Update on RV aluminum frame electrical ground issue – Found It!

Last week I posted a question from a reader who has an RV with all-aluminum chassis and frame that was having a 12-volt house battery issue. I don’t always get an update when the issue is resolved, but this came back from Dave (2015 Livin’ Lite CampLite 21RBS).

Hi Dave,
Always aim to please by providing “fresh” material for the RV Newsletter!

I posted this issue on the IRV2 board as well. One person suggested that I troubleshoot by jumpering the negative lead of the battery to the frame at the front and see if that helped.  It did; everything started working. It confirmed that somewhere the electrical system trailer 12v ground was grounded to the frame. One gentleman on the Livin’ Lite Facebook page with an identical trailer says he has a ground point at the tongue right off the battery before the separate wiring goes aft. So much for consistency for trailer manufacturers.

I traced the wiring going aft through a loom until it went over the black and gray tank and lost it at that point. I did find one bare copper wire coming down through the aluminum decking just below the converter. This bare wire was grounded directly to the aluminum decking. I went ahead as you suggested and ran a wire all the way from the battery negative lead to this ground point beneath the converter. I also put an intermediate point at the tongue of the trailer just below the battery. So now I am grounded at several points.

However, your idea of installing a common ground terminal in the converter area and running to my ground wire is probably a better idea. I will plan on doing that when I get back from my next camping trip.

I did confirm that the tongue jack is separately wired and fused from the battery (for the positive side using the BATT terminal of the 12v auto reset breaker), but it also depended on the common ground so it did not work until I ran the new ground.

I have also subsequently powered up the AC (using an EMS) and don’t have any unexplained trips or codes. The battery appeared to be properly charging off the converter as well.

Thanks for your response.  I really appreciate the sharing of your valuable knowledge to the RV community.  Always look forward to your articles.

Dave Lambert

 You might also enjoy this from Dave 

• Powering your RV: Essential 120-volt electricity tips and gadgets for every RVer

Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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