Surge- Circuit protector - 50 amp - is this new?

[plyonsMC9]

well, here I go again... 

On the subject of 50 amp surge / circuit protectors.  I hadn't seen anything commercially available for less than hundreds of dollars which protects the 50 amp circuits.  These excludes of course some of the very ingenious devices created & displayed by busnuts on this board in previous threads.   

Now, I came across this item @ Camping World.  Less than $100.  It looks promising.  What says the "committee" ? 

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/products/index.cfm?prodID=6221&cwid=701684&affiliateID=1818

Kind regards to all ,

Phil

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Phil,

It looks good but, maybe someone knows about the 20 to 40 jules? if it's enough..


Fully automatic adapter plugs directly between the power pedestal and your power cord. Identifies faulty park power plus offers 20 to 40 joules surge supression. Circuit analyzer checks for open ground, open neutral and correct polarity. Illuminated power status indicators. Weather-resistant.
Nick-

[Jeremy]

Hi Phil,

It looks good but, maybe someone knows about the 20 to 40 jules? if it's enough..

Nick-

1 joule is exactly 107 ergs.

1 joule is approximately equal to:

6.24150636309 ×1018 eV (electron-volts)
0.238845896628 cal (calorie) (small calories, lowercase c)
2.390 ×10−4 kilocalorie, Calorie (food energy, uppercase C)
9.47817120313 ×10 −4 BTU (British thermal unit)
0.737562149277 ft·lbf (foot-pound force)
23.7 ft·pdl (foot poundals)
2.7778 ×10−7 kilowatt-hour
2.7778 ×10−4 watt-hour
9.8692 ×10−3 litre-atmosphere
1 joule in the real world is approximately:

the energy required to lift a small apple (102 g) one meter against Earth's gravity.
the amount of energy, as heat, that a quiet person produces every hundredth of a second.
the energy required to heat one gram of dry, cool air by 1 degree Celsius.

And finally:

one hundreth of the energy a person can get by drinking a single 5 mm diameter droplet of beer.


None of the above is really very helpful, and I don't know whether a 40 joule electrical spike is big or small on a 110v circuit - in fact I  cannot immediately think of any good reason why the power output of a properly installed campground power pole should really be any less smooth than a regular domestic outlet.

Jeremy

[JackConrad]

      Not sure how it compares, but when I was still working we would defibrillate Patients at 50-360 Joules, depending on the Patients specific arrythmia. 360 Joules can easily stop a healthy heart and usually causes a major muscle contraction (Patients jerks/bounces on the stretcher).  Jack

[DrivingMissLazy]

The lightning protection is probably worthless, but the monitoring for correct wiring of the campground outlet is priceless!
Richard

[plyonsMC9]

Richard, I believe you are correct.  I looked at a small battery  backup from American Power Conversion.  750 VA / 480 Watt model.  Its surge protection is as follows:

Surge Protection and Filtering
Surge energy rating
480 Joules

So, maybe if someone hooked one too-many flashlight batteries to the bus it would be protected.    Or Else..   

[Hartley]

40 joules.....

Gee, Some genius added a couple of 15 cent MOV's and called it a surge protector...

Added to a $6.00 circuit tester with a couple of molded RV plugs....

What TRASH!

Real ones start at 600 joules and go way up from there if they are a REAL surge protector.
6,000 joules now that's more like it....

Anyone who wastes their money on that junk needs help......

[gus]

I saw on of these things advertised that even said it would maintain the correct power in the event of low voltage at the RV hookup??

Now that I would like to see, this thing can produce power??

[oldmansax]

Phil

Whether the device is a good buy depends on your requirements and criteria. Surge protection is a matter of degrees. A device that would do very well for minor incidents would not be capable of handling a lightning strike. At the same time, something that would handle a strike would be way more expensive than one designed for small problems. The one you are looking at would not handle a very large problem; but, if you are looking for a compact circuit tester designed for a specific job, it will fill the bill.

I would disagree with Dr. Dave concerning value. I am planning to buy one of the 50 amp devices myself. I figure it would take me at least 3 hours to find and obtain parts, and build a similar device. I bill my customers between $95 and $145 per hour, depending what I am doing. That puts the cost for me to build one of these things between $285 and $435. So, by buying from Camping World, I am saving at least $185, AND, the device I make may not look as good as the one I buy.

Your costs and experiences may vary but it looks like a win/win situation for me.

[boogiethecat]

I tend to agree with Dr.Dave
Expensive junk.
The surge protector inside it is nothing more than a few cents worth of fairly usless MOV's- just hype to beef up salesmanship.
The rest of it is, as DR Dave says, nothing more than a couple plugs to add more failure points to your system, and a $6 circuit tester.
Not only wouldn't I buy one, I wouldn't make one either. Ifyou feel the need, save your money and build a tester into your bus's power panel and just don't flip the main breaker unless the lights are right.  No muss no fuss.  And don't worry about the"surge protection" this thing supposedly provides... much more than what's inside this device is already built into every electronic doodah you own that may be sensitive, and if lightning hits, it's all toast no matter what anyway.

My vote: Save your money for more useful things....
or...
spend it and enjoy useless things...

[Hartley]

Now with all of that said,

I looked at the ones that Camping world is offereing for $100 or less.

The concept of the test finction to see if the 50 amp and or 30 amp service is wired correctly
with a simple plug in device is a good idea especially for those people who don't want to fiddle
with a meter and probes and need a full understaning of how things "should" be wired.

This gadget although wouldn't pass the test as a true surge protector might work well enough
as a quick test device. I would only use it to test the plug before I plugged my coach into the pole.

I would not however want to leave it in the circuit all the time under load. Too many extra contact
points makes for more potential failures under load. Those bronze springy fingers would eventually get
hot and cause more resistance drop at the plug. You just have to know that to make a back to back
50 amp plug and socket that some comprimises in quality were made to keep the price down.

We all at some time have probably had a cheap or expensive molded 30 or 50 amp cable/plug start
to melt down and do bad things. All in the name of resistance and cheap manufacturing techniques.

Now.. The way I look at electrical connections is this; The fewer mechanical connections in a line that
is intended to carry a respectable current load is always better.

Enjoy......

[NJT 5573]

Boogie, I like the build it in using lites idea. So, tell me how to do it!

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

I'm wondering if the Hughes Autoformer is worth the investment?

Model #VC-50 
The VC-50 is a dual transformer controller for those RVs with a 50 Amp power requirement. The VC-50 has the same outstanding control and surge features found in the VC-30.

FEATURES
· 50 Amp / 12,000 Watt capacity
· Fully automatic boost up to 12%
· Boost indicator lamps for each circuit (2)
· Spike and surge protection to 3,580 Joules
· Weatherproof
· U.L. listed transformer
· Dimensions: 9 " W x 5" D x 12" H
· Weight: 40 lbs.
· Two year limited warranty
· Made in U.S.A.

www.rvperformanceproducts.com

Nick-

[boogiethecat]

   Ebay Item number: 320098416836    $8 total with shipping, just build one in to your panel...wire it up...

[plyonsMC9]

I'm thinking you would have to build it into your panel, or lock it in your bus, else this would be a $368 that walked away quickly.   

Kind Regards, Phil