hard wire surge protector

Bumpyroad wrote:

but I disagree with posters who say to cut your existing electric cord to install them. just buy a 3-4 whatever length of appropriate wire which makes it easy to remove the SP when you go to sell your RV and can make it back to original condition without a shortened cord.
bumpy

Cutting the existing electric cord a few feet saves from having to disconnect the cord from the service panel, finding and buying a few feet of the appropriate #10 30amp / 50amp #6 wire, and terminating the new cable to the service panel. I carry a 30amp extension, so a loss of a few feet doesn't matter much to me.

My breaker panel is in a cabinet in my bedroom. There was plenty of room behind it to put my surge guard. I disconnected my 50 amp feed from the breaker and hooked it to the surge guard and wired the surge guard back to the breaker. All done. It was a little more work than this, but still done in an hour and I don't need to hang a $300 piece of equipment out on the power post.

Tequila wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
can you get to where your external cord is fastened? my friends winnie had one screw to remove cover, and front and center were the three bolts where cord attached. bought 3 ft of appropriate cable, hooked SP in a 15 minute job. I would NOT buy a hardwired SP unless it had a bypass feature.
bumpy

I disagree, they are there to protect your equipment. A bypass switch is like putting a switch on a smoke detector or a hunk of jumper wire in a fuse holder.

First I am assuming that the RV owner is smarter than a fifth grader. there are many things in the RV that can be safely run on lesser voltage/current/etc. It is silly to have to do without those items when they can be used. why do they put bypass switches into surge protectors in the first place if there is no function for them. but I disagree with posters who say to cut your existing electric cord to install them. just buy a 3-4 whatever length of appropriate wire which makes it easy to remove the SP when you go to sell your RV and can make it back to original condition without a shortened cord.
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:
can you get to where your external cord is fastened? my friends winnie had one screw to remove cover, and front and center were the three bolts where cord attached. bought 3 ft of appropriate cable, hooked SP in a 15 minute job. I would NOT buy a hardwired SP unless it had a bypass feature.
bumpy

I disagree, they are there to protect your equipment. A bypass switch is like putting a switch on a smoke detector or a hunk of jumper wire in a fuse holder.

I have a surge guard hard wired. Whether you have that or the Progressive you need to check to see how much room you have. Best place to put it is in behind your converter. Often there is a drawer or something you can remove above it to get access. Most manufacturers place converters where the rear is easily accessible since they are easier to install that way. Hopefully you have some spare floor space back there. You simply remove the main feed wires from the convertor, hook them to the surge protector and then take THE SAME GAUGE wires from the output into the place you removed the original from inside the converter.

BTW the progressive does seem to have more features than the surge guard.

tkhollywood wrote:
So are the portable ones better?

Either will do the job, but a hard wired unit is out of the elements and not a theft target hanging on or near a power pedestal. Progressive Industries products do have models with a bypass feature available. Hard wired model installation is easy, similar to wiring a 110v light switch or outlet, and as stated simply needs to be placed between your incoming power connection and the 110v circuit breaker panel. On my TT it was a breeze, disconnect the shore line cable from 110v house wiring, locate locate and mount EMS under the 'end table'/cord storage doghouse, connect shore line cable to 'line' side of EMS, purchased and installed a 3' length of 3 wire copper of sufficient gauge and connect one end to 'load' side of EMS, the other to the house wire junction box. Black to black, white to white, ground to ground. There, I did it! :B

1. Unplug RV from external power.
2. Gain access behind the RV service/breaker panel where the 30 or 50 amp cord enters.
3. Choose a spot to mount the Prog Indust control box near the service panel. (But don't mount it yet)
4. Cut the 30/50amp cord(This is the part where it's kinda important to be unplugged from shore power!) at a point long enough to reach the PI box with another foot to spare for terminations inside the box and maybe some extra to be able to pull it out and easily work on it.
5. Terminate the shore power side first to make it easy to work on. (Follow manuf directions)
6. Terminate the service panel side next.
7. Install cover.
8. Plug the data cord for the remote display in(if it has that option).
9. Test everything before mounting it to the permanent spot.

So are the portable ones better?

can you get to where your external cord is fastened? my friends winnie had one screw to remove cover, and front and center were the three bolts where cord attached. bought 3 ft of appropriate cable, hooked SP in a 15 minute job. I would NOT buy a hardwired SP unless it had a bypass feature.
bumpy

Straight forward 3 wires to attach from your power cable to the unit.
Easy install. Needs to be somewhere before your converter.
Here is the manual...scroll down to see details and pictures of the install details:

Progressive Industries Hard Wired Surge Protector LINK.