I’m finally getting some traction with teaching the RV industry about electrical troubleshooting and safety
Educating RV owners: Who will teach the teachers?
Back in 2018 I talked to a first-time RV owner who had a ton of questions about hooking up electrical power to her new Class A motorhome. What initially caused her to seek me out was the RV dealership giving her conflicting information about how she should have a home pedestal wired.
While she indeed had a 50-amp/240-volt shore power connection on her RV, and she instructed her electrician to wire up a standard NEMA 14-50 receptacle to a 2-pole/50-amp circuit breaker in her electrical panel, the dealership kept telling her all motorhomes only use 110 volts, and she needed a 3-prong 30-amp adapter or else she would blow up her RV electrical system with 240 volts. Of course that’s completely wrong and could have caused real problems if she had used a 30-amp to 50-amp adapter and plugged it into an improperly wired TT-30 outlet.
Luckily she did contact me first to confirm that her electrician was wiring up her home pedestal properly, and I talked to her electrician, who pondered why an RV salesman would give a customer such incorrect information, especially about an electrical hookup. I even saw the email she received from the manufacturer tech support that didn’t help the situation. Even though what was said was technically correct, it really didn’t answer her question at all, sort of like asking for ice cream and being told the correct time.
If you’ve read any of my articles on RV power you’ll know that while a 50-amp service is indeed 240 volts between the two hot legs, inside of your RV’s electrical panel it’s split into two separate 120-volt circuits with 50 amps of current each. Yes, a 50-amp pedestal is actually 100 amps of 120 volts.
What bothers me most is that this first-time RV owner was given a lot of misinformation from the dealership, both at the Hershey RV show where she first met them, and later during her walk-thru inspection the day she took delivery. And this particular dealer is part of a very large chain of dealerships that should know better.
Why is there a lack of training?
So where are these RV salespeople getting this type of incorrect information that they’re spreading to their customers, causing them confusion and possible injury? Who will teach the teachers?
For the last 15 years, I’ve been pitching the idea of training large dealerships how RV electrical systems work, along with special classes for their technicians on electrical troubleshooting techniques. Don’t get me started on the hundreds of emails and calls I’ve received over the years from readers pleading with me to help figure out their electrical problem, while their RV sits in a dealership shop burning though $150/hr paying for a technician who obviously doesn’t understand RV electrical system troubleshooting.
During most of this entire time I’ve had ZERO interest from dozens of RV dealers and manufacturers about having me set up a training program for them. And as many of you know, I was an adjunct professor at a large university teaching electrical technology for over a decade. Plus, I’ve presented hundreds of seminars around the country over the last 30 years on advanced technology and electrical safety. So I’m a known resource on troubleshooting electrical systems and have the credentials to create a training program for the RV industry.
But All Is Not Lost…
In 2024 I was commissioned by PRVCA (the Hershey RV Show group) to create ten 1-hour online training classes for RV technicians in Pennsylvania. And this week I’m live streaming the final seminar in a 8-part advanced online class for these same technicians. I would love to repeat this program across the country and expand it to include campground maintenance staff. And I might be able to make this same advanced training webinars available for RV owners as well. But that’s a lot of work.
Fingers Crossed!
I’ll keep you posted on how this training program proceeds. In the meantime, please share this daily newsletter with everyone you know who owns or works on an RV. And leave your comments about electrical training below.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
