Surge Protector

Wilson123 wrote:
Is it necessary to have a surge protector? I've had several people say as long as you're in a good park you should be okay.

Depends what the definition of a 'good' park is! :B

They are all only as good as the power company that serves them. and/or the guy that wired the shore stations.

Just a note: Check the specs of the ones you are looking at. Some do NOT come back on after they have been tripped. If you are away from your RV it makes for a costly replacement for the food in your fridge, deadly if you have a pet inside.

tvman44 wrote:
Necessary, no ; desirable, absolutely IMHO. :)

Agreed

We've been RVing of some sort for over 20 years now. Never used any kind of surge protector and never had any problems, ever. Bought our Outback last September and talking to the dealer (of course) he suggested getting a surge protector (but I brought up the topic). Here's his rational, and I had to agree because I bought one the day we took delivery of the camper.

First, you're paying a ton of money for your camper. Because you're investing so much into it financially, isn't it worth it to protect it a little?

Second, there a lot more sophisticated electronic appliances and systems in today's newer campers. Because of the technology, 1) you probably will not be able to work on it, even if you're a good handy-man. 2) if you take it in for a repair because one of the electronic components got zapped, the repair will cost much more than the price of a single surge protector!

Third, if you camper get's 'zapped' with high voltage or low voltage and one of the components get's "taken-out", your camper (or at least that function of the camper) will be out of service. If you're on the road, or at home preparing for your next trip, you might not be able to use your camper at all until the electrical problem get's fixed! Do you really want that inconvenience at the worst possible time!

Fourth, any purchase you make from the Service and Parts department on the day you take delivery of your new camper, you get a 10% reduction in price for all purchases. (We ended up purchasing over a thousand dollars worth of "stuff" to outfit the new camper including the surge protector.

Fifth, Now that I have the protector, I have "somewhat" peace of mind. And I love the read out on the protector that says how many amps are pulling at any giving time!

After doing our research we decided on the Progressive Industries Portable 50 AMP Electrical Management System and ordered from Tweety's.

One thing that we recommend is to plug the unit into the pedestal and let it go through it's checks BEFORE plugging your rig in and turning on the power.

The unit has actually saved us a couple of times over the last couple of years by shutting things down when a problem was detected.



Luckily people tend to learn from experiences, good & bad, and be able to make the right adjustment if they bought the wrong equipment in the first place.

Since we live in the mid west and have lightening storms and our home has three layers of surge protection, they have saved us in the past from substantial loss in the electrical and electronics. Our teardrop has the same range of electrical and electronics plus the solar which could be back fed so I installed a Progressive Industries.

Necessary, no ; desirable, absolutely IMHO. :)

Was in a very good park a couple of years ago when there was a nearby lighting strike. I had no damage, my neighbor had several fried appliances.

Hi,

The vast silent majority do not use surge protection. If you feel you must have it then buy the top of the line Progressive Industries unit.

Get a good Progressive Industries unit. Even a good park can have problems once in a while. I have seen it.