Surge Protectors or not??

The way I look at it it is like insurance! You pay for it, and hope you never need it, but if you need it you have it to protect yourself!

nrkmann wrote:
I hear this but believe it is 90+% hype to sell a new gadget.

The reason I say this is I have never heard a 1st person story about any RV Camp with reversed polarity, low voltage, etc.

Does anyone have a 1st person story about "bad" electricity at a RV park? With the internet today I don't see how a RV park could stay in business if they had such issues.

Here you go. 2014 Sweetwater Campground, COE park on Allatoona Lake. Low voltage on leg 1 cost us a Microwave. I plugged in the trailer and went inside to run slides out. While checking cabinet doors before running slide out I flipped on the 120v light, dim voltage on meter way low. Went back out cycled breaker and got good voltage. Didn't have any more problems, but Microwave was toast. We now have a Progressive Industries EMS-PT50C

I said I didn't really want one. Can there be issues? Absolutely. In life, there will be issues. I'm taking some risk by not using one. We could debate how much risk is involved. I think the vast majority of the RV world is in my corner, and if you ask them about their EMS, you will be met with a dull glazed over stare.

There is no shortage of things that you can spend money on, to protect yourself, from perceived threats. Spend yours anyway you want.

What I know is that, those who spent the money on gizmo XYZ, will then go forth and proselytize. Just like clockwork.

nrkmann wrote:
I hear this but believe it is 90+% hype to sell a new gadget.

The reason I say this is I have never heard a 1st person story about any RV Camp with reversed polarity, low voltage, etc.

Does anyone have a 1st person story about "bad" electricity at a RV park? With the internet today I don't see how a RV park could stay in business if they had such issues.

My son took his 30 amp TT to the hunt camp be belongs to. An actual electrician had wired in a 30 amp rv box at the power pole but reversed the polarity and blew the kids converter. Luckily he had all the breakers off and turned the converter on first which is one of the least expensive components compared to the AC or micro or led television. Lucked out actually.

I installed a hardwired PD in my rig.
If you go all over sticking your plug in various holes it's more likely to have trouble compared to sticking it in the same hole all the time. The guy said he had wired them at various places.

nrkmann wrote:
Does anyone have a 1st person story about "bad" electricity at a RV park? With the internet today I don't see how a RV park could stay in business if they had such issues.

Personally I have seen high (137) voltage and several bad grounds. Have seen lowish voltage but not enough to cut power. And certainly I don't want to spend my day watching the meter.

Miswired 50 amp

160 volts measured

111 volts immediately drops to 108 with air.

87 volts

Voltage too high

160 volts (MX)

Possible voltage drop with 150' run

106 volts and bad ground

In the 2 years that I have had my Progressive Industries EMS installed, I have had 1 incident in a campground in Iowa where the EMS shut off power due to low voltage mid afternoon on a very hot and humid day. When it restored power about 1/2 hour later, we sat at 109V until late evening. Would I have burned up my air conditioners? Not a clue, but better safe than sorry.

bpounds wrote:
I've never had one. Have not missed it.

I never had one and didn't miss it, until lightning hit a tree a few feet from our RV. After replacing a few things, I bought a surge protector.
Will it protect the RV? I don't know, maybe not, especially a strike that close. But it makes me feel better.

Nrkmann...

Here's an analogy... you're cruising down the freeway and you are coming up on what may be a terrible predicament. Your advice would be to close your eyes. If you can't see the problem, you don't need to be concerned with it. If it turns out that you were not involved in an accident, your method worked.

Yes, I, personally, have encountered dozens of occurrences of under-voltage and over-voltage. Yesterday, before I moved to the other end of the park, I had 104volts (actually, at one point, 97volts) on leg 1 and 135 on leg 2. If you aren't running a Progressive Industries EMS, you simply are not aware of your troubles. But your rig will tell you... eventually. And it's going to cost way more than the EMS.

For previous posts on this subject search this Forum for `surge protector' and read on. Another form of insurance.

I hear this but believe it is 90+% hype to sell a new gadget.

The reason I say this is I have never heard a 1st person story about any RV Camp with reversed polarity, low voltage, etc.

Does anyone have a 1st person story about "bad" electricity at a RV park? With the internet today I don't see how a RV park could stay in business if they had such issues.