Surge Protectors?

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

I have read more than once that many campground electrics have much to be desired and that the use of 30 amp surge protectors is strongly recommended.
I have to ask, are camp ground electrics really that bad? Are surge protectors widely used by other egg owners? Having always camped off grid with my pop-up, surge protectors are not part of my radar. So please tell me, should I invest in one of these or is this overkill?

[Frederick L. Simson]

I have a 34 year old trailer, and its electricity using appliances are manually operated, having no circuit board or computer processor control. I am not that concerned with dirty power. I do not use a surge protector.

New refrigerators (and water heaters?) have circuit boards that are more fragile under dirty power conditions.

[cpaharley2008]

If you get one of those circuit testers for wiring you can get by with a surge/spike protector. with LilSnoozy you will not suffer from brown out damage like the units with built in ceiling a/c. One of these with the circuit tester is all you may need.
Technology Research Corp - Portable 30 amp GFCI Surge Guard with Shock Shield - 44740-004-012 - Surge Protectors - Camping World

[honda03842]

I've had a motorhome with multiple controller boards, multiple TVs, computers, computer printers, and so on. We camped in it for 8 years averaging 7 months on the road and never had anything damaged, My view is thata surge protector adds a safety factor but is unnecessary.

In an additional four years of trailering, though the fridge and hot water heater do not have controller boards, there has never been any damage caused to computers, TV, wireless sytem,....

My experience....


My view is it's a nice extra but not worthy of an investment by me.

[Ed Harris]

For under $100.00 why wouldn't you get and use surge protection?
I promise if you end up needing one it will cost you more.
Even one single incident.
I guess it is like insurance but you only have to pay the premium after the protector dies while saving your other stuff.

[honda03842]

If I buy a surge surpressor (insurance), realizing this is Mayan 2012, I'll have to cancel either my meteor insurance or my gamma ray burst insurance.... just kidding.

One of my concerns is that in some measure new users become overwhelmed by the need for too large tow vehicles, surge suppressors, reverse osmosis filters and so on ... when the truth is that taking a little trailer to the road is so darn easy.

In my simple mind everything has a cost benefit ratio, it's sort of like should I have a large deductible or not.

Simply how much am I willing to pay to protect something that hasn't failed once in 12 years.

To put things in perspective, I never buy the extra insurance when I buy a piece of electronics.....

It's me.

[Ed Harris]

I never buy insurance or an extended warranty either and I sell electronics.

I also service them though and see the ill effects of bad power every day.

I am just not willing to take a chance,especially when I sleep inside the Egg and the price is inexpensive peace of mind to me considering some of the things I have seen from bad voltage spikes.

Also my Trailer can be like a rolling electronics showroom,your mileage may vary!

Its me!

[cpaharley2008]

Or it could be an age thing. As I mature (get older) I do not want or wish to worry about things. I used to change my own oil, now I take the car to my dealer. I never bought extended warranties, now I find that for some extra $$ I can get piece of mind. The $$ certainly is not paying me interest and I'm not saving for tomorrow, as tomorrow has arrived. So while living in tomorrow I have piece of mind, contentment in a sort of way.

[Bob Miller]

RE: Surge Suppressors....
Cheapest insurance I have found is to never use the 15/20 amp outlets, always use the 30 amp outlet, with your own adaptor if necessary. The smaller outlets are often worn and/or damaged and a loose connection is usually more apt to create low voltage conditions and spikes. I also always use my polarity tester right at the post before connecting. In over 30 years I've yet to have a problem, but I have elected to not use park power outlets a few times.

[cpaharley2008]

All the cg outlets are subject to surges/spikes by lightning or power failures, 15/20/30/50 amps. So only using the 30 amp does not prevent lightning spikes or power surges. Only by not connecting are you protected. A good argument for solar.

[Bob Miller]

RE: Good Points
My protection during lightning storms is to just pull out the plug and run on bettery.
Again, IMHO, loose shore plug connections are a greater source of problems.

[cpaharley2008]

I'd rather not be fooling with electrical outlets during lighting storms, the protector is there to protect you, just like your in house computer protection. So I leave everything plugged in and make sure my insurance is in effect

[gmw photos]

On the trip I am on right now, I have had the TRC surge supressor trip on three seperate occasions. Once during a local thunderstorm, and twice at the last CG I stayed at. The CG where I was at last, was an older place. The power pedestal had screw in fuses it was so old. In the morning time, I would see 132V ( I have a plug in voltmeter that stays in a outlet all the time ), and then in the afternoon when a lot of folks in camp were running air conditioners, I would sometimes see voltage drop to 110 or so. I believe the two times it tripped there was once for overvoltage and once for brownout.
Now then, I'm not prepared to say that any damage would have occured had it not tripped. But I am like several others on here that have said, I'd rather have that extra bit of insurance that may protect some of the sensitive electronics on board. As stated, if it saves me just one time, then it was worth the couple hundred bucks spent.

Unrelated.....not FG related ....Jim ( cpaharley ) I had posted you a question about your Lance in another thread......does it have aluminum studs/rafters like a funfinder ? Thanks, george
My apologies to the FG folks !

[honda03842]

GMW Photos,

Did all, no make that any, of you're neighbors in that campground where you had three surpresor events have to replace their electronic equipment?

The reality is that practically everything is tolerant of line variations. The power line frequently loses a whole cycle, yet the world happily marches on.

Practically everything in a trailer except the AC and microwave are buffered by a DC power supply, 12 volt battery, and/or 12 volt converter that do add a level of protection.

Can a lightening strike take you out? Certainly but extremely rarely.

[gmw photos]

Norm,
....and that is why I added that I was not prepared to say that anything would have been fried even if I would not have had the suppresor in the line. It's "insurance".....and we all have different levels of tolerance for risk.
I'm certainly not saying I'm right and you're wrong, but for instance, you are more of a risk taker than I am in your choice of TV and TT. Like I say, we all look at risk and it's management differently.

Low voltage can be very damaging on air condioner units, so that is a major part of why I chose the surge protector I did. I think the OP has now seen a pretty good variety of well thought out responses, and hopefully that will help him decide on spending the money or not.

[honda03842]

George,

I agree with you. Insurance is meant to protect against failure. I do understand that some people use it more than others.

Certainly fine with me. I was simply trying to let the poster know there's another view since mostly surpressor users would respond.

Being continually on the road the cost of our adventure is everyday and the choice of tow vehicle and RV is becoming even more important, if not a deciding factor, in our ability to travel.

This year we continually meet people, though they own RVs and many are full timers, have become 'stationary' RV owners because operating costs have become too high.

One reason I'm now considering a small diesel as a tow vehicle. One of my missions is to let people know possibilities for reducing costs.

Next year it is our goal to take a further step in that direction.

Safe travels

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Thank you for the varied opinions as this site is almost certain to attain.
I chose to order a surge protector as I tend to keep my major purchases for long periods of time. My last pop-up camper for 31 years and we have 5 vehicles with the newest being 11 years old and the oldest we bought 38 years ago. I will probably have this trailer for the rest of my "useful" life, so I figured I may as well buy one.
I guess my risk tolerance is diminishing as I age.

[ScampBum]

One thing I found at a local hardware store is an in-line GFI unit that I use between the campground electric box and the Scamp.The cord from the box goes in to a Rubbermaid tote box,then hooked to the GFI,then the cord goes out to the Scamp.That way,everything should be waterproofed.I'll get the brand name of the GFI unit.I also use the tote box for all my electric cords,30 to 15 amp adapters,etc.I call it the "substation".