Surge protector

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I suppose it depends on where you camp. I have had one of the simple cheap ones for 5 years. It did kick out on me once, I don't know why. I'm happy enough with it.

How dirty of electricity do some of you have ? I have a simple surge protector on my computer too. Most people I know around here don't even use one for that. The electric company has countless protections on their lines. And, here in MN all electrical wiring has countless numbers of regulations and inspectors to make sure everything works OK. I've never heard of anyone having a problem because of bad power,,, in my area.

A classic response, typical of those who really don't understand just how frequently shore power does fail to meet required standards. It's not just a matter of shore power being "dirty", whatever that means, but being aware of these errors which do happen with regularity. Fact is, power vagaries occur all the time, from surges and spikes to over / under voltage to loss of ground. Add to that wiring errors such as reverse polarity, open neutral, no ground, created when the local campground maintenance person miswires a pedestal - dangerous scenarios which in some cases can kill. A simple surge protector may warn you of an open ground but that only serves a purpose if you actually look at the warning display and do something about it - i.e. not plug the trailer in. DutchmenSport's use of his own simple surge protector - leaving his trailer plugged into his SP 24/7 - is a classic case of how not to use one of these simple surge protectors as it has no ability to do anything about a missing ground, open neutral, incorrect polarity, etc - it can only warn you there is an error but does nothing to protect the trailer (and it's occupants) if it's already plugged into the surge protector.

I guess it all depends on how much risk you personally want to take.

At least on this count you're absolutely correct. ;)