Accidentally wiring a TT-30 outlet with 240-volts

[jmsokol]

Here's an article I just posted about how electricians can get confused when hooking up a home or garage 30-amp/120-volt RV outlet (TT-30) so you can power your RV in the driveway. They sometimes mis-wire it with 240-volts because it "looks" like a 30-Amp/240-Volt Dryer outlet. Electricians should know better, but they sometimes miss the tiny wording on the front of the outlet with the 125-Volt rating.

http://www.noshockzone.org/accidentally-plugging-into-240-volt-outlet/

Plugging your 120-volt RV into an outlet mis-wired with 240-volts will result in VERY bad things happening to your electrical system. If you're having someone wire up a 30-amp/120-volt outlet for you, make sure they read this post which includes an electrical hookup diagram.

Mike Sokol
http://www.noshockzone.org
jmsokol
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[len19070]

This is a very very common problem in the RV Industry. 25 years as an RV Tech I've seen it Many, many times.

Somebody gets somebody to wire an outside plug for there RV at home, and not being in or knowing anything about RV's, looks at the Plug and says....Its a Dryer Plug.

Its 220 Volt!

It wipes out almost everything!

And in my business we, not the novice who installed the plug are the ones who get blamed for problem.

Happy Trails

Len

[jmsokol]

This is a very very common problem in the RV Industry. 25 years as an RV Tech I've seen it Many, many times. Somebody gets somebody to wire an outside plug for there RV at home, and not being in or knowing anything about RV's, looks at the Plug and says....Its a Dryer Plug. Its 220 Volt! It wipes out almost everything!

Please pass this important information on to everybody you know with an RV. And always check the voltage of any unknown outlet BEFORE you plug in your trailer.

http://www.noshockzone.org/accidentally-plugging-into-240-volt-outlet/

Mike Sokol

[len19070]

This is a very very common problem in the RV Industry. 25 years as an RV Tech I've seen it Many, many times. Somebody gets somebody to wire an outside plug for there RV at home, and not being in or knowing anything about RV's, looks at the Plug and says....Its a Dryer Plug. Its 220 Volt! It wipes out almost everything!

Please pass this important information on to everybody you know with an RV. And always check the voltage of any unknown outlet BEFORE you plug in your trailer.

http://www.noshockzone.org/accidentally-plugging-into-240-volt-outlet/

Mike Sokol

I used to put a tag on the end of all the 30amp plugs on all the units both new and used I demo'd saying "This is not a Dryer Plug" 110V....it still happened.

Happy trails

Len

[Shadow Catcher]

A great deal of magic smoke can be released, I do my own electrical and did the 30A plug for the trailer and followed the "Do not trust any installation done by anyone including yourself or a professional" TEST it http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/testing.htm
I am just a bit paranoid (yes some of the time they ARE out to get you) and have purchased a Progressive Industries EMS to protect the electronics in Compass Rose. http://www.progressiveindustries.net It will not allow a bad connection and take care of voltage spikes and surges... It will be installed this weekend if weather permits.

[jmsokol]

I am just a bit paranoid (yes some of the time they ARE out to get you) and have purchased a Progressive Industries EMS to protect the electronics in Compass Rose. http://www.progressiveindustries.net It will not allow a bad connection and take care of voltage spikes and surges...

I've confirmed with the engineers at Progressive Industries that all of their 120-volt and 240-volt surge protectors are tested to 440 volts. So if you accidentally plug into a mis-wired outlet with 240-volts, it won't allow the voltage to pass into your trailer, and it won't burn itself up protecting you.

I also have confirmation from PI that none of their products will recognize or protect you from a hot-skin condition caused by what I call an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground). But there are NO surge protectors on the market that will find an RPBG outlet. I still think the best way to test for RPBG conditions is to use a $25 Non-Contact Voltage Tester (NCVT) such as a Fluke VoltAlert. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLk-6pvSlWg for a video on the test procedure.

[len19070]

Please pass this important information on to everybody you know with an RV. And always check the voltage of any unknown outlet BEFORE you plug in your trailer.

Mike Sokol

It doesn't matter....we do but when ever it happens its never the "Ham bone" who hooked it up's fault....Its ours.

I used to put a sticker on the Breaker box stating "Theirs nothing in this coach that's 220 Volts" Tag on the plug, sticker on the Panel.......... Some how it was always our fault!

Happy Trails

Len

[jmsokol]

I also have confirmation from PI that none of their products will recognize or protect you from a hot-skin condition caused by what I call an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground). But there are NO surge protectors on the market that will find an RPBG outlet. I still think the best way to test for RPBG conditions is to use a $25 Non-Contact Voltage Tester (NCVT) such as a Fluke VoltAlert.

Also, here's my latest article about Reverse Polarity Bootleg Grounds at EC&M Magazine:

http://ecmweb.com/contractor/failures-o ... ng-exposed

While this magazine is aimed at electrical inspectors and contractors, you need to watch out for this condition on any home or garage wiring you might plug into. And even early campgrounds can have the same RPBG outlets, but it should be pretty rare there.

[bdosborn]

Wow, great article, Thanks for posting the link! I can tell you'll be a great contributor to our electrical discussions. Now get busy on some articles on trailer frame bonding and portable generator neutral ground bonds.

Bruce

P.S. I wonder if the Progressive Industries power protector would pick up the RPBG situation?

[Shadow Catcher]

Bruce, from the Progressive Industries EMS manual it will not find a RPBG situation because it tells you that you have to make an adapter to cause a RPBG to get it to work with generator. My question is how dangerous a situation could this cause? So yes this is an interesting thread.

[bdosborn]

Bruce, from the Progressive Industries EMS manual it will not find a RPBG situation because it tells you that you have to make an adapter to cause a RPBG to get it to work with generator.

I think its telling you to make a bootleg ground adapter, not a reverse polarity bootleg ground. The EMS is looking for a neutral ground bond and most portable generators don't have one. The RPBG is very dangerous as anything connected to the equipment ground is going to be energized and you'll be the path to ground if you touch it. I think I'll throw another tester into the tongue box.

Bruce

[H.A.]

!

[jmsokol]

Wow, great article, Thanks for posting the link! I can tell you'll be a great contributor to our electrical discussions. Now get busy on some articles on trailer frame bonding and portable generator neutral ground bonds.

Actually, I've been discussing a cross-building project with my guitar player Karl from a few of my rock bands some 25+ years ago. Karl now does a lot of woodworking and home bathroom/kitchen remodeling, and is interested in building a teardrop trailer for he and his wife to go camping in the great outdoors. He likes the idea of a solar cell array on the roof and LED lighting since he does extended backwoods trips. Plus Karl likes to eat and has sketched out some pretty cool kitchens.

On the other side of the coin, I'm considering building a 23'-25' x 7'' snowmobile trailer with a living quarters in the front half, and room for my NoShockZone seminar gear in the "toys" cargo area (no snowmobiles, only seminar gear). I would use the front ramp as a fold-out room for lounging and partition it so my seminar gear would go in about 12 ft cargo area.

The deal is Karl would help me design and build my NoShockZone seminar trailer, doing all the woodworking and plumbing. And in return I would help design and build his teardrop trailer from the frame up, doing all the wiring and power hookups. We would document all designs and publish picks of the building as we go along. Of course, we would ask for opinions and ideas for Karl's Teardrop on this site, as well as help with my snowmobile trailer design (with no snowmobiles, only my NoShockZone gear. I'll keep you posted.

P.S. I wonder if the Progressive Industries power protector would pick up the RPBG situation?

No it won't. That's the dangerous thing about RPBG outlets. No standard testing methods will detect one, and no standard voltage protectors will disconnect you from one. But a simple NCVT (Non Contact Voltage Tester) will easily identify an RPBG outlet before or after plugging in. I think that finding it sooner rather than later is a good idea, and you've seen my test proceedure on my EC&M article. Please post links to it on any other inspector or RV website you subscribe to as I think it's a very important mis-wiring condition to be aware of.

[jmsokol]

Bruce, from the Progressive Industries EMS manual it will not find a RPBG situation because it tells you that you have to make an adapter to cause a RPBG to get it to work with generator. My question is how dangerous a situation could this cause? So yes this is an interesting thread.

What Progressive industries is recommending is called a generator G-N bond, not really a Bootleg Ground (though it looks like one) and it's certainly NOT an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground). In a home service panel this also includes an (E)arth grounding rod at that same point, so I think of it as a G-N-E (Ground-Neutral-Earth) bond. I'm also doing some experiments with generator (E)arth bonding via a ground rod, but Code doesn't require Earth grounding of most portable generators. Of course, for big music stages we ALWAYS earth ground our generators at the G-N bonding point, since it's way to easy to created dangerous voltages on a stage. But what PI is asking you to do for portable generator G-N bonding that's powering an RV is perfectly safe and legal.

[jmsokol]

Please post the following to any forums you belong to.

Mike Sokol from The No~Shock~Zone will appear live on the RVtravel webinar on Saturday, June 21 at noon EST. He'll be discussing RV electrical safety as well as announcing his upcoming eBook on Amazon titled "No~Shock~Zone - RV Electrical Safety". Here’s the link to the webinar: https://www.youtube.com/user/RVtravel

Email your RV electrical questions in advance to [email protected]

Thanks... Mike Sokol (jmsokol)