We just had a Surge Guard 35550 hard wired into our 2017 Newmar Ventana motorhome.I've heard that the unit can be quite picky about power supplies and will not allow power into the coach if there seems to be any issues at all with the power supply. Of course, this protection is the reason we had the unit installed.But I'm wondering... can the unit be TOO picky?What do you do if you go into a park, get a space, find the Surge Guard won't accept power and the park insists that their pedestal is fine and they can't offer you a different space? Has this happened to any of you and how did you handle the situation?I'm beginning to think that we would have been better off with a non-hard wired unit, that way we could easily bypass the surge guard in situations where we decided the risk would be worth removing the unit?I'm considering having the 35550 re-wired with plugs to allow easy removal, if need be. Does this sound like a good move?Looking forward to your thoughts and experiences with this kind of thing.

Trust your Surge Guard.......CG 'electrician' might know just enough to be dangerousNo other sites.....power pedestal questionable due to Surge Guard protection.Ask for refund and find another CGUnless you KNOW for sure that YOUR Surge Guard is broken then do NOT bypass it and plug in rig..$$$$ if Surge Guard rightFeeling lucky---punk :BCan't leave.....RUN Generator as much as neededPersonally I test any questionable power pedestal myself50A ReceptacleL1 to Ground........120V ACL1 to Neutral.......120V ACL2 to Ground........120V ACL2 to Neutral.......120V ACL1 to L2------------240V ACGround to Neutral....0V AC (ZERO)No 120V AC when testing L1 (L2) to Ground.Leave probe in Ground and place probe for 'Hot' into Neutral.Read 120V AC-----Reversed Polarity (Ground/Hot mis-wired)Big difference in readings.....HOTS to Neutral AND HOTS to Ground---short to groundWhich do you want to trust..... CG 'electrician', Surge Guard/Yourself??

I always check the power pedestal BEFORE plugging my rig in - period. That said, I also trust the Surge Guard protection more so than most of the people I've seen that work on the pedestals in campground. I had to teach one of the techies in a Washington campground. Before hooking up, I notified them the pedestal was hooked up wrong. He questioned it and I showed him on my meters where it was wired wrong. He pulled the cover and sure enough, the wiring was not correct. Trust your surge protector....Dennis

With my EMS (Progressive 50 AMP portable) there is really no reason to check the pedestal BEFORE plugging in the EMS/RV.Plug the EMS into the pedestal. Plug the RV into the EMS. The EMS takes about 2 minits to do a diagnosis...then allows power to go thru to the RV. IF it doesn't the "alarm" code tells you why.Then call the cg office to get somebody out there immediately.

I agree with everyone above. Trust your surge guard not your instinct. I even plug my surge guard in at my house before plugging in my coach, and I wired that myself. Too many $$$$ not to be sure.

I always trust my EMS PT50. If it does show a problem, I pull my spare PT 50 out and if it agrees with the first one (yes, both are portables) I call the CG. If they don't believe there is a problem, can't move me, or won't otherwise fix it - This is why I'm on wheels. Out the gate I go. If they don't voluntarily give me a refund I just do a charge back on my credit card which I have only had to do once.

Surge Guard w/ ? Power pedestal - how do you handle this?

32 Replies

Executive45
Explorer III
Apr 07, 2017
I always check the power pedestal BEFORE plugging my rig in - period. That said, I also trust the Surge Guard protection more so than most of the people I've seen that work on the pedestals in campground. I had to teach one of the techies in a Washington campground. Before hooking up, I notified them the pedestal was hooked up wrong. He questioned it and I showed him on my meters where it was wired wrong. He pulled the cover and sure enough, the wiring was not correct. Trust your surge protector....Dennis
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Apr 07, 2017
Trust your Surge Guard.......

CG 'electrician' might know just enough to be dangerous

No other sites.....power pedestal questionable due to Surge Guard protection.
Ask for refund and find another CG

Unless you KNOW for sure that YOUR Surge Guard is broken then do NOT bypass it and plug in rig..$$$$ if Surge Guard right

Feeling lucky---punk :B

Can't leave.....RUN Generator as much as needed

Personally I test any questionable power pedestal myself

50A Receptacle
L1 to Ground........120V AC
L1 to Neutral.......120V AC

L2 to Ground........120V AC
L2 to Neutral.......120V AC

L1 to L2------------240V AC

Ground to Neutral....0V AC (ZERO)

No 120V AC when testing L1 (L2) to Ground.
Leave probe in Ground and place probe for 'Hot' into Neutral.
Read 120V AC-----Reversed Polarity (Ground/Hot mis-wired)

Big difference in readings.....HOTS to Neutral AND HOTS to Ground---short to ground

Which do you want to trust..... CG 'electrician', Surge Guard/Yourself??

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Surge Guard w/ ? Power pedestal - how do you handle this?

32 Replies

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