2nd Question on surge guard

[outofhere]

Thanks for all of your answers, but I have a second question concerning what type of protection. Most of you commented on the brand from Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C But I am curious about the one that is featured at camping world the "SURGE GUARD"

[Donedroolin]

I was curious to know about the joules rating. Saw three at campers world 510 joule ,2000 something and 3000 something joules. What size do you really need at a campground. Also stated big price difference.

[Doug]

Not familiar with them but I see they carry them on
http://tweetys.com/surge-guard-surge-protectors.aspx

tweetys is the vendor that supports this forum. May want to give them a call. They seem very knowledgeable on the items they carry.

Best regards,
Doug

[clubhouse]

I use the SurgeGuard portable 30A EMS (Model 34730). No issues, works as advertised. I recall the story on the forums is that progressive has stellar customer service and are fixable if they take a big current hit, where Surge Guard isn't fixable. With a big current hit, it will save your trailer but the device will be done.

[rbrumfield]

Originally Posted by Donedroolin

I was curious to know about the joules rating. Saw three at campers world 510 joule ,2000 something and 3000 something joules. What size do you really need at a campground. Also stated big price difference.

The higher the joules rating the more protection. My thoughts about how much is...the most that I can afford. For years I never had any surge protection until I bought a PI surge protector just because it was on sale. It took a hit in Texas last year so I bought a full EMS this year. YMMV

[Jayco24T]

We are fairly new to camping on our own and we do not have a surge protector yet. On our trip out west we ran into a situation where they only had 50 amp service, our camper only requires 30 amp service. We used an adapter they loaned us and got away without any problems. So I guess my question is should I buy a 30 amp surge or the 50 amp surge protector

Thank you

[David472]

Originally Posted by outofhere

Thanks for all of your answers, but I have a second question concerning what type of protection. Most of you commented on the brand from Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C But I am curious about the one that is featured at camping world the "SURGE GUARD"

From a features stand point, the Progressive Industries EMS guards against changes in Frequency of the supplied AC voltage. This comes in handy if you plug your RV into a portable generator. If you always use the CG pedistal, you don't really need this. From the literature, there seems to be a difference in the two products for Open Ground protection (otherwise know as GFI). The PI says they have it, and Surge Guard makes no mention of it, other than a warning light for that condition. Also, the Surge Guard advertizes more Joules of surge dissipating capacity for their recent new products. Other than these differences, they offer the same protection.

[David472]

Originally Posted by Donedroolin

I was curious to know about the joules rating. Saw three at campers world 510 joule ,2000 something and 3000 something joules. What size do you really need at a campground. Also stated big price difference.

When a surge happens, the surge protector clamps the excess voltage by conducting heavily to ground. When doing so, it will dissipate a portion of the energy inside itself. The joules rating is how much energy it can dissipate inside itself. Ideally, most of the energy is conducted to ground, and only a small portion would be dissipated within the protector. The quality of the protector will determine this, and there is no published info I know of to find out this factor for the PI or Surge Guard products. In more basic terms, a rating of 1050 would be the minimum I would want to have for the main RV power cable.

[Seann45]

Nothing less than this one.....
http://tweetys.com/portable-surge-gu...---30-amp.aspx

[outofhere]

Thanks again to all I am going to pick one up soon probably the 30amp form progressive ind. Seems to be the best.

[westom]

Originally Posted by outofhere

Thanks for all of your answers, but I have a second question concerning what type of protection. Most of you commented on the brand from Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C But I am curious about the one that is featured at camping world the "SURGE GUARD"

'Surge protector' defines devices that address completely different anomalies. For example, the Progressive is a voltage monitor. A minor but too large voltage shift means power must disconnect. To protect motorized appliances.

A Belkin adjacent to appliances must somehow stop or absorb a sharp transient. How much energy will it absorb? Joules defines that.

A third and completely different device, also called a protector, must be located as close to earth ground as possible. IOW a distance to a pedestal must be significantly shorter than the distance to RV appliances. Essential for protecting from surges that typically do damage is what does actual protection - earth ground.

Campgrounds often suffer from minor voltage variations that are mostly problematic to motorized appliances (ie refrigerator or air conditioner). An earthed protector (a completely different device) is for transients that may create thousands of volts. A minimally sized protector is at least 50,000 amps. Then hundreds of thousands of joules in a typically destructive surges are absorbed harmlessly outside in earth. Energy that does not approach or enter an RV means nobody even knew that type of surge existed.

A Belkin, with near zero (thousand) joules, only claims to protect from transients that typically cause no damage.

Each is called a surge protector. Each for completely different anomalies. Surge protector is a generic name that confuses consumers who ignore important spec numbers. 50,000 amps means it does something completely different from the other device rated at 104 and 132 volts. A protector that absorbs thousands of joules does near zero protection.