SURGE PROTECTION

Started by LANA/LARRY, June 16, 2017, 11:28:19 PM

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LANA/LARRY

Does anyone have experience using electrical surge protection for their CL? I have read that some camp ground hook ups can supply "dirty power" which may cause serious damage to electrical devices in our campers. There are a number of devices on the market with a wide range of pricing. Being new to camping, we don't want to "overkill" protecting against or ignore dirty power potential damage. Is there really a high potential for encountering power issues at camp grounds? Anyone use / recommend certain surge, under voltage / over voltage etc. protection? Is the potential for theft of portable devices at the power outlet pole a real problem?

Thanks!
2018 CL21RBS
2016 Tundra Dbl Cab Tow Pkg 5.7 L

DavidM

As a group, RV owners seem to be concerned about the quality of campground power. I am surprised because as a boater I have never heard of that kind of problem. Low voltage yes, but not surges. If any place is going to have power problems, marinas with wet conditions will.

But in any case the old forum had quite a discussion of surge protection. Go to aluminiumcamperforum.com and search in the archive section for it.

David


gerry

Those EMS devices do far more than protect from surges and voltage swings. Some like the EMS-HW30C test for a multitude of potential problems. The thing with RV's is they are not static dwellings. The potential problems are in the making over time as vibrations from road travel can lead to rubbing off the insulation of wiring. This is even more of a potential problem in Camplites as jagged edges where wiring is run through a metallic structure in well hidden areas. Even if all the onboard wiring is 100% correct you are plugging into a different campground supply and in different environments every time you change sites. Strikes occur more in certain area than others.

I chose the HW30C for the reason you mentioned, theft, but also for it's ability to bypass itself if it fails for some reason until repair parts arrive. Theft is a real problem in and out of CG's. I'm sure some areas are worse than others.

You might look up Mike Sokol's writings and videos at the No Shock Zone for more but, yes, EMS' are a good idea and some like the HW30C can protect you from everything except a reverse polarity bootleg ground.


gerry

#3
To add.

Where you may run into some difficulty with the hardwired EMS' is if you use a marginally sufficient generator while running A/C. A common problem is not so much damaging the A/C unit as it is the dropout voltage of the contactor in the EMS. You may experience contact chatter which will shorten the life of the contactor.

Good news is it is simply solved using a 30A DPDT switch to bypass the EMS while on generator power. You could always install a transfer switch but I felt that was overkill.  Generators like the newer inverter ones have most of the major protections that EMS' offer built in to them but not all.

LANA/LARRY

Thanks DavidM & Gerry for the quick informative replies. Much appreciated! :). Think I will go with an internally hard wired Progressive unit with monitor as soon as I can afford it.
2018 CL21RBS
2016 Tundra Dbl Cab Tow Pkg 5.7 L