Starcraft RV Owners Forum

Self oscillation sucks!

Thanks for the input guys!

BTW - there was a reason old electricians used to say keep one hand behind your back. A worse case shock is one that goes from one hand to the other. We're not talking about 20 amps or even 50 amps. Cardiac arrest is most likely to happen in the current range of 100 milli-amps or less at 120VAC when it flows through the heart. That's why GFI's are set to trip at only 5 milli-amps.

Now when it comes to higher voltage lines that might be near a campground, all bets are off. Years ago I had an employee get electrocuted doing something on a weekend many people would have thought safe enough. He was supervising a boys camping trip. Someone's RC airplane got stuck in a tree close to a power line. He got up on the roof of a camper trailer. It had not been raining, and the ground was dry. He used a long wooden stick to try and knock the plane loose. Somehow it touched one of the power lines, and he was electrocuted. These were not the kind of 75,000 volt power lines you see on steel towers. These lines were 12,000 volts which are commonly found on wooden poles along highways. A sad story that I won't soon forget.

As someone who has worked around electricity their entire adult life and been seriously shocked more than once, that situation sends chills up my spine. If it were me, I would install a new water inlet somewhere else. Yes, I would do that even on a brand new trailer!

I understand the concern and I would have never designed it that way. Water dripping on an electrical connection is never a good idea. With that said, boats have used the same or similar connectors for as long as I can remember, and in my past 30 years of working in the boating industry, I have never seen a problem at this connection caused by water intrusion. I do have to admit I work in freshwater areas, so no salt corrosion is seen.

I haven't had a problem yet and hopefully won't, but since the connection for the 50 amp power cord is directly below the city water connection, I'm a bit concerned. Have any of you had an issue with water dripping from the connection onto the power connection and causing a problem? Seems to me that this could have been designed with a little more thought. Why would you put a water connection directly over an election connection? I called Starcraft about this and they told me that the electrical connection is water tight if the locking ring is secure. Maybe so, maybe not. I'm just looking for some real world experience.