surge suppressors

[cpo223]

I've been asked if I was going to put a surge suppressor on my 5th wheel by several people. I'm not sure what type you can use,can you use a house surge suppressor of at least equal to rv's amperage,hard wired in?I live in the lighting capitol of the US(central Fl),Are they a good idea?The RV type are very expensive,are the that much better?Any thoughts? Thank's PCoakley

 

[bombero]

Good question. When we first started RVing we were hooked up at a park and experience a lightning strike. It fried our TV. I got the cheap surge protectors and put them on all the appliances. So far so good. We have friend that are full timers that have had several electrical problems and have purchased the expensive protector that you plug into your main power feed. I guess you need to make a decision??

 

[cpo223]

I agree that you have to make a decision,but it should be based on knowledge & facts,not through rv industry advertising. I guess I need to talk some residential electricians regarding surge suppressors. Thank's PCoakley

 

[Peter Campbell]

Do a search untder " transient voltage surge suppressors ". This will give you lots of info. Ones that go into the distribution panel and are hardwired to the main lug/busswork are only around 50$. The TVSS will "clamp" transients from the two live leads relative to the nuetral lead. The installation is simple. Buy one that is the same brand as the panel you are using/ or mount one in a panel knockout- the punch out holes. If the panel is roomy enough they even have brackets to keep the thing inside the panel. The 2 black goes on each of the live leads, the white to the nuetral. If you only have 115V just wire nut the unused wire or hook it to the same feed. Keep the wires short as possible. Don't worry about the samller guage (#12)than the incoming feedline, these only handle currents for thousanthes of a second. Code allows the smaller guage for this specific application.

 

[NETim]

I have a 30A inline unit I bought from Camping World. There really isn't enough room inside my Lance for a hard wired unit. Try rv.net and irv2 for more info. Search their forums. You'll find a lot of info on surge supressors and electrical matters there.



Good luck,



Tim

 

[Dean Upson]

Mine was hardwired into the distribution panel at the factory. So far, so good .



Dean