Surge Guard?

[Wanderer]

Lot of advertising of surge guards providing a barrier between your RV and the campground pedestals, to prevent fires, damage etc.
We have the 2011 Flagstaff 831 RLBSS, do we need to be concerned with such an add on?
Regards,
Wanderer

[flumpydog]

Hi Wanderer,
I always use a surge protector when plugging our trailer in and highly recommend the use of them. It is cheap insurance and goes a long ways in protecting all electronic devices in your trailer, including any computer equipment you may have plugged in. Just about everything is controlled by some sort of computer circuit board nowadays. We do the same thing with our home and office as well.
Best Wishes,
Chuck

[Wanderer]

Hi Chuck,
Thanks for reply and knew the older trailers probably had little if any surge protection, but thought our 2011 Flagstaff would have had something built in?
Doug aka Wanderer

[flumpydog]

Hi Doug,
Sorry, I cannot comment on your specific unit. I know for myself, even if our trailer had a built-in one, I would still use a secondary one. I have just seen too much stuff get cooked by electrical spikes, so I might be more paranoid than most lol. Besides, these add-on units usually come with lifetime insurance, covering your equipment if it does get damaged.
Best Wishes,
Chuck

[jimh]

the surge suppressor is a tool. it should protect u from most surges. there should also be an indication that it has taken a surge and is no longer reliable. when that happens, u will have to replace it. also understand that it will not protect from a direct lightning hit (i don't know of anything that will do that).
ur circuit boards run from u dc system. the converter should be an additional layer between u and the a/c power. so whatever gets thru ur surge suppressor, should be filtered out there or the battery.
a computer or microwave plugged in will not have that same extra layer of protection.
i run one on the computer. have thought abt one for the trailer but don't want to part with the money. i also don't run one on my power coming into my home. i do run a suppressor ups on the computer.
it's a percentage thing, i just don't think the expense is worth it. i've been camping sense 92; so far, i have only seen one incident and turned out to be an adapter that arced (it was shown to me by a campground owner).