Hot Skin/Service

[eltlenny]

We have a 2011 RE that we purchased new and owned for a little over 8 months. We noticed in May that the main AC was not blowing very cold air. We contacted Redwood and questioned whether these units needed to be charged or if something else could be going wrong. After several months of not so cold air we contacted Redwood again to get the name of a service person in our area who did warranty work. Then we noticed that the screen door began to shock us but not consistently. After research we discovered we have "Hot skin"! The AC guy finally came out (apparently the only service guy in area who does warranty work for Redwork) and discovered we had a crack in the unit and needed coolant. Now the GFI's are tripping and the lights are not working consistently. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[KWire]

There is quite a lot of information about "Hot Skin" in RV's out there, its causes and solutions. I've been following a thread on the Heartland Forum where a water heater shorted out and because there wasn't a proper ground the people were getting shocked when they touched the steps of the RV. The consensus was that either the supply ground (where they were plugged in) was bad, or a ground wire in the RV was broken. You can check it out here...

The most authoritative person I have seen on the subject is Mike Sokol. He does seminars at many RV shows and he has posted videos on YouTube. Here is a good one on the subject.

He also has a web site at No~Shock~Zone is under construction

Please be VERY careful with your RV and get your "Hot Skin" fixed immediately!!!

HTH, Keith

Edited by: KWire

 

[5th_Time-REDW]

It seems like several people have mentioned the area for the chassis ground is painted by Lippert during construction and needs to be ground to bare metal by Redwood. I think that area is in the battery compartment under the disk brake controller (if so equipped). Perhaps a poor ground contact could be causing this issue. Others might check this if they experience other "quirky" electrical issues.

 

[jmsokol]

I'm Mike Sokol, the author of the NoShockZone blog and video channel you mentioned. Thanks for posting this important safety information here.
I'm very curious to know if the ground bonding point in the Redwood has been properly prepared during assembly. If not, then their RV's should be recalled for proper safety ground bonding. Can anybody send me a picture? Thanks...

 

[Happy Camper-THOR]

Mike, I have a 2012 36RE with the lights that keep flickering. I did note that the grounding area in the battery box has a black painted finish to which the grounding devices are attached. There is a recall from RW on this area - not sure if it is the same. The service I was at did not know how to put on the new part and are checking with factory and hopefully get it fixed on my next visit which I hope will be soon. If they do not get me in this weekend, then I will kill the power and pull the connections myself and sand down the area for a good ground. I do not want to do this myself but it needs done and can't seem to get anyonefrom service to. I appreciate the input.

 

[lillyputz]

Who got a recall notice? and how?

Lillyputz

 

[jmsokol]

Mike, I have a 2012 36RE with the lights that keep flickering. I did note that the grounding area in the battery box has a black painted finish to which the grounding devices are attached. There is a recall from RW on this area - not sure if it is the same. The service I was at did not know how to put on the new part and are checking with factory and hopefully get it fixed on my next visit which I hope will be soon. If they do not get me in this weekend, then I will kill the power and pull the connections myself and sand down the area for a good ground. I do not want to do this myself but it needs done and can't seem to get anyonefrom service to. I appreciate the input.

I doubt that a high-resistance ground (paint on the ground bonding point) would have anything to do with flickering lights. That safety-ground current path should never have any operational appliance current running though it, UNLESS there's a ground-fault failure in a microwave or hot-water heater or some other appliance that's plugged into the RV's 120-volt system. I would suggest you leave the power turned off to this RV until you can get it into a service shop that knows RV electrical systems. There's something VERY FISHY going on here, and you don't want to get shocked/killed or blow up your RV appliances or power system.

 

[l.u.219welder]

i just replaced all the lights in my 36 re...they quit working unless i tapped or twisted the lens then they would come on put then quit...talked to brian and he sent me all new ones so far so good..