Surge Guards

[DaveR]

Being a nu-bee at RVing I've been doing the due diligence on learning all I can from other's mistakes. I was all set to buy a hardwired surge guard (TRC 34520) so as to not run the risk of having a valuable piece of equipment outside all night. I was inquiring as to how expensive it would be to get one installed and was told $100.

And then the installer, at a well known nation wide RV retailer, told me he'd advise against the hard wire, as if something goes wrong - that's it....no electricity until you get it replaced/fixed. He advised a plug into the post model and hasp to cover the connection to the power supply line. " no one is going to cut thru 110"

I found the whole argument to be flawed, 1) if I do destroy an outside surge protector....am I REALLY going to plug in without one ? (assuming inside wouldn't stop me from using generator - and I'm probably wrong there) 2) So they unplug before cutting your power cord....it's not like I can get dressed in the middle of night that fast when my CPAP turns off and I'm trying to figure out what's going on (and would I WANT to?)

1) How many folks have had to replace their surge protector due to electrical damage (failure) ?
2) Should it be this expensive to install ?
3) have people lost Surge Guards before ?

Thanks for keeping the nu-bee safe with your answers.....

[booster]

Originally Posted by DaveR

Being a nu-bee at RVing I've been doing the due diligence on learning all I can from other's mistakes. I was all set to buy a hardwired surge guard (TRC 34520) so as to not run the risk of having a valuable piece of equipment outside all night. I was inquiring as to how expensive it would be to get one installed and was told $100.

And then the installer, at a well known nation wide RV retailer, told me he'd advise against the hard wire, as if something goes wrong - that's it....no electricity until you get it replaced/fixed. He advised a plug into the post model and hasp to cover the connection to the power supply line. " no one is going to cut thru 110"

I found the whole argument to be flawed, 1) if I do destroy an outside surge protector....am I REALLY going to plug in without one ? (assuming inside wouldn't stop me from using generator - and I'm probably wrong there) 2) So they unplug before cutting your power cord....it's not like I can get dressed in the middle of night that fast when my CPAP turns off and I'm trying to figure out what's going on (and would I WANT to?)

1) How many folks have had to replace their surge protector due to electrical damage (failure) ?
2) Should it be this expensive to install ?
3) have people lost Surge Guards before ?

Thanks for keeping the nu-bee safe with your answers.....

We decided on a hardwired one for the same reasons you listed. No hassle of extra locks. Ours is mounted in the left side bolster of our 07 C190P Roardtrek, right on top of the subwoofer. It is accessible by lifting the bolster hinged lid. If it were to fail, it would take maybe 10 minutes to remove the cover on the surge guard and either wire nut the in and out wires together, or put them on the same side of relay. No big deal in my thinking.

[markopolo]

Old topic here but I thought I'd add a link. Some good reading on surge protection on the RT Yahoo group here: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/roa ... sage/82069 (members only on that group)

And more reading here: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f54/ ... 518-2.html

[Robert1776]

I will also add to this discussion even though it is an old thread. I have the portable Surge Guard for exactly the reason the installer in the first post stated. There are two components to these protection units. One is a power monitor that will shut down the unit should voltage coming from the electricity at the campground goes above or below the safe limits of use - basically below 110 and above 130 volts. Should this happen, then the unit shuts down power coming through until it monitors a safe level of voltage and then resets - or can be manually reset. The second component is protection against power surges and spikes such as would occur with lightening strikes. Then what happens is the component in the unit clamps down on the circuit and stops the spike from entering your RV. When that happens the component destroys itself and the unit no longer works. The Surge Guard at that point is not repairable and must be thrown out. The Progressive units can be sent back to the factory for that component to be replaced for a price. This is how it is supposed to function and that is fine - unless you are in the middle of a trip. If you are on a trip what do you do - end your trip there because you can no longer plug into shore power or take a chance and plug in until you can get to an RV supply that sells the surge guard or Progressive and you get a new one - and if it is a built in have it installed. With a portable Surge Guard you still can plug your RV into shore power and it is much easier to replace. To me this is the better choice. Others may differ - but then what do you do if your surge/power protector blows - and I understand that when they blow they really blow up. Never have one permanently installed in a position that it can do damage if it blows.

[Cubey]

I don't have one yet but will get one when I can afford to. I may get the plug in kind. I am considering doing a slight mod to my original 30A cord anyway. It has about a 20ft cable hard wired directly into the van. I find this slightly annoying for pulling it out for hooking up and pulling it back in when finished. It exits the van through the bottom of the compartment.

My idea is to cut it off and leave enough to be able to attach a male 30A plug so it can be plugged into the generator's receptacle (no automatic switch on this ol' rig) and put a female plug on the chopped off end of the long cable, effectively making it into a 30A extension cord that will be easier to deal with. With this kind of setup, I could actually plug the surge protector into either the line at the RV park hookup or between the extension cord and the van. In the compartment, it would be out of sight and protected from the weather. Easier to pull out and keep when or if I sell the van later or if it gets totaled in an accident. Plus I could keep the extension cord I made from the original cable. Those 30A extension cables are not cheap!

Being a 1978, it wouldn't take much to become "totaled". Pretty much any fender bender "totals" an older vehicle in the eyes of an insurance company. The last 2 cars I had that got "totaled" were still drivable so I kept them for quite some time after.. simply taking a few hundred dollars less payout from the insurance companies from the driver's who had hit me, and I kept the cars until I either traded them in at a dealer toward something else, or drove until they had something major wrong, then I drove it to salvage yard and got what they'd give me for it. I came out a little ahead on both of the cars.

[Ron J. Moore]

I have the portable, having opted for this model because I felt I didn't want someone messing up what was already working fine. Also, if I were to change RV's - it would go to the new one. I recognize that it was not going to work hanging outside - locks be damned, and then the weather. I bought the 30amp extension cord at Walmart and use it. I curled up the original wire, tied it up and connected the surge card to it, and then the extension to the post. This works for me. Safe travels.