Surge protector...yes or no and.....

[rswitzer1]

I just bought a 2022 Forest River Sierra 5th wheel with all kinds of electronics in it so I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether to use a surge protector on the input line and if so what brand are you using. Leaning towards the Hughes Watchdog 50 amp w/ EPO.

 

[Neal]

I use a progressive industries at the pedestal. Tells me instantly if wiring is correct or not.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015Y9A4HU/?tag=rvf01-20

 

[Bob K4TAX]

In a short answer YES do use a surge protector.
To start, make sure the breaker for the outlet on the power post is OFF. Then plug the surge protector into the power post. Then plug in the cable to the trailer. THEN flip the breaker ON.

Do the reverse when disconnecting. Breaker OFF first, unplug the cable to the trailer, unplug the surge protector. Leave the breaker OFF for the next occupant.

I have my trailer cable secured to my surge protector using a length of bungee cord. This allows me to plug and unplug the cable at the surge protector, but with it still attached by the bungee. That way I won't forget and leave the surge protector.

 

[rswitzer1]

In a short answer YES do use a surge protector.
To start, make sure the breaker for the outlet on the power post is OFF. Then plug the surge protector into the power post. Then plug in the cable to the trailer. THEN flip the breaker ON.

Do the reverse when disconnecting. Breaker OFF first, unplug the cable to the trailer, unplug the surge protector. Leave the breaker OFF for the next occupant.

I have my trailer cable secured to my surge protector using a length of bungee cord. This allows me to plug and unplug the cable at the surge protector, but with it still attached by the bungee. That way I won't forget and leave the surge protector.

Which one do you have?

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Which one do you have?

Progressive Industries 30 Amp Portable RV Smart Surge Protector (1 MIN), SSP-30X​

 

[FLSteve]

I have the Progressive Industries HW50C Hardwired EMS Surge & Electrical Protection - 50 Amps

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AN1UA8/?tag=rvf01-20

FLSteve

 

[AbdRahim]

I have the Watchdog. On my last class C I had Progressive Industries. An EMS is a must, in my opinion.

 

[JRW-NAW]

I also have the Progressive Industries HW50C. I also installed Progressive Industries EMS on three 5'vers I had prior to the coach.

 

[DKRITTER]

Short answer is ALWAYS I'll tell you a little story;

We bought a new Forest River Cedar Creek 5th wheel several years ago, we had only had it a few weeks when I plugged it in and fried a good portion of the 5th wheel. Turned out there was a short in the cord causing a Open Neutral which applied 220Volts to most of my 5th wheel. It gets worse, both the dealer and Cedar Creek told me it was my fault and to take it up with my insurance company despite the fact I had hired an electrician to check my setup.

Had I had a very good surge protector none of this would have been an issue. It's really cheap insurance.

 

[docj]

We, too, have a Progressive Industries EMS HW50C and I strongly suggest that the OP consider one of the EMS devices made by Progressive and not just the smart surge suppressor. IMO the chances of damage are far greater from things such as miswired pedestals than they are from true surges. From what I read on Progressive's website, its surge suppressors have "miswired pedestal indicators" rather than having the ability of preventing the power from a miswired pedestal from ever entering your RV. Yes, you pay a bit more for the EMS but IMHO it is worth it.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

We, too, have a Progressive Industries EMS HW50C and I strongly suggest that the OP consider one of the EMS devices made by Progressive and not just the smart surge suppressor. IMO the chances of damage are far greater from things such as miswired pedestals than they are from true surges. From what I read on Progressive's website, its surge suppressors have "miswired pedestal indicators" rather than having the ability of preventing the power from a miswired pedestal from ever entering your RV. Yes, you pay a bit more for the EMS but IMHO it is worth it

I view traveling without a surge protector as the same as traveling without a spare tire. It just isn't too smart.

And the surge protector should always be the first thing plugged into the power post and the last thing unplugged. Always start with the breaker OFF and leave it that way when departing. Hot plugging and unplugging are both ill-advised! It is largely the reason for loose or burnt female contacts.

 

[docj]

Several years ago, at the RV site in Rockport TX that we own, we started having strange electrical problems. At the time we had the Surgeguard equivalent of the Progressive HW50C. Every once in a while our power would cut off for ~a minute and then come back on. To make a long story short this continued for a week or two and I finally decided to replace the Surgeguard with a Progressive, simply making the assumption that the Surgeguard had become defective. To my horror the problem continued only now the power would come back on after ~30 seconds.

Fortunately, the Progressive has the ability to display the "previous fault" and, sure enough each time the power came back on the previous fault registered as "Line 2 high voltage" which means that the measured voltage on Line 2 was above the prescribed limit (which I think is set at 127V). With this piece of information I then called our power company and their technician tightened every junction between my pedestal and the distribution transformer. Sure enough, that resolved the problem; it had been an "intermittent floating neutral" which was causing one of the legs of the split phase 240V circuit to show a "transitory" high voltage condition.

What was happening was that this high voltage was causing both the Surgeguard and the Progressive to shut down the power. The key difference was that the Surgeguard didn't have a "previous fault" indicator so it simply came back on after its reset time delay and we had no way of knowing what was wrong. The difference in the length of the reset times was why the power came back on after a different time interval with the two devices.

As the power company technician was packing up his gear he remarked that "only you RVers own equipment sensitive to notice this sort of thing."

That one experience was enough to make me a believe in the importance of an EMS. If the "intermittent" floating neutral had persisted for to the point where it was "on" more than it was off, serious damage could have occurred.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

We, too, have a Progressive Industries EMS HW50C and I strongly suggest that the OP consider one of the EMS devices made by Progressive and not just the smart surge suppressor. IMO the chances of damage are far greater from things such as miswired pedestals than they are from true surges. From what I read on Progressive's website, its surge suppressors have "miswired pedestal indicators" rather than having the ability of preventing the power from a miswired pedestal from ever entering your RV. Yes, you pay a bit more for the EMS but IMHO it is worth it.

A bit of caution when first setting up camp, specifically getting power to the RV.

Assure and start with the power post breaker OFF. Plug in the surge arrestor or EMS. Flip on the breaker and observe the LED's. If anything is abnormal, turn off the breaker and contact camp management.

If the LED's indicate all is good, then flip OFF the breaker and plug in the cord to the camper. Turn on the breaker. All should be good to go. It is a BAD practice to hotplug or unplug anything.

When finished camping, first flip the breaker to OFF, unplug the cord, unplug the surge protector and close the power post lid, leaving the breaker in the OFF position for the next folks.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

To the OP - YES, Always use electrical protection.

We use the 50A Hughes Power Watchdog EPO