50 amp surge protector

[barbhalsell]

Got it installed yesterday, seems to be working as it should. Will have to wait til we can hook up to 50 amp service to be positive tho.

[Joel Weiss]

Got it installed yesterday, seems to be working as it should. Will have to wait til we can hook up to 50 amp service to be positive tho.

Even if you're connected via a dogbone adapter, you are feeding power down both legs of the 50A circuit.  Therefore, as far as the surge suppressor is concerned you are connected normally.  Therefore, there should be absolutely no difference when you connect to a 50A circuit.

[barbhalsell]

Well so far so good then! If all kinds of people can install these in just an hour (pshaw!), then we should have done OK.

[Jeff Watt]

Interesting discussion. Yesterday, at a park in Whitehorse, Yukon, it was 28c so a lot of units had their air on. My Aladin was showing voltage (30amp service) around 104 - 108 a lot of the time; could not safely run AC - I guess too far down the line .  In fact the surge guard kicked out once as voltage dropped below 102.

About how long (or is it always) does the Hugh's boost voltage? Today voltage is around 116-122 so far but the temp is rising again and we'll see what the voltage drops  to as units start firing up their ac's

Jeff

Ps. Met another beaver owner at this park with a 08 Contessa also on their way to Alaska.

Pss. Fuel is $1.33/L

[Gerald Farris]

Jeff,
The current model of the Hughes Autoformer has an operating range from 94 to 125 volts input. It has a sensing circuit that automatically boost the the output voltage by 10% when the input voltage is between 94 and 116. It will also boost the output voltage by 2% when the input voltage is between 117 and 125 volts. If the input voltage is below 94 or above 125 volts, it does nothing, and that is the reason that I installed the Surge Guard in line before it to safeguard against ultra low or high voltage.

There have been some changes in the Autoformer line over the years, but this model has been around for a long time. It is the same model that I purchased eight years ago, and it has performed flawlessly.

Gerald    

[Jeff Watt]

It sounds like something that may be on the to get list. Oddly today with similar temperatures, the park voltage has been running around 120 or so most of the day.

Thanks for the info Gerald. My wee brain is still trying to figure out how it boosts voltage - an amplifier of some sort?

Jeff

[Edward Buker]

Jeff.

For an autoformer envision a transformer winding around a conmmon core with some taps. No primary or secondary windings. At one end of the core you apply one leg of the 120v AC and for argument sake at the midpoint of the winding you apply the other leg. The entire core is magnetized and as the field does its thing it induces voltage in the rest of the windings on that common core. If we measure now from our end connections and not the midpoint we would have 240V. The autoformer taps at appropriate points steps up the voltage compensation that is appropriate. Doing this in an automated way is the trick.

A good example of how well an autoformer works is an ignition coil. The smaller segment winding using an end and a tap will see 12V and the end to end large portion of the winding will see an induce 20k volts. This is all from a single winding on a common iron transformer core. If you ever pulled a plug wire with an engine running you probably know how well an autoformer works...Hope this helps.

later Ed

[Richard Cooper]

Thanks for all the great help on this thread.

I've just now ordered online from Camping World the TRC34560 hard wired surge guard 50 amp.  Regular price was $330 before tax and shipping, but since I am a Good Sam member and they were having a sale this weekend I got it for $181 plus sales tax, but free shipping.  Nice deal --- better than Amazon.

I'm having it shipped to me in care of my rv service center.  What are the basic instructions of how I should have this installed and in what bay?  Does it need a special installation kit or can the service guys install with basic materials?

I have a 2001 Marquis 40JSP.

Now -- need to sell my Progressive Industries SSP50 Smart Surge which is practically new having used it once.

[Gerald Farris]

Richard,
I mounted the Surge Guard in my 2000 Marquis (very similar coach) on the ceiling of the basement, next to the transfer switch. The only parts that will be needed is a short (2 to 3 feet) piece of flexible 6/4 wire. It is a very easy installation and any competent technician can do it with no problems.

Gerald  

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

You may want to mount it on a vertical wall, so the indicator lights can be seen by opening the bay door without crawling inside.  

Larry

[barbhalsell]

We mounted ours in the cord reel bay, after the cordreel but before the transfer switch.

[Richard Cooper]

Re: Hardwired vs portable surge guards

I am having the Surge Guard model #TRC-34560 installed on my coach soon, but wonder about the "what if" it fails.  I found this message on another forum and it makes me wonder whether hardwiring will present a problem down the road for me in the event of a failure.

Title: Re: RV Line Voltage Regulators
Post by: Racklefratz on July 30, 2011

I'll offer you two reasons I prefer a portable surge protector.  1) hard-wiring one marries it to your RV; at trade-in time, you just pick up a portable one and take it along with your other stuff; with a hard-wired one, not so much, and 2) These things are pretty dependable, BUT....if one fails totally, and power can't pass through it, with a hard-wired one, you're going to have a problem getting power into your coach.  If it's a portable model, you simply unplug it and plug the coach directly into the pedestal.

Hook-up with a portable one is a trivially easy thing to do - just plug it in.  I don't worry much about theft.  Most people don't even notice it's there.

If I am out on a camping trip and my surge guard fails, is there an easy way to by-pass it?  Or am I SOL until I can get to a rv service center.  I am not handy with tools and installation.

[Richard Cooper]

The current model of the Hughes Autoformer has an operating range from 94 to 125 volts input. It has a sensing circuit that automatically boost the the output voltage by 10% when the input voltage is between 94 and 116. It will also boost the output voltage by 2% when the input voltage is between 117 and 125 volts. If the input voltage is below 94 or above 125 volts, it does nothing, and that is the reason that I installed the Surge Guard in line before it to safeguard against ultra low or high voltage.

There have been some changes in the Autoformer line over the years, but this model has been around for a long time. It is the same model that I purchased eight years ago, and it has performed flawlessly.

Gerald    

I found a post by someone on another forum about this type of device and would like your opinion of what this guy says.  See below:

The device you're referring to is called an "RV Voltage Regulator".  It operates the same way as other devices called "Autoformers".  This one "seamlessly switches between Boost Mode, which raises output voltage by 10% if incoming line voltage is between 95 Volts to 110 Volts, and Bypass Mode which passes input voltage directly to the output when incoming line voltage is above 110 Volts or below 95 Volts.  I would not connect such a device between shore power and my RV under any circumstances.

Why?  Coupla' reasons.  Look at what can happen: In a power brown-out, where campground voltage sags below 95 volts, the device will send that voltage straight into your rig.  If there's a campground power surge, that's the voltage your rig will see.  Do you want to have 85 volts inside your trailer with your appliances running?  How 'bout a 150 volt spike?  I don't.  But this device will do that.

Also, when campground power is delivering a voltage between 95-110 volts, the 10% voltage "boost" this device will provide will come at the expense of campground power available to all the other rigs connected to the same campground power.  Total power at any point in time is fixed; this device can't make its own power.

None of this has any appeal whatsoever to me, since there's real potential for serious damage to appliances from excessively low or high voltages which could be passed to the RV.  In my mind, the way to go is with one of the several surge protector devices available, which, when voltages become excessively low or high, simply disconnect the RV from shore power, and provide reset-delay protection for appliances in the RV.   Conceivably,  the "voltage regulator" could be used in conjunction with a surge protector, but the marginal advantage is minimal, IMO, and is unfriendly to others in the campground, since it robs them of power that would otherwise be available to them.  

[Gerald Farris]

Richard,
Your post about your concern that a failure in the Surge Guard would leave you without power is unfounded in my opinion. First, there is a bypass switch if you want to bypass the unit, and second, failures of the unit are so rare that they should not be a concern.

Next in regards to your post were you quoted the guy who said he would never have a Autoformer in his coach.  I agree that the unit that he was describing is not the one that I would pick.  However a Hughes Autoformer has a much better voltage boost profile than he was describing. He was also complaining that the autofotmer does not do things that it is not designed to do.  In short this guy does not know what he is talking about.

Gerald

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

I agree with Gerald. The guy does not know what he is taking about.  The use of an auto-transformer does not affect anyone upstream in the park.  It increases the voltage you use and reduces the current available to you.  Your power (voltage times current) does not change.  Read his post as an opinion, not a fact.

Larry