Surge Protectors...

[kozzy]

Sinple Questions...yes or no..Portable or hard wired. What kind?? I hear lots of info, i never used one in my fifth wheel, dosent mean that I shouldnt have, and camping world has them all on sale right now.

[Terier]

There's good reason for either kind but I opted for a portable unit mostly due to cost. At frist I was afraid about theft but now I just use a lock at the box for peace of mind.

If my unit get stolen then I might pay the extra cost of having one hard wired but for now I rather not have someone playing around with my trailer's wiring. Maybe I would feel differently if my budget wasn't on a diet.

[frankm]

Portable, Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C (EMS-PT30C).

[lindy]

YES on surge protecter. We use a portable one, and I make a metal tab that's screwd to the bottom ot the protector. Then I use a cable bike lock to lock it to the post. When you figure out the cost to replacein every elect component in the trl vs a surge protector the surge protector is a lot less cost, to say nothing of the time lost getting the trl repaired for a voltage surge. Just buy a good one that also has a low voltage shut off capability too. Low voltage can hurt as much as voltage spike

[Dave_Monica]

Your decision may be determined by the ease of access to the power supply wiring to be able to install a 'hard-wired' surge protector.

I installed a HW30 C on our camper as it was easy to access the power supply into the camper behind a removable panel in the bottom pantry cabinet. It can also be easily removed should I sell the camper.

The price between the between the portable and hard-wired versions aren't that different.

Dave

[extremebike]

HI!

Yes for sure use a surge protector. If you are using 30 amp models the cost is not as high as the 50 amp models. I install it at the camper end of the cord and not at the post as they suggest. It makes no difference to suppressing the surges. I hid mine under the spare tire which also kept it dry.

Since I have moved to a 5th wheel I had the dealer install the 50 amp unit in the vehicle as the cost was almost double the 30 amp unit and it was a real chunk to hide. The downside of this is that I cannot see the unit and if something goes wrong then it's back to the dealer. I hope this helps. BTW I had my 30 amp Surge suppressor over 5 years.

[Terier]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

Your decision may be determined by the ease of access to the power supply wiring to be able to install a 'hard-wired' surge protector.

I installed a HW30 C on our camper as it was easy to access the power supply into the camper behind a removable panel in the bottom pantry cabinet. It can also be easily removed should I sell the camper.

The price between the between the portable and hard-wired versions aren't that different.

Dave

True but in my case I had to include the cost factor of having it installed. While many members here are able to install it easily this is not the case with me.

[kozzy]

Thanks for the input, now I just have to decide on hard wired or portable. Im pretty cionfident I can install it ok, but I want to make sure I can access it easily if I have to..