Tips on Finding Hot Skin Source - R-pod Owners Forum

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GlueGuy

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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Topic: Tips on Finding Hot Skin Source
Posted: 13 Jul 2020 at 11:26am

Originally posted by offgrid

Which craft beer do you get from the neighbors for fixin' the electric gate? Tongue

Don't know yet..

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

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Posted: 13 Jul 2020 at 7:20am

Which craft beer do you get from the neighbors for fixin' the electric gate? Tongue

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

GlueGuy

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Location: N. California
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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 8:23pm

I (mostly) quit beer about a year ago. I was just starting to get too, uh, chubby. My ideal weight is about 195 lbs, and I had gotten up to between 210 and 215. I am now down to 202, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I do drink beer still, now and then. It's just more of a treat now. That and it allows me to try out some really outstanding craft brews.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 6:59pm

Just don't drink any beer that day and you'll be fine. Tongue

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

GlueGuy

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 6:46pm

Not stereotyping or at least it wasn't intentional. As a point of example, we live in a rural culdesac of 9 homes. The electric gate we have "evolved" from a home-built gate that was cobbled together from an old tractor transmission, some spit and bailing wire back around 1975. The electrical wiring was, um, creative.

About 15 or 20 years later, they replaced the homebuilt gate with a commercial one, but they never did re-do the wiring. Instead, they ran a trench about 30 feet to the new gate location.

About another 20 years go by, and one of the houses is doing a remodel. One of the contractors towing a trailer, cuts the corner short, and rips one of the gates, motor, and post completely out of the ground.

So they replaced the gate motors, but hey still didn't fix the original Rube Goldberg electrical box down where the original gate was some 45 years ago.

We got an electrician to look at it, and he gave us a quote of $1000 to fix the wiring. We've decided to do it ourselves because the underground conduit runs right past one of the motors. All we really need to do is dig a short trench of about 2', and put a pedestal right next to the motor.

I picked up the outdoor breaker panel and unistrut that we're going to use a couple months ago. Now I just need to get a round tuit.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

lostagain

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 6:34pm

Though it is easy to stereotype people with the middle name Bob, watch out for the middle name Ray. I defended a bar that was alleged to have served too much alcohol to Billy Ray Hamilton in Fresno, CA way back when. Here's a little about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Ray_Hamilton He wasn't a very nice guy, nor was his fellow gang member Clarence Ray Allen. Thankfully, neither of them are among us now. Both were far more dangerous than the frame of an rPod being directly wired to the hot wires of a 50A pedestal.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

offgrid

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 4:07pm

Originally posted by GlueGuy

It is not unheard of to hear of mis-wired campground pedestals. I din't think it was common, but we have mostly camped out west. I would imagine that it might be more common in places where there is a longer history, for lack of a better term. You know the place. They can't afford an actual electrician, so they give Bill--Bob a six pack to get that pedestal wired up.

Ummm... Do I detect just a little stereotyping of Appalachian Americans perhaps? Tongue

I'd guess RV parks have existed in the West just as long as in the East. And I've seen some electrical work in places like Boulder Creek CA that would more than match any Eastern jury rigging. Most likely pot fueled workmanship rather than beer fueled.... Star

But honestly I don't really know because i'm nearly always bonndocking. I expect its probably safest to assume that one can run into poorly maintained campgrounds and other businesses anywhere. Trust, but verify as they say.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Grant177

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 3:21pm

Really hard to say as this the first season we have had/used this trailer, so at any point in it's history anything could have happened....

The non-contact detector seems to work really well at detecting anything hot, so should be a good first check tool.

Grant
2011 R-Pod 177

GlueGuy

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Location: N. California
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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 3:20pm

It is not unheard of to hear of mis-wired campground pedestals. I din't think it was common, but we have mostly camped out west. I would imagine that it might be more common in places where there is a longer history, for lack of a better term. You know the place. They can't afford an actual electrician, so they give Bill--Bob a six pack to get that pedestal wired up.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

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Posted: 12 Jul 2020 at 8:12am

Originally posted by Grant177

Hey @offgrid,

Just did another round of testing today (as I was at the trailer and replacing the AC electrical switch for the hot water heater which had fried during previous events).

I've still been unable to replicate any electrical fault since the original electrocution event and after replacing the heating element, thermostat, and switch.

Tested resistance from numerous AC electrical ground locations (ground plug on various AC plugs, inside and exterior, ground bar in fuse box, and copper ground wire coming from fuse panel.

In all locations, resistance from chassis to ground location was always under 1 ohm. So, all I can really say is that other than blaming the camp ground voltage supply for an improper ground, my FIRST thing I'll be testing EVERY time I plug in the trailer is electricity on the chassis...

Picked up one of these to stay with the trailer at all times....

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/klein-tools-non-contact-voltage-tester/1000664603

Not sure if it is just me, but also seems to be a LOT of electrocution threads here lately?

Seems like an unusual number of shock issues lately to me too, but it is a small sample size.

i ohm is good. It seems like you are probably good to go now. Use either an RV circuit analyser or as a minimum an open ground detector anywhere you plug in. I've only used the non contact testers to identify hot wires in a bundle (because you don't need direct contact through the wire insulation) but they ought to work fine to detect a hot skin condition. Note that they only detect AC voltages, so you can't use them to determine if a wire in your 12V system is hot or not.

The remaining puzzling thing to me is why the switch and thermostat assembly in your water heater failed. In theory the breaker in the trailer panel should have prevented that. Maybe you at one point encountered a campground wiring system where either the ground or neutral was hot which might bypass the breaker entirely?

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold