Surge protectors....do I need one?

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

i have been camping for over 26 yr's
we recently went to mass to state park by Marramac river enters the ocean
never worried about a surge protecter till,
the camper next to us was running a 14 gage extinction cord that,
kept blowing the braker and,
he kept tripping my braker to reset it his braker..
with my AC on being a hot summer day i was not happy at all!!!!!
he didn't seem to understand what this could do to my camper .
i had to finally tell him to stop tripping my braker .....
So long story short
they are expensive to buy and one reason i have not bought one so that said ill be getting one this season

[NXR]

Originally Posted by BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP

i have been camping for over 26 yr's
we recently went to mass to state park by Marramac river enters the ocean
never worried about a surge protecter till,
the camper next to us was running a 14 gage extinction cord that,
kept blowing the braker and,
he kept tripping my braker to reset it his braker..
with my AC on being a hot summer day i was not happy at all!!!!!
he didn't seem to understand what this could do to my camper .
i had to finally tell him to stop tripping my braker .....
So long story short
they are expensive to buy and one reason i have not bought one so that said ill be getting one this season

So his cord was plugged into your power pedestal? Or was he turning your breaker off in error?

If he was connected to a different pedestal and not manually flipping your beaker, then there was something wrong with the pedestal wiring because the breaker tripping or being reset on one pedestal should never affect another pedestal.

A surge protector or EMS, being connected after the pedestal, would not detect such a condition.

One good test for a defective breaker is to gently thump the breaker case (not the handle you move) with the handle of a screwdriver. If the breaker trips from mechanical jolting then the breaker needs replaced.

Ray

[sunnyinfla]

I've lost a microwave,fireplace etc...the ones at the RV stores are very EXPENSIVE,I picked up a leviton whole house surge protector at home depot and installed it by my panel...very easy 2 do...

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

Originally Posted by NXR

So his cord was plugged into your power pedestal? Or was he turning your breaker off in error?

If he was connected to a different pedestal and not manually flipping your beaker, then there was something wrong with the pedestal wiring because the breaker tripping or being reset on one pedestal should never affect another pedestal.

A surge protector or EMS, being connected after the pedestal, would not detect such a condition.

One good test for a defective breaker is to gently thump the breaker case (not the handle you move) with the handle of a screwdriver. If the breaker trips from mechanical jolting then the breaker needs replaced.

Ray

He was tripping my breaker by hand he had his own breaker but kept throwing my off & on by hand He looked to be a new be and did not understand sirket breaker it had them pop outs them canvas things & they ran the AC allll day long on a 14 gage 200 foot cord

[formerFR]

we understand your aggravation with this situation, but I don't think we're getting the 'whole picture' of what was happening... was the 'neighbor' using YOUR outlet at your campsite?
If not, why would they have access to YOUR breaker?

I've been to parks where there is NO breaker at the site, only the 30amp outlet.... the breakers for each site are at a 'main panel' where only the management has access, which is really weird, but that's the way they have it designed. I've also been to several campgrounds where the breaker tripped too quickly, was overly-sensitive, and had to be replaced by the management, which easily solved the problem, though they didn't think it was 'them', but must have been 'me'... campground outlets, especially 30amp type, which are plugged in and out of many, many times over the course of their life, can easily get weak, over-used, and have connections that are not tight, and have breakers that are no longer providing the correct amount of 'flow thru' power before tripping.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by formerFR

we understand your aggravation with this situation, but I don't think we're getting the 'whole picture' of what was happening... was the 'neighbor' using YOUR outlet at your campsite?
If not, why would they have access to YOUR breaker?

I've been to parks where there is NO breaker at the site, only the 30amp outlet.... the breakers for each site are at a 'main panel' where only the management has access,

Ive never seen any pedestal or outlet for my camper that did not have the breakers there and available. Also Ive seen many that had two separate boxes back to back for two back to back sites.

That said, if the guy was tripping a breaker other than the one his own camper is plugged into he is probably clueless. A simple word explaining to him what he is doing may have eliminated the issue.

If he persisted, another form of "education" may have been in order.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

Ive never seen any pedestal or outlet for my camper that did not have the breakers there and available.

I wish I could say the same. I've been at a few where you didn't have access to the breakers at all like formerFR described.

I've been at others where you could walk to every other site and there were breakers there. My neighbor oh-so-kindly shut us down when he left thinking he was turning his own off.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by ependydad

I wish I could say the same. I've been at a few where you didn't have access to the breakers at all like formerFR described.

I've been at others where you could walk to every other site and there were breakers there. My neighbor oh-so-kindly shut us down when he left thinking he was turning his own off.

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

Originally Posted by formerFR

we understand your aggravation with this situation, but I don't think we're getting the 'whole picture' of what was happening... was the 'neighbor' using YOUR outlet at your campsite?
If not, why would they have access to YOUR breaker?

I've been to parks where there is NO breaker at the site, only the 30amp outlet.... the breakers for each site are at a 'main panel' where only the management has access, which is really weird, but that's the way they have it designed. I've also been to several campgrounds where the breaker tripped too quickly, was overly-sensitive, and had to be replaced by the management, which easily solved the problem, though they didn't think it was 'them', but must have been 'me'... campground outlets, especially 30amp type, which are plugged in and out of many, many times over the course of their life, can easily get weak, over-used, and have connections that are not tight, and have breakers that are no longer providing the correct amount of 'flow thru' power before tripping.

the pedestal has 2 110 V outlets ---- 1 30 amp----- 1 50 amp
all on one pedestal Ok
im going to try be polite BUT
the guy was clueless a compleat moran he was trowing all of them off ....
he was running his 30 amp camper on a 20 amp110 outlet with a 200 foot 14gage extinction cord
there how did i do........

[Boomerweps]

No wonder, he was using an extinction cord!
200' of 14GA for most anything is crazy.
Over 150' of 12GA is really bad enough ((trust me, experienced

[5picker]

Yep those extinction cords get you every time.

Shame on the campground for hooking two campers into one pedestal. Sounds like a great place, NOT!

Oh and by the way... if it had true 30a and 50a outlets, both were NOT 120v.

30a is 120v but 50a is 240v measured across the two feed legs.

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

You Got it
i tried to be nice and subject that.
that was not a good practice
but he insisted he did it all the time
i did ask him to stop trowing my braker
he just realy did not get it
O Well
you have a good one

[cavie]

Damn, people throwing breakers again!

[BOO-BOO-IS-IN-CAMP]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Yep those extinction cords get you every time.

Shame on the campground for hooking two campers into one pedestal. Sounds like a great place, NOT!

Oh and by the way... if it had true 30a and 50a outlets, both were NOT 120v.

30a is 120v but 50a is 240v measured across the two feed legs.

i understand that
i believe the 120 is only a 20 amp
the 30 amp is 120 but 30 amp
the 50 amp im sure your correct 240 50 amp + or -
the pedestal is at salisbury state park mass they realy pack them in side by side no room to fart

[Boomerweps]

Back to the original question:
My BAD POWER experience.
I have the install version Progressive Industries EMS HWC30 (I mix the letters up ;(. At one campground this year (at a CG we liked the previous year) on my site's power pedestal 30amp outlet, I found reversed power leads. So the EMS would not pass power. Tried another outlet no ground, so EMS no power. Third outlet was wired correctly! THEN after powering up and putting on the AirCon in a record setting heat index (temp + humidity) for PA, power shuts off from low voltage. Does not like 101-102VAC! With my SIL's 30 amp extension cord (I bought one the next week) we tried connecting to their next door pedestal with similar results after my daughter claimed they had good power. I reconnected to our pedestal and was miserable with the AirCon and power frequently shutting off until after 11PM. Good thing I got rid of the extension connection laying on the ground. Next morning, after a thunder/lightning storm of biblical proportions, we had 6-8" of standing water over most of the campsite. We packed up and left.

[LegacyFB38]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Yep those extinction cords get you every time.

I haven't seen those cords for ages. They have been, extinct for quite awhile.

[Merlin80232]

Hope this is the correct group to post the question in.

What about surge protector power cords inside? I have had every one of mine blow. What is happening?

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Merlin80232

Hope this is the correct group to post the question in.

What about surge protector power cords inside? I have had every one of mine blow. What is happening?

Need more info. What are you talking about? Are you talking about surge protector power strips?? JUNK.

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Boomerweps

Back to the original question:
My BAD POWER experience.
I have the install version Progressive Industries EMS HWC30 (I mix the letters up ;(. At one campground this year (at a CG we liked the previous year) on my site's power pedestal 30amp outlet, I found reversed power leads. So the EMS would not pass power. Tried another outlet no ground, so EMS no power. Third outlet was wired correctly! THEN after powering up and putting on the AirCon in a record setting heat index (temp + humidity) for PA, power shuts off from low voltage. Does not like 101-102VAC! With my SIL's 30 amp extension cord (I bought one the next week) we tried connecting to their next door pedestal with similar results after my daughter claimed they had good power. I reconnected to our pedestal and was miserable with the AirCon and power frequently shutting off until after 11PM. Good thing I got rid of the extension connection laying on the ground. Next morning, after a thunder/lightning storm of biblical proportions, we had 6-8" of standing water over most of the campsite. We packed up and left.

Sounds like a good example of the EMS doing it’s job. But, the camping weather and the campground’s power left something to be desired.

[Ungechbub66]

Wow a lot of stuff — those who have internal surge protector issues and not under
warranty,I would buy a Progressive Surge protector that connects to the outside cord
of your camper to the outside power . Considering how much it would cost to rewire a camper —- you can’t afford not to. Spend the money and get the best one .
Two things I have the best one and it automatically shuts off if there’s a problem and
if the protector indicates there’s an issue —- then 99.9 % there is . Mine has helped
particularly in bad weather .

Good luck — hopefully this may have helped —— I a simple guy ,if it ain’t working right
Here’s your sign