surge protection

[marvinusa]

I'm just hooking up to the home 120v. The 1998 TowLite 18TL I have has a 30 amp plug and an adapter to plug in the house 120v cord. At present I am on a 15 amp breaker. Getting something done about that pretty soon. I need a surge protector. I don't want to hard wire one, just a plug in. Which one offers a good one for such a set up?

 

[JackandJanet]

Marvin, you really only need a 30 Amp supply if you are planning to run the trailer's Air Conditioner. I power my trailer's refrigerator on a 15 Amp circuit a day before we set out with no problems. I can also raise/lower the top and run the interior lights and fan since they all use DC power from the battery and the converter in the trailer doesn't have to supply much power to keep the battery charged when I use these items.

Of course, if you have other things running off this 15 Amp circuit, then the additional load of the trailer's refrigerator may be too much. Mine is a garage circuit that is not driving anything more than overhead LED lights and the garage door opener.

I can't answer your question about surge protectors, because I don't have one for the trailer. Others do, and I'm sure they'll be happy to recommend one.

- Jack

 

[marvinusa]

Company mostly staying in it just where it's at. Won't be moved. It has a 700 watt microwave, an A/C and 3 way refrigerator. Probably a TV soon. Is there a surge protector that has the plug in for the 120 cord, I couldn't tell much about them.

 

[RichR]

Search Amazon.com for "RV surge protector 30 amp surge guard" and you will find a good selection. It depends on how fancy you want to get with them and how much you want to spend.

 

[JackandJanet]

Makes sense now Marvin - with people in the trailer and living in Texas, you DO need the Air Conditioner. Forget everything I said earlier!

- Jack

 

[DeLana]

Marvin, I bought new and have used a Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X (30 amp) surge protector since I bought my Hi-Lo new in 2009. You can go to the Progressive Industries.net website and read about it as well as their 50 amp surge protector. They are not cheap but are guaranteed for life to the original purchaser--I know cause mine did go bad in 2016 (I had kept the original receipt) but they repaired and returned it quickly. They are sold on Amazon as well as other RV websites. Beach

 

[dward51]

Marvin,

If you are not planning on moving the trailer and basically are using it as a "guest cottage", you may not need a surge suppressor. Do you have a whole house system on your home's main entry service? Some places require that as part of the residential building code, and it's always optional.

The main reason people use surge suppressors and EMS systems on RV's is because the varying quality of electrical service at RV parks can very often be iffy, wired wrong, under voltage, over voltage, etc.... and any of those can smoke your electrical components in the trailer. At your home on known good power it 1) may not be necessary in the first place, and 2) if your home has a central or whole house surge suppression system, would be redundant.

The other thing to consider is if you don't have a whole house system, it's not much more to install one (it takes a licensed electrician as they have to wire in into the main entry panel and the power has to be cut at the street by the power company). It will then protect not only your "guest cottage" trailer, but all the appliances and other stuff in your home.

But again, at home on known good power, you may not ever need it (but I would put in the 30 amp RV style outlet so you can properly power the trailer in the heat of summer with the AC on. They could put one in along with the whole house protection suppressor, or that part can be a DIY if you are comfortable working on AC voltage circuits)

 

[Savage709]

if you want the best get the autoformer. It not only suppresses surges but boosts weak power so as to protect major appliances such as your air conditioner. They are not cheap but go the extra mile in all directions.

 

[JackandJanet]

if you want the best get the autoformer. It not only suppresses surges but boosts weak power so as to protect major appliances such as your air conditioner. They are not cheap but go the extra mile in all directions.

Savage, please don't take this wrong, but I'm having a hard time understanding how a surge protector can "boost weak power". Power in an electrical circuit is simply Volts x Amps. If the voltage is low, does it somehow increase the Amperage to compensate? Or if the Amperage supply is low, would it increase the voltage somehow? In either case, it seems to me that it's somehow manufacturing something out of thin air. And, what if both are low?

Now, if low voltage is left low with Amperage increased, the components are running in an "undervolt" condition. But if voltage is increased, then things are being subjected to an equally bad electrical power state.

Again, I'm not trying to shoot the messenger (you), and the Autoformer may well do what it claims. I'm going to have to look into it, but at the moment, it sounds a bit like "snake oil". I may well be wrong in my instant opinion here, and if so, I'll gladly post a retraction.

Edit: See the next post.

- Jack

 

[JackandJanet]

OK, I see what's going on now. The Autoformer is able to boost a low voltage input by up to 10% (or about 12 volts in an AC circuit). It must do this using a transformer circuit that trades some of the available Amperage in the line for this voltage. The actual "power" is not changed. It cannot "make" power.

So, it will prevent a "brownout" problem as long as the voltage is not too low and there is sufficient Amperage to support this process

It's probably NOT snake oil as I implied earlier.

Thanks for bringing this product to our attention.

- Jack