I'm new. Need for surge protector?

[bcombs]

Hello everyone and thank you for all of your informative posts. I have been lurking for some time now but my wife and I will get our band new baby (08 International CCD 27' FB) next Friday, so thought I better register and introduce myself.

We live in Phoenix AZ and I am a semi-retire community college professor. My wife worked for years as office manager in a law firm. We both love to see and hike state and national parks and so are about to begin traveling for 2-6 months of the year. Too hot in Phoenix in the summer anyway.

My first question is do I need a surge protector between the power outlet and the AS's power cord? A tech at Airstream told my salesman that it was not necessary because of the circuit breakers on the AS. Various RV forums and articles in magazines say you do. The service manager here in Mesa said get one rated above 1000 joules (sp?).

I know there is a range of surge protectors from the cheap to expensive and they do different things.

Thanks for your reply?

[Relentless]

Get one. I blew out a generator on my former RV, a Monoco Coach. $1500 repair. It was just still under warrenty by 2 months. There was a surge at a private RV park where I was plugged in.

John

[CanoeStream]

Howdy bcombs and welcome to AIR Forums! For purposes of your general trailer systems I'd agree with the Airstream technician. It would have to be an amazing piece of equipment to function effectively for 30 amp service -- and sit outside at the same time? Do I recall this coming up before? I don't know that it has.

A bigger risk to your air conditioner is low voltage (brownout) and that can happen in poorly wired campground distributions. A simple voltage meter left plugged into an unused yet highly visible inside socket will let you monitor low voltage. Power posts that I've seen in campgrounds have a circuit breaker. My voltage meter has alerted me more than once to that breaker being thrown after an electric storm -- it was just handy -- the fridge switched over to propane and doesn't use a lot anyway. But why not get back on the paid-for hookup?

How's the parking situation for you in Gilbert?

[CanoeStream]

Okay John -- you made me look.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...sor-36800.html

[bcombs]

Hello everyone and thanks for all your helpful posts.

I know they come from cheap to expensive and the better ones do a variety of things but if one is careful (unplug in a lightening storm) are they really needed? I also know the risk of a power surge is minimal but on the other hand don't want to have to replace an AC or TV.

Thanks for your replies.

[Minnie's Mate]

I bought one of these.

I haven't had a chance to take it out of the box yet. I had to replace the circuit board in my A/C and I feel it burned out because of too little voltage. I also keep a basic voltage meter plugged into one of our outlets inside to monitor the voltage on the inside of the trailer. So far, we haven't had too little power since I bought the inside unit, but the portable one says it will indicate if there is too little voltage at the supply and shut the power off to the trailer if that happens. It also protects from mis-wired and reverse polarity.

[overlander63]

While not neccessary for the trailer, smaller separate ones for the television and other electronics is a very good idea. By a strange coincidence, we had a power surge while I was viewing this thread in our trailer.

[TBRich]

We use a surge protector routinely...it will shut down the connection if there is a problem. Figure it can't hurt to have this additional protection. We also test for proper polarity before we connect, and we have a voltage meter permanently plugged into an outlet in the AS... We have never had a real problem, but there's always that first time, and then it's too late to think "I should have...".

TB

[Minnie's Mate]

When I bought mine, I really didn't, and still don't, know how to use it. I just think it is a good idea to protect against surges and against too little power coming in. There have been more than one occasion when our breaker at the pole tripped because of all of the A/C units in the loop cycling on at the same time. The one I bought, pictured above, is supposed to protect the trailer and appliances long before that happens. Of course that doesn't do much if the dog is in the Airstream while we are out and the protector shuts the A/C off.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Here is a post-link to the one we use.
Good info thru-out the thread!!
We camp a lot off-grid but our 30a service on the home pad can be inconsistent to say the least....piece of mind is hard to quantify, but it SURE FEELS GOOD.

Bob

[PharmGeek]

I went through this debate some months back...I would say the consensus view was "get a quality surge protector and fuhgetaboutit"....with minority view that it is simply a waste of money for a very low probability event.

We humans are quite risk averse...its a very well established phenomenon of our psychology...when I got to researching this on the net - the talk about drops in voltage, surges, ligtening, or "open neutrals" were scary. These are anecdotes only, so perhaps it is even more rare than I imagine...but I got one, idiot proof protection from such problems....I am an electrical idiot so I opted to protect...I blew the money on the one Robert Cross linked to....

A couple dealers and service centers I called also recommended because they had seen damages that could have been prevented....I have been told by some essentially that I am too credulous and wasted my money....overall I feel I made an informed decision based on a good number of sources and I am content.

[TBRich]

Don't worry, PharmG ... as with any "insurance" item, you have only wasted your money until you suddenly haven't ... like any "insurance" against risk. And of course, we have no advanced warning, so we don't have time to rush out and get the "insurance". It's money well-spent. We wouldn't dream of not insuring our rig, for instance, even though we all really hope we never have to use it.

[gmw photos]

Wow, what brought this jewel of a thread back to life ?

Since the OP has not logged back on in five and half years.....maybe he got fried by an errant high voltage spike ..... ?

[PharmGeek]

Interesting - Robert what prompted your new comment anyhow?

[jpons]

I am curious, now that I purchased a new Progressive Dynamics PD4655 converter which provides "High and Low AC input protection" do I need one of these protectors? I guess I may have been very lucky but I have never had an issue with electricity at a campground. Does anyone have further information as to the actual protection the Progressive Dynamics converter actually provide?

Thanks,

-J