Two Surge Protectors?

I have no idea. It does seem like a good idea but, a Google search shows it should not be done.

Two Surge Protectors

Another Opinion

Someone more knowledgeable will probably post with a better answer.

Same scenario here Jim I have my trusty old progressive industries unit that plugs into pedestal at 50amps and now our new to us unit has one onboard. Been using both together with no issues.

Jim Norman wrote:
I have a Plug-In Surge Protector.
My new Coach has a built in Surge Protector.
So Can I use both?
Does it make a better protective system?
Will it even work?
Are there any issues?
Can this cause a problem?

Thanks

Can I use them both: YES
Does it make a better protective system: Perhaps. read notes at bottom
Will it even work: YES
Are there any issues: NO
Can this cause problems: NO

Notes:
First there are "Surge Protectors" and there are Surge Protectors. Most of the devices sold today as Surge Protectors are really SPIKE supressors. not at all the same thing.. SOME, like the Progressive Industries HW-50C (or HW-30C) or the TRC "Surge Guard" competing products. or the portable versions of those (Far as I know these 8 are the ONLY ones) are true Surge protectors. If the voltage goes high (or low) or the frequency goes high (or low) they shut you down to protect you, Plug into a 30 amp outlet that is 240 volt and they shut you down to protect you IN addition if power "Blinks" (say goes off for one second) they hold you off for a while so as to make life easier (And longer) for your air conditioners. IN the case of the HW-X0-C models it may be only 15 seconds (not long enough) less you clip the jumper to make it nearly 3 minutes, the rest are 3 nearly 3 minutes (Minimum recommended OFF time).

If you have two of these, in series, the ONLY thing is the delay before you power back on in a power fail situation is longer. This is never a problem.

Now, the other type of "Surge Protector" (note the quotes) is nothing more than MOVs (Metal Oxcide Varisistors) these devices are very high impedance (resistance0 normally but once the voltage goes too high (Spikes) they become very LOW resistance, clipping the spike and saving the down-line electronics.. They DO NOT however protect against long term over/under voltage, Plug into that 30 amp 240 volt outlet they blow like firecrackers. (Been there when it happed, Not my problem though) Also not an RV).

They do not monitor Frequency either.

I have that type of "Surge Protector" hardwired to my breaker box

And the plug in model outside.

Jim
Yes you can use both. I checked with both the coach manufacturer and surge protector manufacturer. Typically your built in unit will not do all that you need it to. The second surge protector just makes for smart business. If there is a power problem that burns up your portable unit nothing in you coach is harmed. Just throw it away, buy a new one and continue on with your trip.

Entegra recommends the use of a surge protector even though the coach has a builtin one.

You might check the tech specs on both. You may find neither are full surge protection.

Our OEM built in surge is the Surge Guard 41260 transfer switch with "basic" surge suppression. It detects open neutral, ground fault, polarity, some spike, but it does not detect low or high voltage or frequency.

If you find neither of yours are full protection, but may get better piece of mind just upgrading the surge, rather than messing with two. I'm thinking I will.

I've been doing this for years ( portable 50 amp progressive and buildt in one now). No problems. I have a problem that came up this year with it seems the onboard hard wired system. The portable Progressive is fine and reads what is going through the the transfer switch ( had it tested current coming into the transfer switch).

However for some reason the onboard is showing higher shore voltage than what is actually coming in. It shuts down power occasionally even though the portable one is still allowing current ( not indicating high voltage). If I disconnected the portable when this happened it still shuts power down connected straight to the post, even though there isn't a high power ( checked at post too). After a few attempts reconnecting power it works.

Funny thing is,if it shuts power down and I run the generator it's fine and reads voltage correctly. I'm have it looked at in January.

It must be something with my onboard surge protector as other MH's in the same row didn't have a power issue.

So in my situation it actually shown me (having two) I have a electrical problem with the onboard surge protector.

Call it suspenders and a belt.

I travel with two but only use one at a time. I started out with a Progressive Industries simple surge protector {as that is all it does - about $100}. A couple of years later I upgraded to their EMS system that provides much more protection (about $300}.

With the EMS system I am protected against voltage falling too low or going to high vs simple surge protection. I use EMS as my primary device but keep the old simple surge suppressor for use as a back up in the event my EMS grows legs. I also have loaned the surge suppressor to a number of folks who had nothing and they were glad to have it.

Can't think of reason to part with the surge protector, nice to have a back up.

:C

Thank you all for the quick and well thought out responses. I believe until I can do a little more research on the built in unit I will use both. I have the 50amp Surge Guard portable. It has worked well so far. Again, Thank you all.