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. ;)

Been using the EMS-PT30C for 4 yrs now. Just plug it in, secure it, then plug in your rv. I throw it in the front pass thru of our tt and forget about it till the next trip. Been rained on numerous times. Bought it at online at Camping World when it was on sale. Well worth the $$$.

I will admit, I use my surge protector to monitor polarity, Twice I have found errors and picked another spot. Both were State Parks, one in IN the other in IL. We camp off season so we can usually choose our camp site.

Now for the real world, if you arrive at a campsite with the family on a busy weekend and are assigned a campsite, there is not much you can do.

Explaining the issue to a Ranger or summer help probably will not help much.

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.

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

JMO but I suspect 9 out of 10 - or perhaps even 99 out of 100 :E - who buy a simple surge protector such as that mentioned by the OP buy it for the wrong reason - price. :( These simple surge protectors do exist for a reason, bobndot being one of few who does have a legitimate use - to surge protect his expensive Hughes Autoformer voltage regulator, a case in which one obviously can't use an EMS with low voltage shutdown before the VR.

While surge protection is better than no protection at all I likewise suspect most who own a simple surge protector are using it incorrectly. In an earlier post DutchmenSport said -

"I've been using one like that for over 3 years now. My camper is plugged in 24x7x365 as we are able to park it at home. I put it inside the cabinet where the trailer cord shoves into, shorted the cord and put on a new female end. I then plugged the protector in there and shove the protector female end out the hole. I then use another 30 amp extension cord outside the camper to plug into.

I have this set-up for over 3 years now. Plug in and forget. Either it's working real well, or it's not working at all, because we've never had problems with anything funky happening with our power."

In reality lots of "funky" things have been happening with his input power - he's just not aware of it because his surge protector doesn't have the ability to do anything about it. If in fact he's leaving this surge protector permanently plugged in then he's using it incorrectly, just as I suspect most who own a unit like this also use theirs incorrectly. Since this unit can only monitor for various line errors but has no ability to do anything about it one should always plug it into shore power without the trailer plugged into it. That way, if a line source error is detected and displayed by virtue of a combination of lights on the front panel the owner will avoid passing that error on to the trailer. If one simply leaves the trailer permanently plugged into the surge protector then whatever error it detects will be passed instantly on to the trailer since it has no ability to disconnect power to it's output whenever an error is detected.

The bottom line is you get what you pay for. These simple surge protectors only monitor for error but have no ability to do anything about it - for that you want a full feature EMS.

Acdii wrote:
Look around, maybe you can find a discontinued model, the 34520 was discontinued so they are discounted pretty good. Got mine for $141. It will not connect power until it verifies voltage, polarity and ground, then it will connect power, that and the surge protection is what you need.

The problem I have, they can't be mounted horizontally, so I have to figure out a way to mount it under the refer.

I also need a delayed restart to protect AC compressor, etc.
bumpy

rbpru wrote:
I wonder how many people have actually had their surge protectors prevent anything except odd wiring.

I was at an State Park where my protector showed that on one side of the road the park power was wired wrong; the other side showed okay. Based on the occupancy this did not seem to pose a problem. I chose the properly wired side because I had a choice of spots.

Also how many Joules is enough? Pick a number and why not twice that amount or half that amount?

How do you know how much is enough.

Some don't know or care about reverse polarity if that is what you are referring to. But the higher safety risk exists with reverse polarity.

There are not anywhere enough Joules to protect against lightning which is likely not possible.

Although my PI unit has the highest Joule protection that is not why I have it.

We all make choices and a simple surge protector is not on my list, full power management is my concern.

I wonder how many people have actually had their surge protectors prevent anything except odd wiring.

I was at an State Park where my protector showed that on one side of the road the park power was wired wrong; the other side showed okay. Based on the occupancy this did not seem to pose a problem. I chose the properly wired side because I had a choice of spots.

Also how many Joules is enough? Pick a number and why not twice that amount or half that amount?

How do you know how much is enough.

Look around, maybe you can find a discontinued model, the 34520 was discontinued so they are discounted pretty good. Got mine for $141. It will not connect power until it verifies voltage, polarity and ground, then it will connect power, that and the surge protection is what you need.

The problem I have, they can't be mounted horizontally, so I have to figure out a way to mount it under the refer.

The HW50C paid for itself in the first year and then it's been totally free for the last 12 years. :B