obiwancanoli wrote:
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 +/-...
Spike, Surge and other proglems
The low cost units usually have led's or NEON lamps that indicate if the outlet is properly wired WHEN YOU PLUG IN (see story below) and clip spikes (Sudden and very short term peaks in voltage that in some cases can hit a thousand volts on a 120 volt line)
Very limited
The top end.. Monitors the voltage. if it goes so low it places your Air conditioners and the like at risk,, Shuts you off. If it goes high (Other than spikes) this is a genuine surge, Shuts you off, IF you plug into a 30 amp outlet "OH RVers use that outlet all the time) and find it's a 240 volt... It blocks power. Low/High Frequency may also be monitored and shut off.
These are the high end units
True story: I plugged into a properly wired 50 amp outlet
Then a wire burned underground and it was no longer properly wired.
Surge guard protected me. Also helped diagnose the problem.
Another thing. power blinks. happened to me in my apartment a few days back (Alas my motor home is no more) Very hard on Air Conditioners.. so the Surge Guard holds power off for about 2 1/2 minutes to let the A/C restart NORMALLY instead of trying to restart with a full head of pressure (Tears up compressor motor).
I've had A/Cs die due to a power spike. or blink... Thankfully it was a low cost unit. But replacing a rooftop. about twice the cost of the surge guard.