Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Pretty much true of everything in life, no? It's a matter of evaluating the amount of risk and the cost (money, convenience, etc) of protecting against it.
Well my surge protector saved me one more time.
- Thread starter WILDEBILL308
- Start date
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Pretty much true of everything in life, no? It's a matter of evaluating the amount of risk and the cost (money, convenience, etc) of protecting against it.
WILDEBILL308
Well-known member
Well I know that a good surge protector is CHEAP insurance. I already know from experience. One low power incident in a park where there were no previous problems cost me more in repairs than the price of my surge protector.Gary RV Roamer said:
Bill
Gsport
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
- Posts
- 94
Hmm..couldn't some of the problems be a bad surge protector. It just seems strange to me that so many have problems that just maybe it's in the protector and not the CG power post
WILDEBILL308
Well-known member
This is amazing logic, you have a tool that finds/detects problems with the power pedestal and when it works you blame the tool for finding the fault?????Gsport said:
Bill
Argh. There is a reason I was a fine arts major instead of sciences. I'm having trouble understanding all of this. Dh would understand, but he doesn't like researching online or reading forums, so it's up to me to understand this enough to tell him what we need. We've been to several campgrounds since getting our camper and never knew we needed a surge protector. I knew we needed a meter, but dh keeps forgetting to put it in the trailer.
WILDEBILL308, what were you using that gives you a report?
Is continuous monitoring necessary? If it goes over or under, what does the surge protector do? JackL said he had to manually reset his cheaper one every time and others said there was no reset button. Is it like the on/off switch for the simple multi-plug strip surge protectors for household appliances? Mine in the house have never turned off.
How often do you get surges at campgrounds? How often do you have to replace the surge protector? How do you know when to replace it?
The most important question for me and the other people asking, is which one is right for our trailer? Being new to this, we've been spending a lot to get it on the road and the pocketbook is lean.
p.s. I was trying to figure out how much power an electric heater pulled which led me to a website about monitoring shore power with a Kill a watt. That author had a list of devices every RVer needs and #1 on that list was EMS Surge Protector, and they linked to this one.
It has a digital window but I can't tell what it does.
Staff edit: Fix broken URL
WILDEBILL308, what were you using that gives you a report?
Gary RV Roamer said:
Is continuous monitoring necessary? If it goes over or under, what does the surge protector do? JackL said he had to manually reset his cheaper one every time and others said there was no reset button. Is it like the on/off switch for the simple multi-plug strip surge protectors for household appliances? Mine in the house have never turned off.
How often do you get surges at campgrounds? How often do you have to replace the surge protector? How do you know when to replace it?
The most important question for me and the other people asking, is which one is right for our trailer? Being new to this, we've been spending a lot to get it on the road and the pocketbook is lean.
p.s. I was trying to figure out how much power an electric heater pulled which led me to a website about monitoring shore power with a Kill a watt. That author had a list of devices every RVer needs and #1 on that list was EMS Surge Protector, and they linked to this one.
It has a digital window but I can't tell what it does.
Staff edit: Fix broken URL
Kevin Means
Site Team
In my opinion, continuous monitoring, with the ability to automatically disconnect and reconnect, is absolutely necessary. I can't give you a statistical number as to the chances of having a brownout or power surge at a campground, but it does happen, and either situation could cause significant (costly) damage to an RV's electrical components/systems.
Kev
Kev
Rene T
Site Team
I have a Progressive Surge Protector. If it should get damaged due to a power surge, Progressive, as far as I know, will replace for no charge.
I ordered the Progressive. Now another question. With power coming through the surge protector, and Kill a watt plugged in inside the trailer to monitor, what is a normal range? Right now I have it plugged in inside my home and the range has been 119-121.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
A "surge" is a very brief spike in voltage that can overwhelm your systems. Brief, in this case, is a small fraction of a second, and the voltage may reach into the 1000's rather than the normal low 100 range. The surge protector attempts to absorb the transient high power, aka "surge", but it can do nothing for sustained high voltage and doesn't even recognize low voltage.
Continuous monitoring watches for more sustained high or low voltage, e.g. the voltage reaches 100 or 130 and remains there. Longer term operation at even modestly high or low voltage will damage some types of equipment, mostly motors and compressors, but also some electronic devices too.
A one-time check (when you plug in) will find miswired outlets, but will likely miss high or low voltage conditions that come and go with changes in the power load in the park, or even in the region.
Continuous monitoring watches for more sustained high or low voltage, e.g. the voltage reaches 100 or 130 and remains there. Longer term operation at even modestly high or low voltage will damage some types of equipment, mostly motors and compressors, but also some electronic devices too.
A one-time check (when you plug in) will find miswired outlets, but will likely miss high or low voltage conditions that come and go with changes in the power load in the park, or even in the region.
Yes, the Progressive Industries power protectors will shut off the AC if the voltage goes below 104V or above 132V. However, if you have a surge protector only model, not a power protector, then there is no voltage monitoring or protection, just surge protection. What model did you get?
JDOnTheGo
Well-known member
Hopefully this isn't hijacking...
Assuming a 50 amp MH. If one purchases the external/portable 50 amp version (surge protector, EMS, etc.) do you also need a 30 amp version when plugged into 30 amp?? I assume so but gotta ask.
If the answer is yes. Wouldn't it be much better/cheaper to have a permanently installed 50 amp version? Then still able to plug into 30 amp and still have protection??
Assuming a 50 amp MH. If one purchases the external/portable 50 amp version (surge protector, EMS, etc.) do you also need a 30 amp version when plugged into 30 amp?? I assume so but gotta ask.
If the answer is yes. Wouldn't it be much better/cheaper to have a permanently installed 50 amp version? Then still able to plug into 30 amp and still have protection??
Rene T
Site Team
JFNM said:
I called Progressive a few months ago and talked to them. I had same question. I have a 50 Amp 5vr and had a 30 Amp truck camper. They said it would work fine. All you need is the correct adapters. We went on a trip to Canada in the TC and used the 50 Amp Progressive during the entire trip. I purchased the adapters to go either way.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
The Progressive should put you in the dark if that happens (Turn off power to the motor home cause NO power is safer than out of range power).
Mine (Other brand) does that rather well.
Mine (Other brand) does that rather well.
JDOnTheGo
Well-known member
My question can be disregarded. I decided to order one of the 50 amp hardwired units (Progressive Industries). I've been putting it off justifying it with the fact that I spend more time boondocking that lasso'd to a post but all these stories have convinced me, better to spend a small bit of money now that a big pile later (hopefully, knock-on-wood, and all that....).
BillB3857
Well-known member
So how do you keep these $300 pieces of hardware from growing legs and walking?
Rene T
Site Team
BillB3857 said:
The Progressive has a plate on the cord. The plate has a hole in it which allows you to chain it to the power pedestal. Of course, if a thief wants it, he'll get it no matter what you do.
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Industries-PT50C-Electrical-Management/dp/B002UC4SWM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447979979&sr=8-1&keywords=progressive+surge+protector
