Surge Protector or Power Monitor

[chuckbear]

How many of you use either a surge protector or some type of power monitor at a campground? Which do you use and what is your preferred model? Who doesn't use anything at all and why? Living and traveling on our boat for 25 years, we have encountered every conceivable power issue, including plugging the boat into docks in third world countries. We have never had a problem with the electrical systems or any equipment on board. What makes a campground so different? Chuck

[mike_brez]

I use this one.

[ForestRiverTeac]

GMandJM wrote:
In the event of low voltage situation or a lightning strike's resultant surge, the first thing (and hopefully only thing) to go will be the surge protector. I'd rather spend a few hundred dollars to replace that than anything/everything on my coach.

X2

[wa8yxm]

What I use is the Surge Guard (TM) 50 amp portable
What I'd like is a Progressive Industries HW-50C (hard wired)

But the price (fifteen bucks plus some repair work) was great on the Surge Gbuard.

What to avoid: Any unit that does not have some kind of information display beyond a few LED's. (progressive Dynamics makes one model in both 30 and fifty that only has LED's not and LCD display) as they will not protect you against low/high voltage Only spikes.

True story: Forum member plugged into buddy's 30 amp outlet and got no power
Posted about it and went to bed, Next AM he investigaged and posted results.

He'd pluged into a dryer/welder/Air Comnpressor/other 240 volt outlet and the unit he had (With LCD) displayed 240 volt warning. he found a different outlet and all was good. NO DAMAGE.

[chuckbear]

10forty2 wrote:
After losing my HVAC t-stat last weekend, and having to spend a warm night without A/C, I am going to order a power management system that plugs into my shore line and then into the pedestal....not the cheap kind either. I want something that will protect my equipment from low voltage and high voltage surges as well as improperly wired supply outlets. Losing an A/C unit is expensive, as well as anything that's plugged directly into the 120VAC outlets that are not powered through the batteries.

With that said, though, on most boats I have knowledge of, the majority of electronics on there are 12VDC. The shore power only supplies power to the battery chargers and a few outlets with are likely also powered by a DC-AC inverter. So with that configuration, you already have a filtered power system. Low or high voltage may take out your inverter but most likely wouldn't take out your 12VDC systems since they are running off the battery bank.

Thanks but our boat and most everyone else's we know all have heat/AC systems, sometimes multiple ranging from 13 to 20K BTU, microwaves, electric stove tops, coffee pots, toaster, ice maker, TV, DVD player, Satellite receiver, multiple small appliances like hair dryers, fans and of course our battery chargers that can run up to 150 amps. I'm sure I am forgetting a few other things. All of this must be integrated into the 12 volt system and properly grounded to avoid electrolysis. In addition, the inverter and generator must be properly wired into the systems. Much more complex than most RV's but also similar. You need to deal with all of this in a salt water environment. Dockside power outlets corrode quickly, Dockside power wires can be seen hanging in the water and dockhands that know nothing about electrical systems wire the dock. But I'm still learning the nuances of the RV. Chuck

[GMandJM]

It may be the case that RVers run into low voltage issues more often because some of us are in rigs that use quite a bit of electricity and we're parked with a bunch of OTHER rigs that use a whole bunch, too.

Two or thee air conditioners is not uncommon and induction cooktops can be high usage, as well.
Couple that with campgrounds that might not have been upgraded recently or properly.

Just the shear number of us in one place leads to the potential for low voltage situations.

In the event of low voltage situation or a lightning strike's resultant surge, the first thing (and hopefully only thing) to go will be the surge protector. I'd rather spend a few hundred dollars to replace that than anything/everything on my coach.

Then again, if you got nothin' to lose....why bother. 🙂

[10forty2]

After losing my HVAC t-stat last weekend, and having to spend a warm night without A/C, I am going to order a power management system that plugs into my shore line and then into the pedestal....not the cheap kind either. I want something that will protect my equipment from low voltage and high voltage surges as well as improperly wired supply outlets. Losing an A/C unit is expensive, as well as anything that's plugged directly into the 120VAC outlets that are not powered through the batteries.

With that said, though, on most boats I have knowledge of, the majority of electronics on there are 12VDC. The shore power only supplies power to the battery chargers and a few outlets with are likely also powered by a DC-AC inverter. So with that configuration, you already have a filtered power system. Low or high voltage may take out your inverter but most likely wouldn't take out your 12VDC systems since they are running off the battery bank.

[CT_WANDERER]

chuckbear wrote:

GMandJM wrote:
We have a plug-in surge guard in addition to our on-board EMS system. As said above, the surge guard also checks for open ground and monitors for low voltage.

RVers might use these more often than boaters because we probably have more/different equipment on our RVs than would normally be on a boat- air conditioners, residential fridges, a computer or two, flat screen TVs, microwaves and the like.

All of those things and many more are found on boats. Which is why I ask. In addition, on a boat we have considerably more electronics, chartplotters, navigation computers, HF and VHF radios, Autopilots, weather and engine monitors, all interconnected, and then we have to deal with grounding all the systems so as to not have a problem with electrolysis. Chuck

Chuck, I believe that most of the systems you talk about run off the battery power. We are concerned with the systems that need shore power, so many use some sort of surge protection.

[chuckbear]

These things can get really complex. I am a marine service technician and have been for 40 years. Electrical and electronics are my speciality. There are lots of similarities between the boats and RV's but I'm still in the learning and research stage. Thanks for all the input. Chuck

[GMandJM]

Thanks for the information, chuckbear. The only live-aboard boaters I know lived on a catamaran and their gear is a bit "sparse" as they rely on solar most of the time.

[chuckbear]

GMandJM wrote:
We have a plug-in surge guard in addition to our on-board EMS system. As said above, the surge guard also checks for open ground and monitors for low voltage.

RVers might use these more often than boaters because we probably have more/different equipment on our RVs than would normally be on a boat- air conditioners, residential fridges, a computer or two, flat screen TVs, microwaves and the like.

All of those things and many more are found on boats. Which is why I ask. In addition, on a boat we have considerably more electronics, chartplotters, navigation computers, HF and VHF radios, Autopilots, weather and engine monitors, all interconnected, and then we have to deal with grounding all the systems so as to not have a problem with electrolysis. Chuck

[msturtz]

The ones I have used are continually monitoring the incoming power and will cut power if it is outside of acceptable range. I also used an Autoformer to boost the voltage if it is low.

[old_guy]

I was going to buy a surge protector but on amazon they were $164 two weeks ago and last night I see they are now $234. I changed my mind.

[GMandJM]

We have a plug-in surge guard in addition to our on-board EMS system. As said above, the surge guard also checks for open ground and monitors for low voltage.

RVers might use these more often than boaters because we probably have more/different equipment on our RVs than would normally be on a boat- air conditioners, residential fridges, a computer or two, flat screen TVs, microwaves and the like.

[DSDP_Don]

"chuckbear".....You'll probably get a wide variety of answers. Here's my take. Getting a surge protection unit, such as a Surge Guard or Progressive Industries model gives you 24/7 protection, primarily from low voltage, as stated above, but they will also tell you if the pedestal is working correctly.

To me, having just a monitor is not of much value unless you intend to stand in front of it your entire trip and watch what the voltage is doing. I do have a small plug in analog monitor that I leave installed in an outlet that is visible from where I typically sit in the evenings. If I think something is going on, I'll look at the monitor. I can also look at it during the heat of the day when my AC's are running to see if the campground power is robust.

Do all RV's need them....it depends on what you have and how you use it. Many may have an older RV with just a TV, microwave and AC unit that may need protection and don't see the need to spend the money on a surge protection unit. Both my daughters have travel trailers and fall into this category.

I think the surge protection units are more suited to larger RV's that have a lot of systems with a variety of electronics that need protection.