Surge protectors....do I need one?

[veepapa]

Cost some RV do have from factory but you pay big time for it. Lol

[st4]

My progressive has saved me twice in the last week. I would never be without one. Last weekend our voltage would drop down to 102 volts when ac and another appliance cut on. Surge would shut everything down letting me know I needed to look into it. If I would not have had protection the ac wud hav run all weekend on that low voltage without me ever known. #1 cause of AC premature failure is low voltage. It happens all the time and most people never know it.
When I returned home and saved it under cover, as soon as I plugged it in the progressive shut electricity down again. Turns out while we were going the neutral on the overhead line coming in had broke. Go figure.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by st4

My progressive has saved me twice in the last week. I would never be without one. Last weekend our voltage would drop down to 102 volts when ac and another appliance cut on. Surge would shut everything down letting me know I needed to look into it. If I would not have had protection the ac wud hav run all weekend on that low voltage without me ever known. #1 cause of AC premature failure is low voltage. It happens all the time and most people never know it.

The low voltage causes the motor to pull more amps = more heat which burns up the windings in the motor. It may not have run all weekend even before it failed.

When I returned home and saved it under cover, as soon as I plugged it in the progressive shut electricity down again. Turns out while we were going the neutral on the overhead line coming in had broke. Go figure.

Good Catch for PI, saved more than just your camper at your house!

[Summit1]

So... a lower than normal voltage is a "surge" [emoji848]
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I see a lot of this in discussion groups (web forums and Faecesbook... same thing); despite what apperas in those sites, the best approach is a correctly informed approach.

A surge is a (usually) brief increase in voltage. A spike is a very large and even more brief increase in the line voltage... a nearby or somewhat distant lightning strike can cause these. A sag is a decrease in line voltage that can last for a fraction of a second to several seconds. Then, to make things even more interesting, there can be somewhat chronic low voltage conditions that are usually caused by poor wiring to the "power pole" and/or resistance in the shore line cable due to burned prongs.

Cheap surge protectors do just that... they protect the surges and maybe the spikes, but not always your (too often expensive) stuff. Electrical management systems protect your stuff from surges, spikes, and sags. An EMS will be priced higher than a "surge protector", but does a great deal more. The salient questions should be:

1.) How much is my stuff worth?
2.) What is the replacement cost (not just the price) to the owner?
3.) Do I want to take a chance and skip it altogether?

It is usually a price versus (potential and actual) cost decision.

Keep in mind this caveat: Neither a surge protector (gawd, I love that term [emoji1787]) nor an EMS will prevent your shoreline connectors from developing burned spots (and resistance). To avoid those,, turn off the power at the circuit breaker prior to connecting and disconnecting the shoreline. Also, use a simple voltmeter to check the voltage at the "power pole" outlet; it need not be a fancy nor expensive meter, and does not even need to be a digital one (although an auto-ranging type to measure AC is easier). Some of the really cheap (including digital) ones can be off by as much as 10%... digital does not imply inherent accuracy. I had a cheap Crapsman digital meter that I used mainly for continuity testing... it showed 10% higher than the actual voltage. I also had a cheap Radio Shack analog meter that was almost dead nuts perfect.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Summit1

So... a lower than normal voltage is a "surge" [emoji848]

I see a lot of this in discussion groups (web forums and Faecesbook... same thing); despite what apperas in those sites, the best approach is a correctly informed approach.

A surge is a (usually) brief increase in voltage. A spike is a very large and even more brief increase in the line voltage... a nearby or somewhat distant lightning strike can cause these.

Umm, you might want to delete or edit that first line because it's wrong, conflicts with the later statement, and should read "So...a higher, momentary voltage above normal is a "surge." I know you intended sarcasm due to some previous comment but not everyone reads all comments and may think you're serious.

Also, I'm afraid you may be confusing people by differentiating "surge" from "spike". While technically different there are very, very few places that need a rock-stable input voltage and none of them are in the consumer world.

"Surges" can range from minor, which electronics are designed to just handle, to severe, which they are not.

In the consumer world, RV and home, "surge" means protection only against transient spikes lasting thousandths of a second and in excess of several hundred volts.

Both RV and home "surge protectors", even whole-house surge protectors, are just spike protectors because electronics systems are designed to handle minor, momentary increases in the incoming voltage.

I do have a whole-house surge protector on my home because of the hot tub pumps and I do have a full EMS on the RV. They're different operating environments and need different levels of protection.

FWIW,

Ray

[Summit1]

Not sure who "Umm" is... must have missed his post (or it may have "disappeared", but my [emoji848] followed my statement to indicate it is apparently confusing and requires some deeper thought.

Just the same, I added a whole bunch of [emoji6]'s to further clarify that which is more than clear in the remainder of my post.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Summit1

Not sure who "Umm" is... must have missed his post, but my [emoji848] followed my statement to indicate it is apparently confusing and requires some deeper thought.

Nope but I did quickly edit that paragraph to read:

"Umm, you might want to delete or edit that first line because it's wrong, conflicts with the later statement, and should read "So...a higher, momentary voltage above normal is a "surge." I know you intended sarcasm due to some previous comment but not everyone reads all comments and may think you're serious."

On the mobile app, which I use frequently, emojis do not display as pictures, just text. So I try to be careful where I use them. Perhaps you do not use the mobile app so you did not realize that.

Ray

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Summit1

So... a lower than normal voltage is a "surge" [emoji848]
[emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]

I don't like being condescending or critical but that is precisely how you started your post isn't it?

I see a lot of this in discussion groups (web forums and Faecesbook... same thing); despite what apperas in those sites, the best approach is a correctly informed approach.

After that two paragraph lead in (Complete with HUGE spelling errors) I lost ALL interest in reading anything else you had to say. Sounds like several others took issue as well!

[NXR]

I think it's time to take this down a notch and I'm including myself in that comment.

Ray

[Summit1]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

I don't like being condescending or critical but that is precisely how you started your post isn't it?



After that two paragraph lead in (Complete with HUGE spelling errors) I lost ALL interest in reading anything else you had to say. Sounds like several others took issue as well!

Yes, it is... with all those "HUGE spelling errors" as well ... apparently the "winkies" did not display on your device, either. There is a concept known as "context" that was likely missed by a couple of folks.

Have a good day, and may the Lord bless.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Summit1

Yes, it is... with all those "HUGE spelling errors" as well ... apparently the "winkies" did not display on your device, either. There is a concept known as "context" that was likely missed by a couple of folks.

Have a good day, and may the Lord bless.

Well, if I was overly critical of something not meant in a derogatory manner, then you have my heart felt apologies.

One of the problem with this format (online typing) is the inability to read the senders tone.

You too, have a Blessed Day!!