Surge protector thoughts...

[apr67]

Originally Posted by Thor-Machine

I installed Surge-Guard's 30 amp model along with their remote monitor.
I cut the 120v main feed between the transfer switch and the main circuit breaker box figuring I'd have protection from shore power & generator.
The install was fairly straight forward but there is a couple of annoying quirks that I still have not gotten used to.


First, the unit has a 20 second delay from the time you apply power until the time it turns on. Then, it has another 127 second delay while it goes through some kind of analysis before actually turning on power to the coach.

On the built in units, I don't know about the plug in ones, you can change that delay if your air conditioner has a lock out already to (I think) 20 seconds. Its done to protect your air conditioner from trying to start when the pressure is high because it just was running and shut off.

[groundrat1963]

Just got off the phone with the Thor service rep. It seems our house batteries are not charging. When plugged into SP all charging lights are on. Service tech says that batteries are charging. But when we are not plugged in it reads 1 light (empty). She did ask if we are using an external surge protector and I said yes. She was saying that that was unnecessary because the coach has a built in surge protector and that having two protectors may interfere with charging the house batteries. All the proper switches are turned on. The batteries are about 2 years old. I will bring them into Walmart to have them tested next.

We are so new to this RV life and we are discovering all kinds of things that can go wrong. HA

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by groundrat1963

Just got off the phone with the Thor service rep. It seems our house batteries are not charging. When plugged into SP all charging lights are on. Service tech says that batteries are charging. But when we are not plugged in it reads 1 light (empty). She did ask if we are using an external surge protector and I said yes. She was saying that that was unnecessary because the coach has a built in surge protector and that having two protectors may interfere with charging the house batteries. All the proper switches are turned on. The batteries are about 2 years old. I will bring them into Walmart to have them tested next.

We are so new to this RV life and we are discovering all kinds of things that can go wrong. HA

1 - I doubt your RV has a built-in surge protector. Some of the newer coaches have a surge protector built in to the ATS, but probably not a 2011 model.

2 - Two or 3 hundred surge protectors will not interfere with you converter/charger getting 120 VAC unless there is another fault. In fact, the fact that you have all battery status lights lit when plugged into SP shows the converter/charger is putting out charging voltage.

3 - As you may have surmised, the battery status lights are nothing more than a simple voltmeter. They will always have all lights lit when plugged into SP or running the generator. They only show the status of your battery voltage when not plugged into SP.

4 - I assume since you get one light with SP unplugged that your interior lights also work? The one light says that your house battery bank voltage is very low. You need to check the water level in your house batteries and then plug into SP for at least a day to see if they will come back to life.

5 - I think you know this but the USE/STORE switch has to be in USE when plugged into SP for the converter/charger to charge your batteries.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by groundrat1963

Just got off the phone with the Thor service rep. It seems our house batteries are not charging. When plugged into SP all charging lights are on. Service tech says that batteries are charging. But when we are not plugged in it reads 1 light (empty). She did ask if we are using an external surge protector and I said yes. She was saying that that was unnecessary because the coach has a built in surge protector and that having two protectors may interfere with charging the house batteries. All the proper switches are turned on. The batteries are about 2 years old. I will bring them into Walmart to have them tested next.

We are so new to this RV life and we are discovering all kinds of things that can go wrong. HA

Call me a skeptic, if you wish, but I seriously doubt any 31 ft coach out of Thor MC plant 750 has any sort of transfer switch with a surge suppressor. A plain 50 amp transfer switch is about $150, but one with surge protection is $850. My Thor MC installed transfer switch does not have surge suppression. I installed a Progressive HW-50 the first summer after we bought the coach. I still the pedestal with a plugin GFCI receptacle tester before I plug the coach in.


The transfer switch is in the upper part of the photo and the Progressive EMS is at the lower left.

[HAA]

I added a Hughes Power watchdog. I am impressed by it

https://hughesautoformers.com/power-...ge-protectors/