Important - check this every time you set up

Originally posted by techntrek For non-techies, at the very least get the plug-in tester and the non-contact tester (the items to the right and bottom in the picture Mike posted above).  It literally takes 60 seconds to use both and they don't require any interpretation.  With the ones I have I should get a green light on the plug-in tester and no light (or beeping) from the non-contact tester.  If I don't get a green light there is a chart right on the tester which tells me what the lights mean.  Using a voltmeter gets a little more technical, interpreting numbers, etc. kymooses, I spoke with the campground owner the next morning and explained that she had a very dangerous situation and needed to call her electrician immediately.  That was the soonest I could tell anyone since the office closed before I discovered the problem.  In this case I knew I didn't have an immediate problem since the VoltAlert was negative (no electrified chassis), and we were already set up, so I stayed hooked up long enough to charge some things.  Since we didn't need to run A/C we didn't need it after that, and if we did I would have moved to one of the sites with a good connection.  They had plenty of open sites so it wouldn't have been a problem.

I ordered the No Shock Zone a few days ago as for I am electrically challenged on my Kindle.   

Originally posted by Marx Well I picked up my NCVT today!  I'm excited to have it and be safer when camping!  Quick question I had already planned on this before learning of this NCVT, but what about a surge protector from the pedestal?  I saw some that were $$$ and some that weren't as bad.  They even had the reverse polarity checker on them too?

All "Surge Protectors" are not created equal. See my article about them at http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-surge-strips/

Basically you can divide them into two camps. There are the "surge only" protectors that are basically "spike protectors" that will try to trap voltage spikes from nearby lightning strikes and electric motors switching off. Costing around $100, they're the first level of protection. But they will do nothing to prevent 240 volts from a miswired outlet getting into your RV, nor will they shut down the power when it goes below a preset voltage level. And they can't do anything to disconnect your RV from an outlet with an open or hot ground.

The second type of "surge protector" includes a voltage monitoring device along with a relay that will disconnect shore power from your RV if some preset high or low limit is reached. Costing around $300 for a 30-amp unit and maybe $400 for a 50-amp/240-volt unit, they include voltage spike protection as well as a Hot-Neutral-Ground monitor that will open the power relay if something happens to your power after connecting. And the ones from Progressive Industries are rated for up to 480 volts incoming power without blowing themselves up while protecting your RV electrical system. 

However, there is no surge protector on the market that will discover or disconnect your RV from a outlet miswired with a RPBG. An RPBG is a Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground and sometimes occurs in pre 1970's wiring that was improperly upgraded to grounded outlets. See my articles about it at http://ecmweb.com/contractor/failures-outlet-testing-exposed and http://www.rvdoctor.com/2001/07/friends-of-gary-mike.html So you should also use your NCVT to double-check outlet polarity and a non-energized ground before you plug into shore power. It only takes a minute to test and it's cheap insurance.

You're welcome. If anyone on this forum has direct contacts with rpod or Forest River, please PM me. I have an interesting project to discuss.

Mike Sokol
mike@noshockzone.org
www.NoShockZone.org

It only takes a few seconds to perform a hot-skin test using a NCVT and I know it will save lives. Keep up the good work and show everyone you know with an RV how to use one.

Thanks for the update.

Mike Sokol