Do you Ground your RV?

[jim]

Just found this on a blog. I have never thought about it before. Anybody do this?

Making a Motor Home Grounding Device

Do you own a motor home? Have you noticed that there is often a “buzz” in the air from all the on-board appliances and electricity? You may want to build yourself a simple grounding device. Something you can secure quickly and protect your motor home from electrical fire and also get rid of the buzzing sounds, which are barely audible, but you can feel them.
Grounding you motor home is a smart thing to do, as it will improve the life of your AC appliances, such as Televisions, microwaves and computers. But it will also improve your ability to sleep at night and make your motor home safe from fires.

Building a grounding device is not hard and it is important. I recommend that you buy a non-stainless steel, steel spike which has an eye hook on top of it. The Spike should be about 8-10 inches long. Then get some steel cable about six feet of it. Attach the cable to the eyehook on the steel spike and tighten it so it cannot move, meaning it will maintain contact.
Next connect the other end to the frame of your motor home by drilling a hole in one of the side storage boxes. Find the nearest hole in the frame, which is not being used. Get an appropriate sized bolt, four fender washers, one nut, one lock nut, one lock washer. Thread the cable thru the hole in the storage box and then sand the frame down to the metal. Next tighten the cable onto the frame as tight as you can double bolted with the lock nut on last. Divide up the fender washers on each side and the lock washer on the threaded side of the bolt before the nuts.
Now using silicon caulking compound to keep water from seeping thru the box where the cable goes thru. Lastly you may need to cut a slot the exact dimensions of the cable along the bottom of the door on your storage box so you can allow the grounding system to be deployed while still locking the storage box. Your grounding cable system will remain in your storage box until needed. To use, open the box press the cable in the grove slot you cut on your storage box and use a hard rubber mallet to pound it into the ground, to make your grounding. This should work fine and you will be glad you did.

Lance Winslow Original article

[Tony Santara]

I've never noticed a "Buzz " in mine , but it's an easey enough job to make one of these anti static devices .
I don't think I'd go to the trouble of drilling holes in lockers though , I'd probably attach it to the tow hitch at the rear and when not in use wrap it round the frame and secure it with a bungy.

[jim]

Electricity is a mystery to me. Aren't we earthed by the hook up?

[Tony Santara]

Yes Jim
But what this guy is on about is "static electricity" some people are more suceptable to, this is the kind that makes some people sick when travelling in a car ...... this device would also serve as a lightning conductor

[Scotjimland]

Hi Jim

Yes I had heard about it, but on EHU your RV should already be grounded..

However, if you were on an EHU which wasn't properly installed you may not have an earth, which could be potentially dangerous.
If an appliance developed an earth fault you may not know about it until you stepped out of the van and your body becomes the earth conductor.. the RCD should trip at this point but you may well get a small shock.

This happened to me some years ago on a French site, I stepped out of the caravan and got a real belt.. the van had no RCD and the EHU had no earth.. To resolve that I ran a cable from the chassis to a steel tent peg..

There is no requirement in the 16th Edition Electrical Regs to install an earth spike..



Full details here

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/7.9.2.htm

[Scotjimland]

Originally Posted by Tony Santara

Yes Jim
But what this guy is on about is "static electricity" some people are more suceptable to, this is the kind that makes some people sick when travelling in a car ...... this device would also serve as a lightning conductor

Maybe I misunderstood the post too .. I thought he was on about getting a shock from an appliance..

[Road Runner]

Funnily enough mine spend most of it's life in one spot of ground sadly


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Going back to dose old daze do u'z remember cars with dem dar strips from back end 2 de ground?