In this segment from The RV Show USA, RV electricity expert Mike Sokol explains how someone can easily be electrocuted while swimming near a dock where a boat’s electrical hookup is miswired.
And it’s not just the fact that someone can be “shocked” to death, but the way they die that’s the scariest. Watch the 10-minute video.
Great discussion, Mike! Thanks for letting people know about this — particularly the “ghost” electrocution effect since people often think it’s more “obvious” when it happens.
I’m concerned about this and wonder if a working gcfi outlet would be adequate to interrupt any current. I have a battery maintainer that is permanently wired to the battery and is only a 2wire (no ground ) plug. This is on a 20 ft all aluminum pontoon boat.
Honestly never thought about stray current, it would just go into the water,right? I guess I was wrong.
I’m still unclear how a fiberglass boat could electrify the water if it isn’t grounded properly. Of course now that I think about it, I have no idea how a boat is grounded at all! If a boat had a short, wouldn’t a person touching the boat get shocked and know there was a problem? As for a dock (running on AC), if there were a short or other issue wouldn’t it be blowing fuses or tripping breakers long before electrifying the water? As usual, I’m very confused! 😉
Gotta say, I’ve NEVER heard of this. Not even once. Nevertheless, an interesting video. It sounds like this only happens around boat docks that have boats hooked to shore power. I quit around the five minute mark, so maybe there’s more to it.