Polarity

[JerseyBill]

I was at a CG inFL last week with some OLD wiring...I noticedmy polarity tester was reading'Open Ground'. I called the office and a guy came out to replace the switch in the box...when he was done I was still getting an 'Open Neutral' reading and even got a little jolt from the rod that supports the propane bottles. I wound up using a few 30amp extension cords to plug in at a new electrical drop a few sites away but was reminded how important that polarity tester is.



I am sure that most of you already use a device to testpolarity but for those that don't, you may want to pick one up. I use the one linked below because it is also an AC line meter...itgives you a digital reading of your AC voltage so you know you are not cooking those voltage sensative appliances.



http://www.adventurerv.net/line-monitorpolarity-tester-p-1413.html

[Lloyd]

That's a good point. We ran into the same problem quite some years ago out in WY.
I always carry my checker with. I like the looks of the one you have. Mine doesn't show the voltage.

[spinella]

good advice. we dont do full hook ups much but i'll still pick one up.

[geondebi]

I use a surge protector and it looks for all the correct wiring before I plug in the camper. I am now looking for something to keep the voltage up as I have seen in some campground the voltage drop as everyone turns on the AC's. Summer time of course. But great point about checking first. We all paid a lot of money for our campers and just a few cents of prevention.

[Hamops]

I think that it wasmore likely areceptacle that the repair person replaced, but if it was, he made a real booboo. Your detector is reading "OPEN NEUTRAL" because the hot and neutral were connected to the wrong terminals. That is why youfelt the tingling shock. By connecting them incorrectly, any none grounded device will become energized on an exposed surface. As long as you don't touch a ground point, you feel nothing, but should you touch a ground point while holding onto or touching the energized device, you will get a shock. It's like birds on wire. They sit on the wires and nothing happens. Ifone touches the ground wire while sitting on the live wire, POOF...Fried Chicken!

[cwit]

You might want to check your ground in your camper panel box. I lost mine just after we frist got our camper. This can cause your problem as well as a problem with your groundfaults.

[sheltieRV]

Originally Posted by geondebi

I use a surge protector and it looks for all the correct wiring before I plug in the camper. I am now looking for something to keep the voltage up as I have seen in some campground the voltage drop as everyone turns on the AC's.

We ran into this during winter camping over New Years. The campground could not handle the load with a full park and the voltage would drop each morning and evening. Our protector would cycle on/off as this happened, so we ended up "dry camping" for a couple of hours each day to avoid the up/downs of the system cycling.



So we have added an Autoformer to our wish list as well.