RV Surge Protector

[Knobs]

Hi, all. Just joined the forum a couple of weeks ago and am enjoying reading it.

Anyhow, the reason for the post...

I am shopping for an external 30a surge protector. I was reading the specs for one that I am considering that says it provides under/over voltage protection of below 102v or above 136v where it will shut off power to the RV if either of these conditions persist for more than 7 seconds.

7 seconds?

Wouldn't the smoke be escaping from the RV's electronics well before that?

IOW, with that long of a response time, is that function even useful?

Thanks.

 

[Richpatty]

Welcome!

You make a good point, but high or low voltage would be bad for extended periods of time, but I don’t think 7 seconds would make much of a difference. They probably don’t want to cut it off for too short of a period in case of a temporary voltage sag…

The Hughes products have Bluetooth which will send you alerts. They also make the Autoformer which will help prevent low voltage situations.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jim]

The Hughes products have Bluetooth which will send you alerts. They also make the Autoformer which will help prevent low voltage situations.

Hope this helps.

Seriously thinking about getting one of these myself.

And welcome @Knobs !

 

[Richpatty]

I have the autoformer....and when my surge protector goes, I will probably replace it with one of their Power Watchdogs...

 

[Knobs]

Thanks for the welcome and the comments!

I guess perhaps I need to understand what fault condition this protection is for. IOW, what would be the typical cause of an overvoltage at a campground pedestal that was not present when you hooked up?

If the voltage is creeping up (from what cause IDK), then 7 seconds may be adequate, and in fact, may be good since if the voltage is hanging around the 135v level and sometime bumping up and then dropping back down, rinse, repeat, then certainly it would be a PITA for the power to be cut repeatedly.

However, if someone drops 240v onto the line through some repair accident or some such, well, say sayonara to your trailer's electronics since 7 seconds is far too slow.

BTW, since my first post, I looked up the specs on the Hughes Power Watchdog PWD30-EPO and the Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X. (BTW, the device with the 7 seconds response is Southwire's Surge Guard Model 34931.)

Hughes does not specify the response time.

Progressive Industries specifies a stepped response:
from 132v to 140v, 3 seconds,
140v to 156v, 1 second, and
greater than 156v, 60ms.

Just on the basis of the overvoltage protection performance, it seems to me the PI would be the choice, but...

I guess, the question is, what is the fault that this overvoltage function is intended to protect against?

 

[Richpatty]

I guess, the question is, what is the fault that this overvoltage function is intended to protect against?

Any voltage that strays from the standard 120v is bad….although devices have some leeway of course.
I have been RVing for many years and have not come upon high voltage, although it is possible others have. Low voltage is far more common especially with older parks and newer, high power consuming rigs…

Hope this helps…

 

[Scotttkd2]

Autoformer and power watchdog. Cant be too careful with all the electronics in these newer coaches. BTW, I have had several instances where the Autoformer went in to boost mode in the last year.