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We are now a 501(c)(3) Corp

After 10 years of writing thousands of articles and answers on dozens of RV owner blogs, along with producing dozens of videos for RV owners, technicians and campground owners, Mike Sokol has taken the next step towards increasing his print and webinar content about electrical safety, along with presenting even more live RVelectricity seminars across
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RV Electrical Safety now available in Paperback and Kindle formats

UPDATE: This book is now available in paperback as well as Kindle formats. Order it in paperback for $14.95 at http://www.amazon.com/No~Shock~Zone-Electrical-Safety-Michael-Sokol/dp/0990527913/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 And, of course, you can order it in Kindle format below. You can get a free Kindle e-book reader for any computer (Mac or Windows) and any tablet including Apple iPad and even most
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Are “Little” Shocks OK?

A question from a reader:

I have a Safari 40′ DP and every time I plug into shore power I feel a shock when touching any metal on the RV. For instance, if I open the under bay door and touch the inside latch I get zapped. Can anyone tell me what would make this happen. Is it really dangerous since it’s only a “little” shock?

Thanks in advance,

“Shocking Blue”

Lightning Safety

I know an automobile or truck is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm with lightning, because you are basically in a metal box. How about our fiberglass RV’s? Are we protected in any way from lightning or should we head for our vehicle?

Walt L. (Boulder, CO)

Generator Ground-Neutral Bonding

I have a 2011 Fleetwood 40-footer. I am trying to get my Honda EU3000 generator to power up the motorhome for a few items. My display after plugging in will show NO LOAD. This generator will power anything else I try such as a 30-foot trailer with one air conditioner, compressor, etc. I also have a Coleman 5000 and that will power up the motorhome. I have called Honda and they where no help.

Mis-wiring a 120-volt RV outlet with 240-volts

I’ve been answering a lot of forum questions lately from RV owners who paid an electrician to install a 30-amp/120-volt RV outlet for powering their RV in the driveway. But the electrician somehow gets the wiring wrong and connects 240-volts to their 30-amp outlet rather than 120-volts. Of course, plugging your 120-volt RV into a mis-wired 240-volt outlet will destroy just about every electrical appliance in seconds….

RV Electrical Safety: Surge Protectors vs. EMS

This article was prompted by an RVtravel.com reader who wrote asking if it made sense to spend $300 on a surge protector for her RV.

Surge is one of those words that have fallen into fairly common usage when in fact; it’s not very descriptive of the situation. And interestingly “surge strips” do nothing to stop a long-term voltage “surge.”

RV Electrical Safety: Part XI — Extension Cords

Few objects in an RV get less respect than the lowly extension cord. They’re kicked around, stepped on, run over, and dragged through the mud. And most of the time they don’t even get wrapped up neatly. No, they’re often thrown unceremoniously into a tangled heap, then plugged in and expected to pass more current than they were ever rated for.

RV Electrical Safety: Part X – GFCI Testing

A perfectly isolated electrical appliance should have exactly the same amount of electrical current going out and coming back in. For example, if an applicance draws 7.000 amperes of current from the black/hot wire, then exactly 7.000 amperes of return current should be coming back in the white wire. However, if there’s any secondary connection to the earth/ground from something like our happy camper poking a piece of metal in a socket while standing on the ground, there will now be more current going out the black wire than is returning from the white wire.

RV Electrical Safety Part IX – In Review

I’m using this week’s column in a two-fold manner: 1) As a review of where we are in this 12-part series on RV electrical safety; and 2) As a call to action.

We’ve now completed Part VIII of this series, and have only four more RV safety articles scheduled. (See below for what’s been covered so far.) Part IX will be on GFCI troubleshooting; Part X on extension cord rewiring; and Part XII will be on basic CPR techniques — in the event of an electrocution. (I haven’t decided what Part XI will be just yet, but perhaps it will touch on electrical safety around boat docks since many of you also enjoy boating.)