An EMS can detect wiring issues at the pedestal, but not in the wiring in the RV itself. if the open ground occurs in the RV and there is a short from line ("hot") to chassis with enough resistance not to trip any of the circuit breakers, then the chassis can have dangerous voltages on it. In my opinion, a dual range non-contact voltage tester (such as the Klein Tools NCVT-2) is required to reliably detect hot skin. I believe an NCVT-2 and an EMS are the best defense against hot skin.
It should be stated that a surge protector can only protect us from open grounds that occur upstream from its location in our shore power circuit path. If the ground were to open somewhere downstream (such as in your shore power cable or connector) I believe it could not detect it. Mike, could you weigh in on this?
We just got back from a trip to Oregon. There we had an open ground error on our Progressive Industries surge protector, before plugging in. Staff told us its no big deal., its your rig drawing too much power. I showed him the screen & explained I wasnt plugged in. We moved sites.
An EMS can detect wiring issues at the pedestal, but not in the wiring in the RV itself. if the open ground occurs in the RV and there is a short from line ("hot") to chassis with enough resistance not to trip any of the circuit breakers, then the chassis can have dangerous voltages on it. In my opinion, a dual range non-contact voltage tester (such as the Klein Tools NCVT-2) is required to reliably detect hot skin. I believe an NCVT-2 and an EMS are the best defense against hot skin.
It should be stated that a surge protector can only protect us from open grounds that occur upstream from its location in our shore power circuit path. If the ground were to open somewhere downstream (such as in your shore power cable or connector) I believe it could not detect it. Mike, could you weigh in on this?
That will be in my deep-dive article tomorrow. But yes, you are correct.
That’s what happened to us. The ground on the shore inlet receptacle was not attached.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for this lesson.
We just got back from a trip to Oregon. There we had an open ground error on our Progressive Industries surge protector, before plugging in. Staff told us its no big deal., its your rig drawing too much power. I showed him the screen & explained I wasnt plugged in. We moved sites.
You make a difference
Thanks Again
D
You’re welcome. Open grounds can be deadly, but I can’t get campgrounds interested in pedestal maintenance.