Hi,
You do have to check the voltage and polarity yourself. But you should do that before plugging in to any shore power.
For every 1000 RV's I expect there is at least one with a surge device of some kind. I have a simple surge device on just my converter. That protects all the computer boards down stream from it, at a cost of $2.00. My comfort level for low voltage is 108. Neither of the devices on the chart disconnects soon enough for me.
Folks on RV.net love to ask "what if". On my most recent trip of 21 days I spent just 3 days in campgrounds.
My opinion is the PI is a well designed unnecessary piece of equipment for 30 amp, and that if the rv is 50 amp it is worth considering owning.
"Q: Why is the 30 amp circuit immune from high voltage when the neutral fails?
A: It's not totally immune, it depends on where the neutral physically opens. Below is referring to 30 amp or 20 amp power, NOT 50-amp power.
If the open neutral occurs BEFORE your pedestal, and there are other RV's connected to that same neutral line AFTER your pedestal, AND they are using the other hot line phase, then you could get excessive voltage. This is not very likely to happen for a couple of reasons. First, typically the power and neutral wires going into your pedestal are large, and because of this, the electrical clamp mechanism for these in the pedestal are large, and are usually trouble free. This makes an open neutral before your pedestal unlikely (it could happen if someone is digging a hole with a backhoe and they cut the neutral line but not the hot lines). Second, many campgrounds have only 30 amp power, and it's likely that only one hot phase is being used on the neutral line you're using. If there is only one hot phase being used with your neutral, then the voltage can only drop, not increase.
If an open neutral occurs AFTER your pedestal it won't affect your pedestal (you still have a good neutral).
If the open neutral occurs IN your pedestal, you're safe because you're then only getting one hot line, and there's not a return path for the electricity, so there would be no current flow and no damage."
quote from myrv.us/electricFor 30 amp, an autoformer may be a better choice, as far more damage is done by low voltage situations than by surges.
ol Bombero-JC wrote:
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,:R
30 amp is unlikely to need such a device.
"Murphy" loves that kind of thinking!.
~
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.
