Thor Forums

[steveak]

As I have been reading this forum over the weekend (which I don't do frequently) I have been paying special attention to the questions posed by newbies. I began wondering what would be the best piece of advice one could give someone just new to the RV lifestyle?
Pretty hard question to answer. One thing I did come up with is to never, never plug into an electrical supply that you have not verified is properly wired. You can purchase a tester at Home Depot for $20 or so that will verify that the pedestal is wired correctly. Get with the expert electrician at the store and tell them what you want. They can show you what you need. It is my understanding that plugging into an improperly wired pedestal can cause some very serious damage to your appliances and electrical system.
Even better yet spend the money to purchase a power monitoring system which will not only test the power from the pedestal, but will act as a surge suppressor and shut off the electricity to your coach when the electricity spikes or becomes less than the proper voltage to operate your system. Low voltage may cause enough damage that appliances have their lives shortened dramatically. When that happens you will never know why your appliances have such a short lifespan.
These units cost up to $450 for a 50 amp unit, sometimes less on sale, and are definitely worth the money. In the three years that I have had mine there have been four occasions when it saved me from a variety of issues from low-voltage, reversed polarity and other types of problems. If that seems like too much money just think what would cost to replace your microwave or the TV.