Anyone have trouble clearancing power lines?

[CAD-on the road again]

we have a 2018 cedar creek hathaway 36CK2. Only 2 months old. we were traveling down a road to a campground, not too rural, and took out a power line and ripped off our TV anntenna. This happen to others? Can find out our actual height with an added air conditioner from factory over master bed.

[K4DCF]

We just got a Silverback 37MBH with two AC units and I wonder about my height as well. I plan on getting a long 2x4 and level to measure the height myself. As hitch height varies from truck to truck I don't trust the factory specs.

[Cypressloser]

I can see low hanging tree branches causing havoc but power lines on a public road seems odd to me as long as the trailer is below 13'6" high (which it should be) and there was no warning sign. I would make sure someone pays for the repairs on your 5th wheel.

[m35a2]

Originally Posted by ChrisRickard

we have a 2018 cedar creek hathaway 36CK2. Only 2 months old. we were traveling down a road to a campground, not too rural, and took out a power line and ripped off our TV anntenna. This happen to others? Can find out our actual height with an added air conditioner from factory over master bed.

I'm 13'6 which is the legal height limit for a non-commercial trailer in most states from what I can gather.

So far, I haven't had any problems with low lines, but then I've only pulled this camper about 5,000 miles. My previous one was a foot shorter, no problems at all with it in 11 years.

[W5CI]

I am curios how it could rip your tv antenna off and not hurt your ac's. Did you leave it up?

[m35a2]

Yours should be 13' according to FR's website.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by W5CI

I am curios how it could rip your tv antenna off and not hurt your ac's. Did you leave it up?

I have the "Omnidirectional" on my 304BS and it is just ahead of the front AC. It would be the first thing to make contact with any low object. It's a fixed antenna and doesn't raise or lower.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by W5CI

I am curios how it could rip your tv antenna off and not hurt your ac's. Did you leave it up?

I have snagged branches of low hanging trees that bent my batwing up 90 degrees without even smearing the AC shroud with greenery.

It happens all too often on side roads.

[keith52]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

I have snagged branches of low hanging trees that bent my batwing up 90 degrees without even smearing the AC shroud with greenery.

It happens all too often on side roads.

Saved you the trouble of cranking it up at your site?

[CAD-on the road again]

My antenna does not fold down. It is shaped like a stem with a dinner plate on it. Its a HD antenna that"used to " pick up amazing reception. New one coming today. So there is no forgetting to fold it down. From the black line on the first AC it appears it rolled acrossed it and snagged the antenna. As far as getting power company to pay for it, it has been suggested to me from many others that they "may" charge me for snapping their line. I hopefully was just in the wrong place at wrong time and I wa s the lucky one to snag the line. It was the only road to this campground. Paved 2 laner. Not out in the boondocks. Hope this isnt a reaccuring problem. Park next to a semi at a truck stop and we are same height as the big dogs if not higher with that front AC.

[Oakman]

I’m guessing this happened to you on a hot day. Power lines will stretch and the sag will increase because of the heat. That line needs to be rehung by the power company and yes they are at fault and should pay for any damages. In a perfect world that would happen but don’t count on it.

[youroo]

We live in "Rural Area" Big Rigs travel all the time No issues! Now come" Harvest Time" all bets are off! Combines with Large Capacity Bins "Can/Do" wipe out Lines,Mostly Cable/Phone the Power Co Lines have Plenty of Clearance! In your situation since you said "The Only way into the Campground" I would Blame the CG Owner,unless this was a Temporary Line for some reason,and if so the Line should have been "Marked" well before "Both ways"!! Youroo!!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by keith52

Saved you the trouble of cranking it up at your site?

No, the blade just bent up. Bent it back in place and had no further trouble.

[railroaderone]

Power lines are 13'8 minimum by standard even temp line are set a foot or so higher to allow for sag.

[spock123]

I went to the coast of North Carolina after a hurricane and I took out a few people's cable tv. I got to the campground and then I noticed all the cables that I was pulling, didn't hurt anything on top of camper, I probably surprised some people watching tv

[smo]

P.U.C Laws in most states say the lines must be up at least 16 feet. I was entering a CG in Maine in my Blue Ridge 5er and took down all 3 lines, Power, Cable & Telephone. Damaging my front A/C..My height 13'6".....All company's quickly showed up and raised the lines and CG owner's Insurance Company paid for new A/C.

[BMullins46]

I am a former Safety and Claims supervisor for an electric utility, the minimum height over roadways for low voltage (under 600V) POWER lines is over 15 ft, if you actually hit a POWER line then the power company's facilities were not in compliance with code and they should reimburse your cost. You may well have hit a communication line, however they are also supposed to be above 15ft. If the line you hit was a privately owned line (ie: campground, oil company, etc.) they too should also meet the minimum standards of the National Electrical Code which would again exceed 15ft so you need to find out who owned the line and file a claim with them.

[Swampy]

Just so you know, the electric utility is required to follow the ANSI C2 National Electrical Safety Code concerning overhead powerline clearances. I don't have access to my code book since I retired, but I believe the required clearance over a roadway is 18 ft for low voltage lines subject to truck traffic. I would definitely contact the utility and make a claim since they were obviously not maintaining the required safety clearance crossing the roadway and caused you a loss for their negligence. I am assuming you snagged a service drop or a secondary crossing, so likely the only thing it would have taken to put the line back up is a couple of wire grips at the poles and maybe a couple of splices if the wire was damaged. Cable grips are a $15 item and the conductor splices are around $5 each plus assume about an hour of lineman time and his bucket truck ($150).

Chances are that the line you snagged may have been telephone or even CATV since both of those are generally lower than the power cables. They follow the same NESC rules for clearances and likewise are responsible for maintaining that safety clearance for the general public.

I am sure you are being stuck with the higher cost of repairs to your RV than what it would have cost any utility to repair the damage to their line... plus the negligence is on the utility and they should pay for the whole repair, yours as well.

Swampy

[Kayak30336]

From time to time I see a lot of inquiries about the height of someone's fifth wheel. I see manufacturers numbers quoted often.
The ONLY way to know the height of YOUR 'set up' is to measure it. Measure it hooked up to your truck. The old 2x4 leveled across the front AC (or the highest point) to ground will tell you exactly what your height is. How a manufacturer can tell you something is 13' unhitched is beyond me. My 2016 Cedar Creek 38CK, hitched to my 2016 RAM 3500, 4 whl drive short bed crew cab measures 13', 7.5" to the top of the front AC. So I know what I need to look out for and where I can and can't go. I can no longer go thru the Chesapeake Tunnel, or on the PA turnpike to name a few.
I am open to suggestions on how to get the dang thing lower tho.......

[jtesta1]

Power,phone,cable etc are required for 13 foot six inch minimum clearance . I used to deliver to residences with a 13' 6'' trailer. Was constantly having cops called on me for pulling wires down in neighborhoods. Kept the D O T manual opened to the requirement section for whenever the Police showed up.