Surge guard question/problem ?

[Meffrig]

Camping World just installed a hard wired Surge Guard (model 34560) on my 2014 Thor Windsport class a motorhome for me. I am visiting a friend and have plugged in to 110 outlet from his garage. I have the proper adapters (50 to 30 to 20 amp) and have power coming into the coach- however the red caution light on the Surge Guard continues to flash. Line 1 and Line 2 light up green as in good to go. I realize I won't be able to run everything in the coach since I am on limited power. Should I be concerned about the flashing caution light? Thanks!

[ohiopicker]

badboy368 wrote:
is it possible that you may not be getting a full 110volts? i think that will flash the lights. just a thought :h

Commercial electrical power in the U.S. hasn't been 110 volts for over 50 years. 120 volts is the standard now.

[Meffrig]

Problem solved- outlet was not grounded properly-life is good. Thanks to all who replied.

[westend]

I've got a dead President that says it's a reversed phase in the garage receptacle. The surge device will show the fault but everything on 120V will operate.

[Desert_Captain]

The OP should go back and read the owners manual thoroughly. Step one is NEVER plug in your RV unless the surge guard is showing good clean power. :C

[aruba5er]

I can imagine that because you have a 50 amp service and using adapters that because you only have 120 volts going to the coach the other leg sensor is searching and cause the lights to blink. Wait till you plug into a 50 amp 4 wire plug and see if the situation is still there. Was going to write "problem" but I don't think you have one.

[CC-skipjack]

I urge all to be careful of what they expect their SurgeGuard to do.

Upon disconnecting after my last use of mine (30 amp portable), I noticed that one side of my female end was partially melted. After several attempts to contact the company, they finally responded that it was likely due to "overcurrent". Their quote "The devise you have do not protect against overcurrent".

Frustrating part was I never could get them to look at any of the pictures I offered.

So for me, I don't see the need to spend the kind of cash they want if it offers no more prtection than that.

[dbates]

SurgeGuard really hides thier tech support phone number but on their website there is a "try all of this before calling" pdf file. Here is the link to it. Try this before calling After you do all that they ask, there is a phone number to call.

Based on the past posts on this forum about their tech support, "Good Luck".

Dave

[wa8yxm]

You may download the manual (A PDF) from here: Company Support Page

Thanks by the way.. I actually need that manual. (or one identical to it for the most part).

The manual says the flashing "Caution" light can indicate the countdown timer is counting down (not your case) or a wiring fault.

Assuming you have green lights on the L-1 and L-2 indicators:

Said faults include, when plugged into 15/20/30 amps:
Open GROUND, Polarity reversal,, about the only thing it will not idicate on 15/20/30 amps is open neutral (That will show as no power period).

On 50 amps, it can show open neutral or open ground.

So get yourself one of the three-light testers, plug it into your buddy's garage outlet and I'll bet you see open ground.

IF said outlet is GFCI protected (Most codes require GFCI for new Garage installs) then don't worry about it as open ground on a GFCI is no problem.

[HappyKayakers]

If I had a brand new rig like that and my brand new surge guard was flashing a caution, I would unplug until the problem was corrected.

[badboy368]

is it possible that you may not be getting a full 110volts? i think that will flash the lights. just a thought :h

[JohnG4706]

I found the owner's manual online. If I'm reading it correctly, one way you could get power to the RV, with flashing lights, is that you have a power line going to ground.

I have a PDF copy of the manual, but don't know how to make a Link.

If you send me a PM, I'll send the manual.

[Meffrig]

I have used this outlet before and it seemed to work fine before I added the surge guard. I haven't checked the outlet for polarity yet. I have read the manuel for the surge guard and tried to troubleshoot the problem but can't seem to figure it out. I do have power as shown on the surge guard and the microwave, tv's, etc. all seem to be working fine. I am thinking the outlet may not be grounded properly but am still searching for answers.

[rvten]

Did you check his outlet for correct polarity?
Do you have the Surge Guard owners manual?