Surge Protection

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Guy's,

I'm working on an upgrade job for a Monoco SS customer. We are upgrading him to a 50amp service, panel, transfer switch,

power cord, and related items. We are making room for 3 penguins, KVH R6dx HD sat dome, and some hi end entertainment componets.

Question, I want to protect him with a fixed surge unit and not the plug in type, Will this device be strong enough?

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=6931&section=24793

Do any of our members know of this unit? I never installed one and I think it would be a good idea if it would work.

Thanks
Nick-

[dolson]

I have used that model or at least a similar one from Leviton on residential panels but not in a RV. Seems like grounding may be a problem depending on whether you were on shore power or not.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

I was thinking that..

I'm thinking that it would only come into play on shore power. If so, then it would work having the nutral but no ground.

Th ground would just pass through but, is that still protecting the equipment?

Nick-

[dolson]

I think as long as it had a path to earth ground that it would be working, but if it were ever connected to chassis ground when you weren't on shore power and the bus took a surge or lightning strike that things would be tost.  I am not certain of any of this though.

[Hartley]

Generally home/business type surge protectors start clamping at 6,000 volts.
They have been shown as useless in most places and a waste of money.
They are generally only good for lightning prone areas and not all that good.
If you get hit you get hit BIG... Mostly they are a scam on the consumer.

I would seek out a better surge protector with a much lower clamp voltage
if you are going to use it in an RV environment. Ones made for computer applications
can be tuned for lower spikes and work better for RV use.

Ones that use MOV's are way better than ones that use the old spark gap method
which cuts over at 6,000 volts..

And Yes, They all are 3-wire and require a true ground leg to be hooked up.

A line to line protector won't save your life or equipment...
They must have a drain path to ground to work.

Dave....

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your input!

Can you point me in a direction for obtaining such a device?

Thanks
Nick-

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Guy's,

Our BBS was acting up when Dr Dave was trying to post this for me.

Thanks Dave!

Here is the link to the surge protectors for use in RV situations,
This page is for the ones that you can hard wire into your existing
panels. These start acting when the voltage reaches 130 volts.

This makes them ideal for helping protect your electronics even from
generator errors where a runaway voltage situation is possible.
( Onan's will spike at 185 volts if the regulator goes bad! )

http://www.zapfreerv.com/50amp_products.htm#LS23050RHW


Dave....