Electrical
Electrical systems in the RV can be the place where a lot of people draw the line. I feel like we all have an image of Timmy in Jurassic Park hanging on the power lines and when the system gets turned on, he goes flying off. We don’t want to be the ones flying across our RV because of this electricity. Good news is that while electricity is something that needs to be taken care of and handled with care, nothing on the rig could give us more than a shocking surprise. Get it, shocking.
There are three separate electrical systems in an RV; one is 12 volt DC from your vehicle, one is 12 volt DC from the coach batteries, and the other is 120 volt AC from shore power. I won’t be doing a deep dive into all the science and reasoning behind these, but I do want to share enough to make you feel more comfortable. An easy way to think about these two numbers is in brains and brawn. The 12 volt DC from battery always goes to the brains of any system and tells things what to do and where to go. When there is a need for something to lift or move, the 120 volt AC comes in to do the job.
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12-Volt DC
Interior Lights
Water System
Appliance Control System
Slide Outs
Leveling System
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120-Volt AC
Wall Receptacles
Air Conditioner
Microwave
Water Heater (Electric Element)
Power Converter
There are four main components to electricity: voltage, amperage, resistance, and watts. When we hear voltage, we think about pressure the pushing and pulling of little atomic particles called electrons. I know I’m taking you back to Mrs. Stevens 7th grade science class here but don’t worry there’s no grade at the end of this or having to put up with Mrs. Stevens particular aroma. The next component is amperage or amps, this is the flow of electrons or the quantity. The more amperage going on the more heat and when our volts (pressure) go down, amps increase because the item needing electricity needs more electrons somehow. More amps equal more heat. More heat equals more of a chance for things to melt and there to be problems. Resistance is exactly what it sounds like. There are different devices that specifically add resistance but other things like stripped wires, bad heating elements, malfunctioning AC units, and many other things will increase resistance. Too much of resistance will also add heat as well as appliances going bad, fuses and breakers tripping, and other funny things happening in the rig. Our last component of electricity is watts, and this is the total amount of work that can be done.
I know you’re asking yourself, “But Camper Alex! You still haven’t talked about being shocked!” You are right and I wanted to lay a little foundation before going into the next part of this conversation. Hot skin. This may be a term you know well, or it may be your first time hearing it. Hot skin is the term we use when your rig is electrified and the way you know this is when the right circumstances are happening you get a very surprising and unwelcomed shock from your RV. In a normal house, all electricity is grounded well to the ground, the foundation is one of the biggest grounding elements for electricity and because electricity finds the path of least resistance, it finds the ground. The funny thing about our RV is that it is a house but is not attached to the ground, it is attached to the frame. When there is a short circuit and electricity flows to the frame it is looking for it way back to the battery or shore power. If you touch something metal on your rig and then touch the ground without rubber or insulated shoes on, you have now become the path of least resistance. This isn’t something that you have to worry about all the time, but it is something that could happen because we are living in a house on wheels that bounces and moves and is rained on throughout the year. If you have a RV giving you this kind of trouble, get in touch with us and we would love to come out and get it sorted for you. Life’s not fun when your stuff doesn’t work!