I got a call last week from a friend who's a highly experienced and astute Airstreamer. Among the other things we chatted about, he shared that he'd been dealing with the challenges of fixing hot skin in his Airstream.
You might recall I wrote about hot skin earlier this summer. It's a dangerous (potentially fatal) situation that happens when the exterior, frame, or other metal parts of your Airstream become electrically energized. The result is that your Airstream can zap you when you touch it and the ground at the same time.
That this friend was challenged by tracking down the root cause reminded me that no matter how experienced you are, there are certain electrical issues that all RV owners need to pay attention to. Having the right tools to reduce risk is also important.
Here are 4 electrical issues that can seriously hurt you or seriously damage your Airstream (and cost you a lot of money). For those who prefer to have a deeper understanding of the technical issues and risks, I've linked to additional articles.
1. Hot skin
What it is: Explained above.
How you get it: Hot skin is only possible when two things both happen:
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The RV is plugged in and the electrical connection to ground is absent. This can be the result of a mis-wired power pedestal or sub-panel, damaged power adapter, extension cord, power cord, or a broken ground connection in the RV.
This is why you never plug an RV into a 2-prong power outlet. The ground plug must always be connected, for safety.
- Something in the RV is leaking current. This is often the result of a burned-up water heater element, but it can be almost anywhere in the RV, including chafed wires in the RV or an appliance.
The wrong way to find out that you've got hot skin is by feeling a "tingle" when entering or exiting your RV, perhaps on a day when the grass is wet. You would feel that tingle (or worse) because you are momentarily the connection between the ground and the RV.
Why you should care: Hot skin is potentially fatal.
What to do: This article explains how to perform a safety check for hot skin using a simple, inexpensive tool, and what to do if you've got it.
2. Electrical connection corrosion
What it is: A build up of black, green, yellow, even pink material on the power cord plug, power inlet, 7-way plug, or electrical adapters ("dog bones"). These are signs that the electrical connections have become corroded and current is not flowing through them properly, causing a build-up of heat.
How you get it: Failing to clean connections regularly, running the air conditioning for long periods of time during hot, humid months. Leaving the power cord lying in wet grass for long periods of time during humid summer days.
Why you should care: Corrosion build-up can cause the power cord or adapters to overheat, melt, and even catch fire. It can also result in the trailer's brake and turn signals to work intermittently, causing a dangerous situation while you are towing.
What to do: Follow these step-by-step instructions for cleaning the electrical connections, which we recommend doing at least once during the summer months, and prior to putting your RV into winter storage. You'll need a burnishing tool and a few products for the project, all of which are included in our Maintenance Essentials Kit.
If you are interested in learning more about power plug meltdowns, read this.
3. Brownouts and bad wiring
What it is: Low power current or messed up electrical current that is a result of bad campground wiring. Either one can be just as damaging to your air conditioner's compressor as a surge from a lightning strike.
How you get it: By plugging into a campground power pedestal without first plugging into an electrical management system (EMS). Most RV owners have a surge protector to handle lightning strikes. But the typical surge protector does not protect your rig from low power or bad wiring – which is more common in campgrounds than you'd think.
Why you should care: Replacing your air conditioner's compressor is very expensive. Brownouts can fry it in short order, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
What to do: Invest in an EMS. It's cheap insurance against these electrical issues. We use and recommend this one.
4. Campground voltage sags
What they are: Low power from campground power pedestals – as much as 50%+ less than what the plug is rated for, when the campground is full.
How you get it: By plugging into a campground power pedestal that's affected. Campground voltage sags exist because campground owners are not required to design their electrical distribution to support all campsites simultaneously. This article goes into more detail about the issue.
Why you should care: This issue is akin to a brownout, and can cause burned-out air conditioners and melted power plugs. Bottom line: It creates a potentially dangerous and expensive situation.
What to do: Similar to some of our preceding advice, invest in an EMS so you are protected when the power becomes questionable. And keep your electrical connections clean.
You could also install a soft starter on your air conditioner. This device reduces the startup current required by the air conditioner by up to 75%, which means it's a lot less likely to have a problem. We use and recommend the Micro-Air EasyStart Breeze on our 2020 Globetrotter.
Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Unsplash
2 comments
Lance Coleman
Do you need an EMS when plugged in to a portable power station?
Rich Luhr
Lance, great question! The answer is “No, you don’t” and here’s why:
An EMS is designed to protect your RV from electrical problems that usually stem from mis-wired power outlets, low voltage (“brownouts”), and lightning strikes.
Using a portable power station avoids those problems. Any decent portable power station has very good power regulation and protections built in. It won’t allow a brownout or overloading. (The power station will show an error code or just shut down to protect itself.)
The Sorein Power Station that we offer has dozens of protections built into it, and also features “soft start” capability so that it can manage momentarily heavy loads (like an air conditioner starting up) with no problem at all.
The only situation I can think of where you might want an EMS or surge protector would be when the power station is plugged into a power outlet for re-charging. A lightning strike in the vicinity might cause damage to the power station, so if that’s a concern then plugging the power station into a surge protector or EMS might make sense.