Yikes, 50 amp Surge Protectors!

[TNFSolitude]

We found with our old TT that with 30 amp we couldn't do AC and the microwave oven at the same time, so be careful there. Like D350M mentioned, campground electricity can be iffy so be sure to use the surge protection where ever you go, it's not just about lightning strikes.

[Brent M]

Hi Montana,

We have some really expert electrical advice on this forum.
None of these guys would put their surge protector inside their RV.
http://www.mygrandrv.com/for...urge+protector
I trust these guys.

Rob

I'd like to revisit the advice against an inside EMS. I've spoken with Progressive Industries and extensively read up on this issue. I did so because I'd already installed mine and this thread, and the other EMS thread, has had me concerned on whether or not I made the right choice. In this article (http://www.aptsurge.com/tvss-safety-history.aspx), it states, "The most common overvoltages are extremely short duration and termed ‘transient overvoltages,' lasting millionths of a second. These are generally associated with lightning, circuit switching, cycling, etc. (The collective technical community is now embracing the term ‘surge’, but ‘transient overvoltage’ is probably more descriptive terminology. Note that layman understanding of ‘power surge’ may be far different than technical intent, thus causing semantics challenges.) During a transient overvoltage, a surge protector ‘activates’ and redirects harmful surge energy to neutral or ground, then resets itself automatically."

From my own experience in getting hit from lightening "jumping" to the house and knocking me on my butt when I was working with a power tool, I cannot envision an RV getting hit by the full force of a strike. It will jump to a line somewhere and follow to the EMS in the form of a spike that would have to also by-pass the pedestal breaker. At the EMS, it will redirect to ground. Surge protectors are efficient at this. The article continues, "Keep in mind that Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) are purposely placed in harm’s way and are intended to sacrifice themselves to protect the more valuable load. There are relatively rare abnormal situations where overvoltages are not transient-related, but can last portions of a second, seconds or longer. Surge protectors may ‘activate’ and chase these overvoltages in an attempt to protect the load. Unfortunately, Surge Protective Devices were intended for short duration surges, not ‘long-term’ or sustained overvoltages. Surge protectors attempting to control ‘long-duration’ overvoltages tend to overheat. Therein lays the safety issues. If the surge protector overheats slowly, it might eventually overheat and smolder or catch fire. If that process is accelerated dramatically, the surge protector might explode. It is now common for Surge Protective Devices to include automatic overtemperature and overcurrent safety disconnectors."

The EMS's we're talking about are not just "surge protectors" according to Progressive Industries, but an Electrical Management System that will only "energize and connect" current if everything is correct. The circuit board is designed to prevent "long duration" overvoltages that may be worrying some here that could lead to explosion. I've been talking to Dave and he's going to read into the Mike Holt forum mentioned and get back with me. I'll add it here IF he actually does call back. In the meantime, there is nothing on the Internet about exploding RV surge protectors that I could find and Dave has assured me that the ONLY concern about these is that folks need to tighten connections about 6 months down the road to prevent arcing. He said this is good advice with all electrical 120/12v connections. He said he has not ever had an instance of explosion. I've also looked extensively into the Mike Holt threads and don't find current relevance to our application especially if we understand that the EMS will not energize/connect under less than ideal situations such as high & Low Voltage (Low <104, High 132>), lost/open neutral, unusual frequencies, open ground, and polarity problems.

I am certainly willing to read any articles related to safety in this matter, so please guys, if you have an opposing view, can you provide your sources (relevant sources that are current)? People are making decisions based on our inputs and I certainly don't mind discussing further. I am now, however, content with the inside EMS after all of this.

Respectfully,
Brent

[RamGunner]

Like I said, we are installing ours internally. I'm not worried about it exploding under anything less than the unlikely event of a direct strike, and in that situation, nothing is going to help. For what this product will do, I think having it inside is well worth it from both convenience and security perspectives.