Surge Protectors

[philblumenfeld]

Any thoughts on surge protection?

[RayChez1]

Yes get a surge protector. I made the mistake of not having one and two years ago on Christmas night with lots of light decorations through out the park, there was a surge and it burned up my transfer switch on my inverter/charger. I now have on portable surge protector made by Progressive. I believe it cost me like $125.00. Some of these RV parks where you hook up to shore power are sometimes not wired up right. This will tell you if it is safe to connect your coach to it or not.

[RayChez1]

Yes get a surge protector. I made the mistake of not having one and two years ago on Christmas night with lots of light decorations through out the park, there was a surge and it burned up my transfer switch on my inverter/charger. I now have on portable surge protector made by Progressive. I believe it cost me like $125.00. Some of these RV parks where you hook up to shore power are sometimes not wired up right. This will tell you if it is safe to connect your coach to it or not.

[philblumenfeld]

Do you have to get two, one for 30 amp and one for 50 amp?

[RayChez1]

Do you have to get two, one for 30 amp and one for 50 amp?


Not sure, Check them out on Goggle. The one I got is fifty amp since my coach is wired for fifty amp, but if I am hooked up to 30 amp shore power, I have to use an adapter from fifty to thirty, but it still does the job. Not sure what your motor home is wired for 30 or 50 amp. But if you are interested on the Progressive models, give them a call to make sure.

[nomad]

A 50 amp will work for a 30 amp line

this is what I run
http://www.trci.net/products/surge-guar ... -regulator (http://www.trci.net/products/surge-guard/voltage-regulator)

[03heritagerider]

Amps are not important in surge protection.

How much energy the protector can absorb/dissipate (measured in Joules) and Response time are the critical features in a surge protector.

From the website HowStuffWorks by Discovery...

# Energy absorption/dissipation - This rating, given in joules, tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails. A higher number indicates greater protection. Look for a protector that is at least rated at 200 to 400 joules. For better protection, look for a rating of 600 joules or more.

# Response time - Surge protectors don't kick in immediately; there is a very slight delay as they respond to the power surge. A longer response time tells you that your computer (or other equipment) will be exposed to the surge for a greater amount of time. Look for a surge protector that responds in less than one nanosecond.

Protectors can be found in discount, home improvement, and electronics stores.

[nomad]

The below is talking about the kind of surge protector you use for a single outlet inside a home

Not a pole surge protector you hook up to at a RV park

they are different - as mine will check for reversed polarity - and is responsible for the entire Coach
not just a 100 watt item .

And 600 joules is nothing in reality







Amps are not important in surge protection.

How much energy the protector can absorb/dissipate (measured in Joules) and Response time are the critical features in a surge protector.

From the website HowStuffWorks by Discovery...

# Energy absorption/dissipation - This rating, given in joules, tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails. A higher number indicates greater protection. Look for a protector that is at least rated at 200 to 400 joules. For better protection, look for a rating of 600 joules or more.

# Response time - Surge protectors don't kick in immediately; there is a very slight delay as they respond to the power surge. A longer response time tells you that your computer (or other equipment) will be exposed to the surge for a greater amount of time. Look for a surge protector that responds in less than one nanosecond.

Protectors can be found in discount, home improvement, and electronics stores.

[RayChez1]

The one that I own is the Progressive SSP50 smart surge protector. But it also tells you if the shore power is wired right and if you don't have enough voltage it will shut down. It is rated five star.

[Texas TC]

Thanks for the endorsement RayChez. Because of this discussion, I decided to pick up a new surge protector and that is indeed the one I chose. It came UPS this morning and I will install it immediately.

[darbyjudy]

Two years ago I didn't think I needed one. I was camping in a Corp campground in N. Ga. We had a bad storm and a lot of lighting. We had a hugh flash and the power went out. It was out almost all night. When I awoke in the morning I noticed the Microwave would not work, I found a tripped breaker but then when I tried to use the Surround sound it wouldn't work either, neither would the readout for my dish antenna. Ended up replacing both the surround sound receiver and the readout for the dish antenna. After the fact I then bought a progressive surge protector that checks the pole and if it is not right it won't let the power come through. Also checks for high and low voltage. It also has a time delay.

[David Bott]

Yes, you made the right choice going with Progressive vs SurgeGuard. Their support is great and the product is wonderful and also has user replaceable parts.

SurgeGuard, well, I have tested some actually for them, and, well, I am was not happy. Put it this way, over the coarse 2 months we had to pull out of 2 parks that we pulled into as it was showing ground faults where their were no ground faults. Because of this error, it would not let power pass to the coach. (Note this was a hard wired unit so I could not just pull it out and not use it.) With no bypass on the unit, we had no choice but to leave. What did they say about it? Nothing more than "I think some of our units can be a little sensitive.") Well that does not help the matter now does it?

You made the right choice in my humble opinion.

[stonesfan]

We also have a Tour Master T40B. Can't tell you how many times our SURGE GUARD MONITOR has Protected us! Wouldn't be without it.................................... 8)

Stones Fan

[David Bott]

Welcome to the site Stones Fan.