Surge protectors

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Fred762

We had our cord snag the igniter wire of our WH while boondocking in VT in Aug... the cord looped back ove the WH and popped off the ignitere wire. We could not find why the WH wd not work til later, after we got home grrrrrrrrr

That's been a big, and well documented, problem with the way the shore power cords are installed in Casitas. Whenever someone suddenly and mysteriously can't get the water heater to work, that's one of the first things I recommend that they check. A lot of frustrated owners have just about torn their water heaters down to "parade rest" and not found anything wrong...that is, until they check that plug on top of the water heater has been pulled out. Removing the shore power cord removes the problem.

[Fred762]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

That's been a big, and well documented, problem with the way the shore power cords are installed in Casitas. Whenever someone suddenly and mysteriously can't get the water heater to work, that's one of the first things I recommend that they check. A lot of frustrated owners have just about torn their water heaters down to "parade rest" and not found anything wrong...that is, until they check that plug on top of the water heater has been pulled out. Removing the shore power cord removes the problem.

Yup the tech at our local RV fixit shoppe knew the first thing to check..fixed it in 3 minutes...the jam fitting connector of the igniter wire was not all the way off, just knocked loose enuf to NOT start the WH on propane. I was not really totally surprised to get a look into that area..it backs up to the rear of the power regulator box as well. Fer shuuure we are NOW reeel careful putting away that D%%ned heavy power cord. I stlll may install a marine twist lok fitting on the side of the camper and get a detachable 30 amp cord..like I used 30 YEARS ago on my boats. ..whod a thunkit??

[Casita Greg]

I too have owned many boats over the years, but now I only have my "land yacht." For well over 50 years the boat manufacturers have installed removable shore power cords with the twist-lock ends. Why the RV and trailer makers haven't caught on by now is anyone's guess.

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

I too have owned many boats over the years, but now I only have my "land yacht." For well over 50 years the boat manufacturers have installed removable shore power cords with the twist-lock ends. Why the RV and trailer makers haven't caught on by now is anyone's guess.

Maybe because they are not boats?

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

I too have owned many boats over the years, but now I only have my "land yacht." For well over 50 years the boat manufacturers have installed removable shore power cords with the twist-lock ends. Why the RV and trailer makers haven't caught on by now is anyone's guess.

No need to guess... in fact, no need to explain it with more than one character:

$

Compare the cost of a removable twist-lock connector with the cost of hard wiring the cord to the trailer and using a door that probably cost them fifty cents and its clear. This was the first mod I did when I got my Scamp.. well worth the cost and the better camper manufactures at least offer it as an option.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

I too have owned many boats over the years, but now I only have my "land yacht." For well over 50 years the boat manufacturers have installed removable shore power cords with the twist-lock ends. Why the RV and trailer makers haven't caught on by now is anyone's guess.

many RVs and trailers use removable power cords, including my Escape.

[peterh]

I'm going to offer an alternative way to get around power surges.

My wife and I found don't travel with a lot of devices that run on 120V AC power. The things that do are (basically) a microwave, electric blanket, and battery charger. Of those only the microwave would likely suffer from a brownout or power surge on the line. That's why, in our Surfside refit, everything else runs of 12V DC power from a 2Amp auto-charger, solar panels and a battery.

This approach works for us because we don't generally use our laptop computers while travelling, our trailer has LED lights for everything (so, not much power used for lighting), there are USB chargers in multiple places around the trailer, and we only use the microwave and elecric blanket when we have hookups.

YMMV, but this works for us. --P

[MyronL]

I'm with Glenn on the pull-out factory 30 amp cord. No mud or jamming ever. I just don't like the cheapo factory installed port. I recently replaced mine because them "fingers" got busted (my bad) with the same type.

No choices... have searched for upscale and never found one. Except, of course, for them marine quality hatches that require attaching the line on the outside of the trailer.

[Noel Gilbrough]

I am going simple with my 1988 Burro. I just rewired it with a 40 am pannel and use a plug in serge protector for all of my fancy electronics, iphone, ipad, laptop charging.
NOel

[kate raslavsky]

We are in our second Casita in 12 years, having changed models about 3 1/2 years ago. We have always used a portable surge protector, and likewise have never had one stolen. I always thought that this adds some protection to the Parallax charger/converter too, not just to plugged in devices. The one we bought for this trailer was only about $70, which we consider a small price to pay for the added peace of mind.

[Fred762]

Originally Posted by kate raslavsky

We are in our second Casita in 12 years, having changed models about 3 1/2 years ago. We have always used a portable surge protector, and likewise have never had one stolen. I always thought that this adds some protection to the Parallax charger/converter too, not just to plugged in devices. The one we bought for this trailer was only about $70, which we consider a small price to pay for the added peace of mind.

We tie our Camco 'dog bone' circuit-tester/surge-protector to the power stanchions by wrapping a 4' plastic coated 1/4" steel braided cable thru the handles and tightly aound the stanchion and secure it with a beefy master pad lock. Then drop a black bag over the whole thing to keep out water and most prying eyes. The red plastic cable covering is easy to spot from most campground roads and I figger most casual thieves will bypass ours bks it IS locked. For the same reason we use a yellow, ball-type trailer tongue lock and a master hasp lock..easy to see and probably not worth the noise it wd make for a thief to mess with it.

[Casita Greg]

"For the same reason we use a yellow, ball-type trailer tongue lock and a master hasp lock..easy to see and probably not worth the noise it would make for a thief to mess with it."

A bit of a false sense of security there Fred. Unless you also wrap your safety chains around your frame several times and secure them with a lock too. Many thieves need to only bring a nut and bolt, to marry the links of your safety chains together and then drape them over their hitch ball to tow away your trailer. Just that quickly too.

[Jon Vermilye]

So far (Day 77) on this trip my Progressive EMS has shut down the trailer 3 times, twice when running the AC and the input voltage dropped below 105V, a level that may cause overheating of the AC compressor, and once because the site had an open ground. While not absolutely necessary, if you visit lots of campgrounds, you are likely to run into a few problems with power pedestals. By the way, the open ground was at a "resort".

I have a built in EMS, and detachable power cord and have been pleased with both...

[Lucky Lindy]

Does anyone know if there is a surge protector for 20 amp rigs? I have an older 77 scamp and would like to have my rig protected.

[John in Santa Cruz]

looking around, I'm not seeing anything made explicitly for 20A circuits. so your power cord is a NEMA 5-20p, which looks like a regular household plug but has one of the prongs rotated 90 degrees?



any 30A surge protector would work fine at 20A, except the plugs are wrong if its an external one.

I would probably get the 30A 'internal' model and hard wire that between your power cord and your power center.

[Steve L.]

Originally Posted by Noel Gilbrough

I am going simple with my 1988 Burro. I just rewired it with a 40 am pannel and use a plug in serge protector for all of my fancy electronics, iphone, ipad, laptop charging.
NOel

I don't know what this means. I've never heard of 40 amp service but I can find 40 amp panels (2 space, 4 circuit) but I don't know if such a panel is plugged into 15 amp or 30 amp service. I'm guessing 15 amp service as I don't expect a heavy electrical load from an older trailer.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by bobblangley

Being somewhat new to RV'ing, I was just watching a video laying out the first 15 things to do after buying an RV or trailer. The video stressed the absolute importance of using a surge protector when hooked up to shore power. I don't recall seeing that done very often so I am wondering -

How many folks on this forum use a surge protector?

Are you hooking up to 20 amp, 30 amp or ?? circuits?

Is a surge protector as necessary on an older (1994) trailer compared to a newer one that might have more extensive electronic components?

If you use a surge protector, can you provide a recommendation that is effective in terms of both function and cost?

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

Our trailer is 15 amps so we got a box from Lee |Valley that will holds a high end house unit. The trailer cord goes into the weather tight box, the outside cord goes in and they connect to the surge protector. Cost of the setup was modest.

We had a costly bill due to a surge, damaged the new furnace; it also fried the 110 fuse for the 1978 3 way fridge; actually melted the fuse holder. but now we can be happy we have protection