Internal Surge Protector

[pinstriper]

I also carry three 30A extensions cords for times when the box is far away, such as in Canada.

Jethrow Clampett invented an electric car and was gonna drive it to Washington DC, but he could find an extension cord long enough.

[pinstriper]

Actually, I think he was more "fixin' to" than "gonna".

[whoofit]

How often have you all encountered these line feed issues in your travels?

I look at my trailer and since it only has an $88 AC unit and the microwave that's not real expensive. The investment would probably be more for protection from ground faults especially with the aluminum floor. I would prefer a pure sine wave inverter to go with the GC2's I intend to mount but those can be made robust from spikes.

Pedestal power. Is it frequently found to be an issue from your experience?

[jtelles3993]

Pin, you crack me up - the wife too!

[jtelles3993]

whoofit, I asked a good friend of ours (a full timer) about the need for a surge protector. His response was: "you won't need one until you need one - at that point if you don't have one then it's too late".

[djsamuel]

whoofit, I asked a good friend of ours (a full timer) about the need for a surge protector. His response was: "you won't need one until you need one - at that point if you don't have one then it's too late".

Great post.  Think of it as an insurance policy.  You hope you don't need it, but you're glad you have it if you do need it.

[jtelles3993]

Yep

[jtelles3993]

My only question at this point is: do I want to fiddle around installing the hard wired unit in a confined space scenario - or take the easy route?

[whoofit]

Yes Surfsup I see the logic there for sure.

There are other devices like auto transformers that will protect from surges and brown outs specifically. These seem to allow continuous uninterrupted operation through the event. So for strictly surge protection there seems to be better solutions at a weight penalty.

Was just wondering what this group of frequent fliers have experienced is all. Since adding the device have you seen many or any ground fault problems where the device has saved your bacon?

[jtelles3993]

Yep, I'd like to hear from the vets too.

[djsamuel]

I installed the internal unit.  It's been installed for about 7 months. The unit is the one with the readout, and to date I experienced one low voltage condition where it shutdown the power and then recycled.  No ground faults, and as far as I know, no surges. Other than that, all has been fine.  The only power problem I ever encountered at a campground is a bad 30A circuit breaker at Fort Wilderness in Disney.  That one cut out on me, and when I turned it back on, I could hear the arcing.  I just used my 50A adapter and switched to that circuit.  They came by and fixed the 30A that day.  I do know someone that while camping had a lightning strike nearby and fried his surge protector, while other campers nearby received significant damage to their electronics in the camper.

[jtelles3993]

FYI, reading through the Amazon reviews of the portable unit (pt30c), damage caused by faulty power source is inevitable in the RV world..

[jtelles3993]

DJ, did you install it behind the breaker panel?

[whoofit]

[p]Thanks guys.

I look at this Franks unit and it seems to do the buck/boost, surge and ground fault tasks automatically. Quite a bit heavier I'm sure, larger in size, twice as expensive and more difficult to deploy but would allow uninterrupted operation. No real monitoring but there are other modern devices that will just monitor levels.

http://www.voltagebooster.com/

Standing barefoot on that aluminum floor gives pause for caution. The Progressive takes that down to zero.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Of course the question of ethics from using a boost is real. I'd give 2 answers on this. One at 110F and one at 65F.[/p]

[charliem]

[font size="3"]I use a a portable TRC Surge Guard. In 2-1/2 years of camping I've never encountered bad CG power. In that same time period I've also not had any auto accidents, vehicle damage, flood damage, or house fires, but I carry insurance for all these risks. The Surge Guard is insurance against power disruptions 24/7 whether I'm in the camper or away on an expedition. At $250-$265 it's good for peace of mind. If you read RV forums and blogs you'll find plenty of tales of destruction and danger from those without. This would include my brother who had major electrical damage to his class A motorhome at at commercial campground. Now, after the fact, he has surge protection.

An auto-transformer was mentioned. Auto-transformers or autoformers are designed to correct a long term problem, usually low voltage. Their response time is very long and they do nothing for instantaneous high/low voltage spikes. The surge protectors detect long and short term problems an protect the camper and its equipment. The two devices address entirely different risks. And do I really need uninterrupted operation through a brownout while camping?

Portable vs. Fixed Mount: Really a personal choice; they function identically. The fixed mounted unit must be installed, including the remote panel, and then it's done. The portable requires no installation, but adds a step to setup/teardown. The portable unit can easily be moved to your next trailer, but it can also be "borrowed" if not locked down. One other point I have only seen mentioned once. The surge protector has an internal relay that hums. If fixed mounted in the camper the unit must be shock mounted to prevent this hum from being conducted to the camper frame. I'm sensitive to things that go thump, click, buzz, drip, whrrr, and ding at night. It'd drive me nuts............
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