What is AC polarity, and how can I determine when its correct at the campground pedestal?
Understanding the nuances of electricity can be most confusing and daunting. The biggest problem is our propensity to confuse what we know about the RV’s DC battery systems with the AC system. Each system has it’s own set of rules and most are not interchangeable. While DC current flows in one direction only, in North America the AC system operates at a frequency of 60 cycles per second or Hertz and it alternates directions. Direct Current has a polarity of positive and negative which remain constant; positive is always positive and negative is always negative. Alternating Current, on the other hand, switches polarity between the hot and neutral wires sixty times per second. Picture “time” as a straight line drawn across a piece of paper. Above the line is considered positive voltage, below the line it’s a negative voltage. Therefore the polarity is positive half the time and negative half the time. They are said to have a polarity of alternating values. Obviously too fast to measure w
