surveytech]

Guys,
I have read every post here and now am utterly and totally confused.
All this jargon has my head spinning.
Whats a novice to do?

Walter

[Gerdo]

Play it safe. Don't wait. Get a GFI.

Also take your volt meter and check voltage: (start at the camp outlet)
Across the two flat blade holes in the outlet, you should have 110-120 volts.
Across the small flat blade (hot) and the roundish hole (Ground), you should have 110-120 volts.
Across the large flat blade (neutral) and the roundish hole (Ground), you should not have any volts.

If the above scenario is different then the outlet is miswired (DON'T USE IT)

They also sell a tester plug that all you do is plug it in and two green lights is good, a green and a red is bad. A cheep quick test.

[PaulC]

I now understand why I chose to have only a 12volt system. The fear of dying from some other idiots mistake will always do it for me. My next purchase will be a solar panel charger.
Cheers
Paul

[Chuck Craven]

Guys,
I have read every post here and now am utterly and totally confused.
All this jargon has my head spinning.
Whats a novice to do?

Walter

Well think of your tear as a light bulb on the end of a long power cord.
You are the load that the power company is selling electricity to.
If you make your load grounded and even if it is wired right and protected by a GFI either by the campground or in your wiring of the tear. There is a chance of getting a shock from coming in contact with the hot wiring and ground. If you wire your tear and are careful on wiring the grounds only to the outlet fixtures ground pin, you should be fairly safe. If the supply power is wrong you are in trouble one way or the other. You will get juiced or no juice to your tear. So to protect your self use a power tester at the power pole. If it is not right go back to the office and tell them and ask for a different campsite. You are responsible for your campers wiring the campground is responsible for their power pole/ shore power. After all they are charging you for the use of that power. If their not going to accommodate you, move to a different campground or go dry camping. Just don’t take the chance it may workout. AC wiring is not that complicated just follow basic wiring system. If you are trying to do something that you don’t understand get help! You can always ask a electrician, even if you have to pay him it cheaper that an hospital stay.

Chuck

[48Rob]

Chuck wrote;

If you are trying to do something that you don’t understand get help!

YES

There is never shame in trying to learn!

Doing something potentially dangerous, without a full understanding of the consequences is a good way to avoid having to worry about retirement...

Rob