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Sounds like a pretty sexy test, right? Well, sorry to get your hopes up, but it’s actually pretty tame. Unless you get all steamy for precautionary safety measures on recreational vehicles, that is. The Hot Skin Test is the name for a test you can perform to determine whether or not your rig has an electrical short, and it is just about the most important test you can perform for your RV, perhaps next to the “Is my RV currently on fire?” test and the “Is my RV sinking to the bottom of a large body of water?” test.

Usually this is done by professionals, and we recommend that you carry on that tradition in the name of safety. Obviously, some of you are professional electricians, so we leave it to your better judgment in deciding if you want to do this test on your own. This test is important to perform whether your RV has a lot of exposed metal or not. Even fiberglass RVs have the electrical system attached to the metal chassis somewhere, so no RV is immune from injuring or killing you with a high resistance electrical short. Exciting!

Here’s how a Hot Skin Test works:

• Plug the shoreline into shore power.
• Make certain all the circuit breakers are flipped to “on.”
• Adjust your Volt-Ohm-meter to test at the 250 volt AC scale.
• Attach a test lead onto a bare, metal surface somewhere on the RV. If you have a fiberglass RV, you can use the metal entry steps or some part of the chassis.
• Attach the remaining test lead to an earth ground. You can use a grounded water pipe or drive a grounding stake into the earth somewhere nearby.
• Check your Volt-Ohm-meter. If it reads “0,” there’s no high resistance electrical short. Good for you! You can celebrate a little, but don’t get all smug about it.
• However, if you do measure some voltage, you’ve got a high resistance short. Repair it before you use the RV! This is non-negotiable!
• Switch the test leads and measure again.
• Repeat the test on a different component of the RV’s exposed metal.
• Get the rig repaired.
• Do the test again from the beginning. Repeat as necessary.

How do you know if you may have a high resistance short on your hands? Well, there are several potential warning signs. Check your AC wires regularly for wear, tear, nicks, cuts, bends, and pinches. Another helpful sign is if you feel buzzing, shocking, pain, or anything else associated with human-on-electricity action when touching the ground and a metal part of the RV. If the sensation disappears when you detach the 120 volt power source, you almost certainly have a high resistance short.

So that’s that. Check this stuff out, stay on top of it, and keep your friends, family, and self out of harm’s way. Trust us, it’s a much better option than letting it go and just hoping you get superpowers from a freak RV electrical accident. That almost never happens, and if it did, you’d probably get a really stupid set of powers. RVs aren’t exactly known for their ability to grant amazing superhuman abilities in the same way that radioactive spiderbites, dying alien worlds, and flying mechanical armor suits are.

We here at JuJuDeals aren’t all business, you know. We’re also about Figuring Stuff Out, and Helping You to Figure Stuff Out As Well. However, as the first caveman to accidentally run over his foot while inventing the wheel could tell you, “Safety first” should always be the most important thing to keep in mind while exploring new frontiers. Well, he would probably say something a little closer “Gorg blorg durf,” but what he would mean is “Safety first.” Honest.

As we journey forward together on the noble path of Figuring Stuff Out, let us always remember, then, to take the necessary precautions (at least until Figuring Stuff Out shows us how to regrow eyes, fingers, and toes). Here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when tinkering with electronics, or any other potentially hazardous endeavor:

• Always wear eye protection. Even when doing something as simple as jumping a car, it never hurts to throw on a pair of sunglasses in the very least. If you have a pair of safety glasses, all the better. Make sure they’re rated by a group like ANSI, or a similar safety-concerned oversight program. Getting an errant spark or an unexpected splash of battery fluid in the eyes will ruin anyone’s day.
• If airborne debris may be involved, wear a mask. Simple as that. You can get a pack of work masks for a few dollars at any hardware store, and probably most grocery stores.
• Wear gloves. Unless you were born with more than ten fingers or the regenerative abilities of a lizard, it’s a good idea to wear protective gloves. There are literally thousands of different kinds for every type of job, and they’ll help you avoid cuts, punctures, scrapes, burns, crushing injuries, pinches, and even animal bites (if you get the right ones). Not that we think you’ll be encountering many rabid beasts while, say, installing some new speakers in your car, but you can never be too careful.
• Use the right tool for the job. Sure, a Swiss Army Knife if useful. A Leatherman tool is even better. If you’re serious about Figuring Stuff Out the right way, though, you’ll want the right tools for the job. Here’s a good place to start figuring out what you’ll want to use for different electrical projects.

There you go! Now that you have a little bit of forewarning, you’ll be ready to Figure Stuff Out with us. Check back often for tips, tricks, projects, and other fun stuff.

See you soon!

JuJuDeals Staff