Surge Guard w/ ? Power pedestal - how do you handle this?

[DesertDogs]

We just had a Surge Guard 35550 hard wired into our 2017 Newmar Ventana motorhome.

I've heard that the unit can be quite picky about power supplies and will not allow power into the coach if there seems to be any issues at all with the power supply. Of course, this protection is the reason we had the unit installed.

But I'm wondering... can the unit be TOO picky?

What do you do if you go into a park, get a space, find the Surge Guard won't accept power and the park insists that their pedestal is fine and they can't offer you a different space?

Has this happened to any of you and how did you handle the situation?

I'm beginning to think that we would have been better off with a non-hard wired unit, that way we could easily bypass the surge guard in situations where we decided the risk would be worth removing the unit?

I'm considering having the 35550 re-wired with plugs to allow easy removal, if need be. Does this sound like a good move?

Looking forward to your thoughts and experiences with this kind of thing.

[chuckftboy]

I have always had hard wired surge protection in my coaches and have traveled most of the USA with no issues. Mine has never shut down the power. At least not that I know of so maybe you are too concerned. Or maybe I am too lucky.

[Mile_High]

I agree, once you know there is trouble you probably wouldn't stay hooked up, however

I never had surge suppression before the last rig, and for 30 years at the same state park, never an issue and never damage and I didn't know the difference.

I guess I would say the surge suppressor can protect you, but can probably also harass you because it is too conservative 🙂

[time2roll]

Instead of playing what-if just trust the SurgeGuard.
There are no exceptions to proper connections and safety.

Mine has cut power for low voltage, high voltage, bad ground, reverse polarity.
Would you continue to operate your RV with these conditions?

If I have trouble I run on battery power, try another connector or roll. Carry adapters for 30, 50, and 20 amp as needed. Several times I have found the adjacent outlet works just fine.

[Ed_Gee]

Message deleted.

[Mile_High]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Mile High wrote:
I had a Progressive Dynamics hardwire on my last rig, and yes it can be annoying. There is a tolerance gap between when the progressive would shut me down and when you may see actual damage. In other words, I spent a lot of that week in the dark while everyone else near me enjoyed power because the campground was suffering from variations in voltage 🙂

Don't you have a generator in that rig?

I have NO qualms about running mine when CG power is issue....one reason I have the gen

Yes, and it actually started automatically and ran while we were out on the lake the first time it happened 🙂 I thought "uh-oh" when I heard it pulling up. But you're right, I did shut it off and spent a lot of time in the dark because I didn't want to make others miserable.

[Old-Biscuit]

Mile High wrote:
I had a Progressive Dynamics hardwire on my last rig, and yes it can be annoying. There is a tolerance gap between when the progressive would shut me down and when you may see actual damage. In other words, I spent a lot of that week in the dark while everyone else near me enjoyed power because the campground was suffering from variations in voltage 🙂

Don't you have a generator in that rig?

I have NO qualms about running mine when CG power is issue....one reason I have the gen

[Mile_High]

I had a Progressive Dynamics hardwire on my last rig, and yes it can be annoying. There is a tolerance gap between when the progressive would shut me down and when you may see actual damage. In other words, I spent a lot of that week in the dark while everyone else near me enjoyed power because the campground was suffering from variations in voltage 🙂

[westom]

DesertDogs wrote:
What do you do if you go into a park, get a space, find the Surge Guard won't accept power and the park insists that their pedestal is fine and they can't offer you a different space?

If a guy is being honest (that means learning this stuff before saying anything), then he can identify the 'change' that upsets your Surge Guard. That means numbers. If he cannot demonstrate a specific detail (with numbers - ie using a meter) that is reported defective by a Surge Guard, then he is probably lying even to himself. Don't trust him.

What you decide to do after that would be a decision based in knowledge.

[pianotuna]

For brownouts use an autoformer.

My comfort zone is 107 volts--a full 3 volts higher than what the EMS units cut out at. The Sola Basic ought to give me what I wish right down to 87 volts. I do limit normally my incoming amps to 80 percent of 30 amps (24 amps). Fortunately the hybrid inverter can blend power from shore and battery bank as needed.

I do test under load before I plug in the RV.

10forty2 wrote:
I didn't originally have an EMS on my coach and got a damaged house thermostat as a result. We were camping in a State Park on a hot summer weekend.....both A/Cs were running hard. We left with some friends to go out on the boat for a few hours and when we came back, we had no A/C. Apparently, there was a brown-out in the campground due to an influx of campers coming in that day and turning on their A/Cs as well. I was able to repair the thermostat myself, but it could have been other, more expensive appliances as well.

[bluwtr49]

Take it from someone that suffered a pedestal issue to the tune of $10,000 in repairs.....trust the surge guard. The very small chance of a surge guard caused issue is small potatoes.

[Two_Jayhawks]

Bumpyroad wrote:
this is the reason I would not own a hard wired, surge guard, multi-function, unless it had a bypass feature. my portable has this feature.
bumpy

My hard wired unit also has a bypass switch.

hardwired unit

[Bumpyroad]

this is the reason I would not own a hard wired, surge guard, multi-function, unless it had a bypass feature. my portable has this feature.
bumpy

[10forty2]

Hard call to make, and one that only YOU can make at the time. I installed a hard-wired Progressive Industries EMS-LCHW50. I bought the bypass switch that goes with it, but haven't installed it yet for fear that if my EMS won't let current through, there must be something wrong and bypassing it would be a bad thing. I didn't originally have an EMS on my coach and got a damaged house thermostat as a result. We were camping in a State Park on a hot summer weekend.....both A/Cs were running hard. We left with some friends to go out on the boat for a few hours and when we came back, we had no A/C. Apparently, there was a brown-out in the campground due to an influx of campers coming in that day and turning on their A/Cs as well. I was able to repair the thermostat myself, but it could have been other, more expensive appliances as well. After that wake-up call I decided to get the EMS and to trust it.

Long story to get to my point....If I were in the shoes you describe, I think I'd either dry camp and run the genset to recharge OR....I'd leave.

[edatlanta]

I always trust my EMS PT50. If it does show a problem, I pull my spare PT 50 out and if it agrees with the first one (yes, both are portables) I call the CG. If they don't believe there is a problem, can't move me, or won't otherwise fix it - This is why I'm on wheels. Out the gate I go. If they don't voluntarily give me a refund I just do a charge back on my credit card which I have only had to do once.

[lj2654]

I agree with everyone above. Trust your surge guard not your instinct. I even plug my surge guard in at my house before plugging in my coach, and I wired that myself. Too many $$$$ not to be sure.