I got shocked turning on the water heater element, after I purged the relief valve. Everything was wet and I was standing in the grass. No other shocking issues anywhere else on/in the trailer. No shock when we were leaving and I turned the switch off.(it was dry then) I know this is a safety issue for me and my family so how can I test for and hopefully fix this. I'm not an electrician but I can use a multi-meter. Thanks for any help.
It's a Suburban water heater.
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My first guess would be a failed electrical heater element.
However, if that is ruled out then consider the following excerpt that says it better than I can: Why is My RV Shocking Me?
These electrical shocks can be caused by a reversed polarity problem in the electric receptacle that your RV is plugged into, a polarity problem in the extension cord you are using to plug in your RV or to a shorted wire somewhere in your RV's electrical system. This problem can also be caused by an improper ground in the receptacle, extension cord or in the RV.
..... reversed polarity which is the most common cause of "Hot Skin" in RV's.
Now we need to determine which part of the electrical system is causing your problem. You can use your polarity tester to help determine the cause.
First, Unplug your RV from Shore Power and then plug the tester into the receptacle that the RV was plugged into. To do this test you may need a 30 amp male to 15 amp female electric adapter so that you can plug the adapter into the 30 Amp plug. You may find that the tester will indicate that the polarity of the receptacle is reversed. To solve this problem the electrical outlet needs be rewired properly or you will have to plug into a known good receptacle.
If the outlet shows no problems then we know that is not causing the shocks. If you are using an extension cord to plug in your RV we need to check that next. Plug the extension cord into a known good outlet and plug the tester into the extension cord. If it indicates that there is a problem with the extension cord then the extension cord needs to be disposed of.
My first guess would be a failed electrical heater element.
However, if that is ruled out then consider the following excerpt that says it better than I can: Why is My RV Shocking Me?
These electrical shocks can be caused by a reversed polarity problem in the electric receptacle that your RV is plugged into, a polarity problem in the extension cord you are using to plug in your RV or to a shorted wire somewhere in your RV's electrical system. This problem can also be caused by an improper ground in the receptacle, extension cord or in the RV.
..... reversed polarity which is the most common cause of "Hot Skin" in RV's.
Now we need to determine which part of the electrical system is causing your problem. You can use your polarity tester to help determine the cause.
First, Unplug your RV from Shore Power and then plug the tester into the receptacle that the RV was plugged into. To do this test you may need a 30 amp male to 15 amp female electric adapter so that you can plug the adapter into the 30 Amp plug. You may find that the tester will indicate that the polarity of the receptacle is reversed. To solve this problem the electrical outlet needs be rewired properly or you will have to plug into a known good receptacle.
If the outlet shows no problems then we know that is not causing the shocks. If you are using an extension cord to plug in your RV we need to check that next. Plug the extension cord into a known good outlet and plug the tester into the extension cord. If it indicates that there is a problem with the extension cord then the extension cord needs to be disposed of.
Sorry, but the above information is incorrect.
First - Reversed outlet polarity (Swapped Hot and Neutral) will NOT cause a hot skin condition if the ground wire (EGC) is intact and correctly bonded all the way back to the incoming service panel from the power company. That's an old wives tale that I'm still beating to the ground.
Secondly, none of the 3-light polarity testers will find a really dangerous mis-wiring problem I've name an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground). Please read this link where I introduce the idea to the RV industry. The RV Doctor: Friends of Gary - Mike
Thirdly, an electric hot-water heater element with a broken hermetic seal will leak current (around 1 or 2 amps) to the chassis of the RV. But if the RV is properly bonded/ground back to the service, then it's impossible for any significant voltage to exist as a hot skin. Maybe 1 or 2 volts, but certainly not the 40 volt threshold where it gets dangerous.
Fourthly, a loose, missing. or broken ground wire (The EGC or Equipment Grounding Conductor) by itself may no cause a voltage to be noticed when touching the skin of the RV. But virtually EVERYTHING leaks a little current to its chassis when plugged into an outlet. And it's allowed to leak these small (under 1mA) currents and still be UL listed and NEC compliant. But all these little leakages from your various appliances are additive, so you may not feel a shock if not much is turned on inside your RV. But even a single MOV power strip can leak enough current (1.5 mA) that you can feel it. Again, if you have a proper ground wire on your shore cord connected to a properly ground-bonded receptacle, then it's impossible to develop a hot skin voltage. The circuit breakers will trip first.
Finally, it's a bad idea to stand in the water and flip any switches connected to electrical power. That's because even if your RV chassis is properly ground-bonded, you still can have conductivity via any water on the switch itself.
I think that the quickest and best way to test for an RV hot-skin condition is still a NCVT such as a Klein NCVT-1 or Fluke VoltAlert. You just need the standard 40 to 1,000 volt versions, not the 24-volt versions. See
Mike, thanks for your reply and all of your articles on RV safety! I've been reading over them and will test my trailer (after/if it stops raining!) I did not test the state campground power box and never got shocked going in/out or touching the trailer, just that one time when water was present at the water heater. I even filled and tested the water heater at home hooked up to shore power and didn't get shocked turning on the heater element switch in wet conditions. Makes me think it was the campground power box. Can I test the water heater with a voltmeter to find the source of the shock I received at the w/h switch area? I will be testing all campground power pedestals from now on! I am also going to upgrade my SurgeGaurd to a PI 30 amp system, which I should have done in the first place. ( as a newbie I went with what the dealer said was best ) I did have hot water the entire trip using the electric side of water heater, so I don't think it is the element
Thanks to all for your responses, that is what I love about this forum
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The one and only time I've run into a a hot skin condition with my trailer a bad heating element was the culprit.
However, as I've demonstrated many times, a bad heating element can't shock you unless you also have a failure in the ground-bond connection. This high-resistance failed connection can be anywhere between the frame of the RV and the incoming power panel's Ground-Bond bus. Typically it's in a cheap dog-bone adapter, but can also be in the campground pedestal itself. And a separate ground rod won't help "ground" an RV since it's impedance is typically between 25 to 100 ohms. A proper EGC bond (safety ground) has to be under 1 ohm impedance to be code compliant. A 100 ohm ground rod connection will only draw around 1 ampere even with a direct short to the RV chassis, and that's not enough to trip a 20 or 30 amp circuit breaker.
Just sounds like you got a 115 volt tingle from your water heater electric element on/off switch because of the wetness. That switch is not highly insulated from its mounting position and it's not a very well made switch. JMO.
Just sounds like you got a 115 volt tingle from your water heater electric element on/off switch because of the wetness. That switch is not highly insulated from its mounting position and it's not a very well made switch. JMO.
I would concur. The switch is not waterproof.
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However, as I've demonstrated many times, a bad heating element can't shock you unless you also have a failure in the ground-bond connection. This high-resistance failed connection can be anywhere between the frame of the RV and the incoming power panel's Ground-Bond bus. Typically it's in a cheap dog-bone adapter, but can also be in the campground pedestal itself. And a separate ground rod won't help "ground" an RV since it's impedance is typically between 25 to 100 ohms. A proper EGC bond (safety ground) has to be under 1 ohm impedance to be code compliant. A 100 ohm ground rod connection will only draw around 1 ampere even with a direct short to the RV chassis, and that's not enough to trip a 20 or 30 amp circuit breaker.
I'm only going by what the mobile RV tech said. We were at a permanent site at the time. The power panel and the cord were both checked. Never had the problem prior and never had the problem after it was replaced.
Just sounds like you got a 115 volt tingle from your water heater electric element on/off switch because of the wetness. That switch is not highly insulated from its mounting position and it's not a very well made switch. JMO.
Well it should be insulated!
I will be checking all electrical FIRST from now on! I realize it's one more step in the setup to do list, but the most important one! Just glad I got a "wake up call" and not a " life altering lesson"
Thanks again to those a lot smarter than me
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My HWH is under the sink in my bathroom. I installed a pilot light switch in the bathroom that turns the outlet that the HWH is plugged into on and off. Lets me turn it on at the HWH at beginning of season. After that, I just use the inside switch.
I had to put in a larger electrical box for the outlet so I could put a real receptacle in it, instead of the cheap "RV receptacle" they used. Here's some pics and a wiring diagram with the switch PN.
(In the bottom pic, the light is not really on - the flash made it look that way. Switch up is ON, down is OFF.)
I'm only going by what the mobile RV tech said. We were at a permanent site at the time. The power panel and the cord were both checked. Never had the problem prior and never had the problem after it was replaced.
Sadly, many RV technicians really don't understand grounding issues. I've offered to develop technician training to all the major manufacturers, but they're not interested. I do what I can on dozens of these forums, but I'm constantly answering the same questions over and over again.
So if someone tells you that an RV heater element caused a shock condition, they don't understand how RV grounding works. And if they tell you that reversed polarity (swapped hot and neutral) cause a hot skin shock, then they REALLY don't understand.
Your electric element is shorted. Happens if you turn it on when empty. Problem will be resolved after the element is replaced. Replacements available at any home store such as Home Depot.
Your electric element is shorted. Happens if you turn it on when empty. Problem will be resolved after the element is replaced. Replacements available at any home store such as Home Depot.
As I stated in previous post the element is still working. If it was shorted out would it not quit working
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As I stated in previous post the element is still working. If it was shorted out would it not quit working
It's not shorted. If it was shorted then it would trip the circuit breaker. I believe there's was some water buildup around the switch which provided a current path through you to the wet ground you were standing on.
On a side note, most of the time a HW heater element with fail due to corrosion which allows water to contact the ni-chrome element. Then there will be around 1 amp of ground fault leakage current. There's a pretty simple current test can could be performed on RV's using a clamp meter, but no one to my knowledge has documented or performed this test. It's just something in my bag-of-tricks for troubleshooting electrical systems.
If you do turn on the electricity without any water, then the element can melt-down internally. Most of the time it should open-up, but there's a possibility it could short to the outer tube. But that won't be a hard short between two electric wires. In any case, if you have a properly ground-bonded RV, it can't possibly cause a hot-skin voltage condition.
It's not shorted. If it was shorted then it would trip the circuit breaker. I believe there's was some water buildup around the switch which provided a current path through you to the wet ground you were standing on.
On a side note, most of the time a HW heater element with fail due to corrosion which allows water to contact the ni-chrome element. Then there will be around 1 amp of ground fault leakage current. There's a pretty simple current test can could be performed on RV's using a clamp meter, but no one to my knowledge has documented or performed this test. It's just something in my bag-of-tricks for troubleshooting electrical systems.
If you do turn on the electricity without any water, then the element can melt-down internally. Most of the time it should open-up, but there's a possibility it could short to the outer tube. But that won't be a hard short between two electric wires. In any case, if you have a properly ground-bonded RV, it can't possibly cause a hot-skin voltage condition.
I agree and will wait and/or remove the excess water after bleeding the water heater and before turning on the element switch. I will be testing all electrical hook ups (following your video,articles) from now on. Thanks again!
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I learned from Mr.Sokol early on about being smart with electricity. I use a tester on the skin before anyone touches anything. My neighbors think I'm an idiot but you can't go back and check it after it has zapped you.