Ready for a surge protector

A useful SP isn't going to be cheap. Buy the one that does the job or it wont do any good.

Bill & Kate wrote:
We have the Progressive Industries 30 amp unit, and it has performed as advertised - temporarily shutting things down when voltage goes low, and arresting surges during thunderstorms. Customer service has been excellent - twice after thunderstorms the unit had to be sent back to the factory for repair, and there was never a charge .....

2X.

The term "Surge Protector" has so many definitions in the RV industry that it is almost useless. A pure surge protector does only that, and while useful, does not protect against the most common problems. The Progressive Industries (as well as other brands) EMS-HW30C Energy Management System offers far more protection. Even the term EMS is confusing since there are devices designed to shed loads (actually manage you energy usage) depending on the size service you are connected to - the Progressive Industries product mentioned above does not do this. Still highly recommended. Over the last 2 years mine has shut down the trailer 3 times for low voltage & twice for reversed polarity, and once for a missing ground.

We have the Progressive Industries 30 amp unit, and it has performed as advertised - temporarily shutting things down when voltage goes low, and arresting surges during thunderstorms. Customer service has been excellent - twice after thunderstorms the unit had to be sent back to the factory for repair, and there was never a charge .....

I prefer one which will shut off the power if it drops too low, or too high. And a timed restart delay when the power comes back on.

I've seen campground voltage drop below 105v several times. Especially in hot weather when all the units ACs kick on.

I prefer an external to an internal hard wired unit. Replacing an internal hard wired unit is more difficult and expensive if you have to do it.

I've had two surge protection devices self destruct (one in my home, one in my workplace) when lightning was hitting in the immediate area. That's what they are supposed to do - sacrifice themselves to save the more expensive electronics down stream.

My 30Amp one for my old trailer only tripped once - during a thunderstorm.

Maybe it was 'wasted money' - but two other rigs in the CG lost TVs, microwaves, AC in that surge.

Get the same one you use at home.

don't waste your money on the $90 special. get a good multi-function one that will run about $250 or so.
bumpy

Hi,

And did you find any?

Surge protection is far less needed on a 30 amp service. If you do get one--at least get the Progressive Industries which does come with a life time guaranty. Personally I would not bother.

riven1950 wrote:
I did have a tester i used at the CG hookup to check for miss wiring / shorts.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=68128.0

You can find similar threads here on rv.net, this was just the first one that popped up when I Googled.

riven1950 wrote:
Ok, we made it through our first season without a surge protector, although I did have a tester i used at the CG hookup to check for miss wiring / shorts.

Anyway, I have a 19'TT, 30Amp hookup.

What is a good basic surge protector for my situation? Don't want to break the bank but need some protection and peace of mind when I hook up. CW has a " GFCI Surge Guard with shock shield " on sale for 80.00. Will that do it or is there another brand that's better for the money w/o spending 3-400.00 dollars?

BTW...what will a 300.00 unit do for me that a 80.00 will not?

Thanks,

I depends on what protection you want. Electrical spikes or surges are fairly rare occurrences and leave you unprotected from the most common damaging electrical issues. Low or high voltage is the most common campground issue. Open or floating neutral is next most common and can cause lots of damage, although it's most damaging in 50 amp systems. A devise that is truly just for surge protection will not protect you from these above conditions.

Did you try searching this Forum for `surge protector'? I know it's not the same as having people respond to `my' question but the answer is probably already in the past posts.
I did that and found 762 posts. One can decrease the quantity of posts by searching the results for something like `portable' or `hard wired' or a particular brand like Surge Guard
Camping World has a couple that might work for you. The portable one, 18337, is less than $100 and their hard-wired one, 69522, is $186. The latter is better ie. better protection but it may be beyond your budget.