If you have an RV, you no doubt have at least one GFCI—ground fault circuit interrupter. These electrical safety devices constantly monitor the current flowing through the circuit they protect. If they detect a ground fault, they shut down the power. A ground fault could indicate someone getting an electrical shock—and a GFCI could save their life. But suggested new electrical code changes were shocking RV park owners throughout North Carolina. At the last minute, the changes were discharged.
Electrical code changes for 30- and 50-amp RV outlets
The Tar Heel State’s Department of Insurance (NCDOI) recently announced proposed changes to RV park outlets. It planned to require every RV park in the state to upgrade its electrical equipment. Specifically, NCDOI wanted to see GFCI breakers on every 30- and 50-amp receptacle.
So what’s the big deal? Aside from the financial cost to park owners, and the labor involved, there was another issue. If the new “requirement” were to become a reality, RVers plugged into those GFCI breakers could easily see real problems. As published by Mike Sokol in RVtravel.com, GFCIs on 30- and 50-amp outlets could easily cause frequent power disruptions.
“Everything you plug into your RV leaks a little current”
In his story on the issue, Mike points out that GFCIs “trip” and cut off power when they detect as little as 5 milliamps (mA) of leakage current. “I have anecdotal evidence to back up my theory that total ground leakage currents in an RV shore power connection can easily total more than 5 mA,” writes Sokol. “That’s because everything you plug into your RV leaks a little current to ground. That includes your microwave, stove, battery charger, inverters, air conditioner, and control systems.”
While RV park 20-amp outlets are equipped with a GFCI, there’s trouble putting them on others. For those most commonly used by RVers, “Even long extension cords can create leakage currents through inductive coupling of their internal conductors,” Mike elucidates. “These leakage currents are additive, so you can see that just plugging in your normal electrical devices in an RV can easily add up to more than 5 mA of leakage current, which is the threshold that will trip a GFCI. That means that GFCI protection on 20-amp circuits works quite well, but that’s probably not the case if they’re installed upstream on the 30- and 50-amp feeder circuits.”
Unintended consequences could lead to real danger
Here’s Mike’s view of what could happen if GFCIs were required on those big RV power outlets. “If the NEC code were to be fully implemented, I believe there would be lots of random GFCI tripping on the 30- and 50-amp breakers in campgrounds. The first time a camper comes back from a day trip and finds his air conditioner shut down and his or her pet suffering in the heat, or their refrigerator off with a bunch of spoiled food, they will figure out a way around the 30/50-amp GFCI tripping problem.” That “way around,” in Mike’s view, is RVers chopping off the ground pin from their rig’s power plug.
Result? “If they’re still plugged into a GFCI-protected 30- or 50-amp pedestal outlet they should be safe from electric shock. But the next time they plug into a 30- or 50-amp pedestal WITHOUT a GFCI, then they’re putting themselves at risk for electric shock and possible death by electrocution,” Sokol concludes.
So they tried it in a few parks in North Carolina
While we’re not promoting Sokol to advance the title of “Prophet,” it’s interesting to see what happened to North Carolina RV parks that went ahead and started putting in those GFCI-protected 30- and 50-amp receptacles. “Those parks that made the requested changes quickly found it just doesn’t work,” reports a story from rvbusiness.com. “With this unnecessary change, the breakers trip almost immediately because the appliances used within the recreational vehicle can create leakage at the supply receptacle(s) that could exceed the limits of a Class A GFCI device.”
Just as Mike Sokol warned years ago, so it was, as rvbusiness.com goes on to state. “For the parks in North Carolina, this change resulted in newly installed or upgraded pedestals not servicing guests with electricity. As all outdoor hospitality industry professionals know, no electricity means no guests, so multiple parks were either forced to close or unable to open at all.”
Proposed changes “discharged”
Yesterday, March 19, the North Carolina Building Code Council met in Raleigh, North Carolina, to discuss the issue. Representatives from the state’s RV park industry were present. After trotting out experts, RV park folks were gratified with the outcome. The North Carolina Building Code Council, having heard the reasoning, voted unanimously to put an electrical standard that would NOT require GFCIs on RV park 30- and 50-amp circuits to a public hearing for adoption. That hearing will take place in June. The proposed electrical code changes were effectively discharged.
RVers, it looks like your power is safe, at least in North Carolina. Want to know more about just HOW a GFCI works—in terms that us commoners can understand? Click here for Mike Sokol’s explanation.
Read more from electrical expert Mike Sokol on RVtravel.com or on Substack.
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Once in a while,… logic prevails in the face of real world consequences of proposed changes. On the surface having GFCI protection on 30 or 50 Amp power poles seem reasonable and prudent. Unfortunately, it does not work for RVs.
It’s kind of like having a whole house 200 Amp GFCI at your home’s breaker box, and hoping to protect every individual circuit simultaneously.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! Hmm, … glad that the North Caolina officials realized that stuff does not always work in reality quite as theory implies. Thank you for the information! Safe travels! 🙂