Surge Guard - Need Vs. Cost

[obiwancanoli]

Having read posts on the advisability of having a 50A Surge Guard for my MH, Amazon has a variety ranging in price from around $90 to $400 +/-...

Lacking sufficient knowledge to make an informed decision, What exactly am I paying for when comparing similar items with a huge distance between low cost/high cost? What features make the more expensive models a better choice?

[pianotuna]

lryrob9301 wrote:
Surge protector

This unit contains all the necessary items for protection against electrical problems

No it doesn't do low voltage disconnect.

[Bumpyroad]

capacitor wrote:
What about low voltage, do these surge protectors work for that also?

the decent ones do. the $90 wonders are cr@p.
bumpy

[capacitor]

What about low voltage, do these surge protectors work for that also?

[Horsedoc]

Get the 50 amp Progressive portable model. If you change coaches you can take it with you. Mine is on a third coach

[dougrainer]

grldst wrote:
A lot of motorhomes, especially the top end models, already have surge guards built into their transfer switches. My Monaco's had built in surge guards.

Yes and Tiffins also. THEY DON'T DO THE JOB! I have NEVER seen a Combo 50 amp Transfer/Surge guard protect the 120 interior appliances. You are not going to get $500 Surge Guard protection in a $300 Combo Transfer/Surge box. I replaced lots of the Combo/Surge guards in addition to repair or replace the 120 appliances that got zapped when the Transfer also got zapped. Doug

[grldst]

A lot of motorhomes, especially the top end models, already have surge guards built into their transfer switches. My Monaco's had built in surge guards.

[lryrob9301]

Surge protector

This unit contains all the necessary items for protection against electrical problems

[Lwiddis]

Newest autoformers will protect against surges and low voltage.

[DrewE]

Cheap ones are basically like surge suppressor power strips: a few MOVs to absorb voltage spikes, and not much more. They are of limited usefulness in actual practice. Sometimes they do have some sort of metering to show you the voltage and so forth, which is only useful if you happen to be there paying attention to it when there's a problem.

Better ones have electronics to monitor for power line problems and cut off the power if one is detected: things like low or high line voltage (perhaps the most important ones--which also cover an open neutral), miswired outlets, line frequency out of range, etc. One of these is what you want.

[pianotuna]

obiwancanoli,

Either go for top of the line--or get something from a dollar store.

I prefer to use an autoformer, as that corrects the low voltage which damages items such as the air conditioner.

[ford_truck_guy]

And to expand on 2oldman's comments..

the older your coach, the less you will need total coverage...

The newer coaches are Almost all electronic, with key pads, touch screens and such.. those really need the protection.

[2oldman]

You get what you pay for. Virtually always. The more expensive ones may actually do what they say they will.