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Thanking all of you in advance.

I am looking to get a surge protector or two for my van. This is just your random cargo van that I modified myself into a camper van (check the link below if anyone is interested in the van build).

The van is not wired for electricity; although I did install a nice window-style AC unit that I can plug into campground power, either directly (if parked close enough) or by extension cord (the extension cord I use is an industrial-grade 12 gauge, rated at 125v - 15amps - 1875w. The AC is rated at 5,000 btu (small, but sufficient for my van) 115v - 60hz - 4.8 amps.

In the winter I have a Delonghi oil-filled radiator heater that works exceptionally well in the small space, with the added bonus that it slowly radiates heat, but never gets so hot that you can't touch it.

Two years ago I went camping in January (northern California) in the mountains at about the 2500 foot elevation. It was nice during the day, but as it began to get dark it began to get cold. I plugged in the heater (extension cord) and went to sleep. In the morning I looked at my thermometer and it was 70 degrees inside the van. Too warm, really. Anyway, I got out of the van to walk the dogs and put the thermometer on the handy-dandy picnic table to get an idea of the outside temp (I needed my heavy coat to walk the dogs).

When I came back about 20 minutes later I was mildly surprised to see that frost had formed on the thermometer in that short period of time, so I used my fingernail to scrape off the frost so that I could read it. I was a LOT surprised to see that the thermometer was reading a chilly 13 (F) degrees!! This was a nice surprise - I had guesstimated that I would be comfortable in the van down to around 30 degrees. (for those who won't read about my van build, I spent some few hundred hours insulating it with foam panel insulation).

The insulation works really well in the summer too - on a trip in the summer the van dash AC (the only AC I have while driving) kept the entire inside of the van - and it is a BIG van - about 70 degrees, front to back. And this with only having the AC on the low setting. A surprise was in store when I stopped for a pit stop, though. Outside it was a toasty 105!

Anyway, now I come to my question: I would like to get a surge protector for the AC unit (which would do double-duty with the heater, depending upon the time of year). I also, when at a campground, run electronics (computer, etc.) and a small, chest-type Dometic ac/dc fridge, off a twin to the 12 gauge extension cord to the one mentioned above.

I have been perusing surge protectors on Amazon, and have reached the head-scratching stage. What to get? Or to get anything at all? The heater was about $50, the AC unit about $105, the Dometic about $400. The computer, of course, somewhat more than that. If everything went "zip" it would not be a great expense to replace everything. . . but would be a major pain to need to replace these things while on the road. Rather not go there!

So what do you think? Melissa? Anyone else? Surge protector suggestions greatly appreciated.

I really love this forum, and the fact that the ladies here are always so willing to share their expertise.

Thanks ladies

Anne

I would go with the Progressive Electrical Management System that is not wired in. It is portable and when you get that nice B that you want you take it with you. That not only serves as a surge protector, but also works for miswired campground electricity, and over and under powered electricity. Just generally protects everything. It is around $300. The best investment that you can make for protecting you from many things.

I was in a campground couple years ago when a storm came through. The guy next to me and the one across the street both got new appliances through out their rigs. New referigerator, microwave, TV, one got a new furnace. I had my EMS plugged in. One of those guys had his EMS in one of his storage bays as he didn't think he would need it. The wife let him know about that! However I know people who say they don't need them!

Glad you are enjoying your getaway Van!

I have a surge protector - I'm not with my RV right now so I don't know the brand - but it has saved me big trouble several times. I got it at an RV supply store and it was about $300. When I was in Alaska I plugged into an RV park electrical post and after a few seconds the surge protector message was "reverse polarity". I moved to a different site. This same thing happened to me just last week at Nehalem State Park here in Oregon. But this time the host didn't believe me and said that my surge protector was probably broken. I walked back to the registration booth to report it and by the time I walked back there were two rangers, a maintenance guy and the host at my site. The maintenance person tested the outlet on the post and sure enough, it was wired incorrectly. I was given a different site and they roped off the site with the bad elec post. They had to test a lot of other posts because some of the elec posts were just updated. Apparently who ever did the updating failed to check their work. On the three prong 30 amp outlet, the ranger used the voltage tester on the top hole and each of the bottom holes separately, and found that one of the bottom holes was a problem. Does that make sense? I'm not very up on electrical terms so I don't know how to describe it. I will never plug into an outlet without the surge protector. When I first bought it I thought oh great, another expensive piece of equipment I probably don't need, but now I appreciate how important it is.

There's a whole thread about surge protectors somewhere on the forum. Maybe Beth can resurrect it ...

We also have the Progressive Industries EMS, but ours is hardwired in. We had a portable one until we got the motorhome, and wouldn't be without it. It will act as a sacrificial lamb in the event you have some major surge, frying the unit instead of your appliances and anything else electrical you might have plugged in. AND Progressive will replace it free if it's damaged. Not too shabby!

Laura

Anne, are you just plugging into the 20 amp (looks like the house plug) on the pedestal? Since you are using an extension cord(s), I believe this is the case.

Cheapest option is to buy a voltage tester and check the pedestal before plugging in you extension cord. You could buy a power strip with a built in surge protector to protect your computer and cooler when plugged into 120 vac. As for the air conditioner or the heater it would be cheaper to replace them. If you do a quick search you can find surge protectors with built in voltage meter (allows you to monitor voltage) and USB ports for charging cell phones and other electronics for around $30. Unlike the typical RV you don't have all the electrical loads and touchy electronic control circuits common in a store bought RV.

Now for the rest of the story

Ok "surge protectors" as they are called by campers are really a lot more than the surge protectors most people thing of. What people use on their computers are just that a surge protectors, to protect against high voltage surges. What a camper actually needs and they commonly call a "surge protector" is a energy management system (EMS) that checks pedestal voltage (over and under), polarity and loss of the ground, etc.... There are charts to show all they do and compare features. It will disconnect power to the RV and restore it when the fault clears. That's why they cost several hundred dollars and the one for you computer was $15. Feature comparison https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Articles.asp?ID=279

My experience has been low voltage conditions, bad ground wires (improperly wired) and the likes. Seems the more you draw (power wise) the more issues arise. RV power pedestals are also wire differently than a home and so once you get to 30 amp or 50 amp service there is a chance the electrician wired it wrong. A house hold 30 amp plug is actually 220 volt not 120 volt. Electronics don't like the 220 vac but your home drier does. The 20 amp plug is wired the same as a house so it's a safer bet it's wire correctly.


Now if you want to get fancy, you could install a 30 amp connection on your van. Wire it to a basic breaker panel and have a couple of outlets installed in the van where you need them. They could size the outlet to be rated for your ac unit or the heater. Then you could use either a hardwired EMS system or the portable pedestal version. You could probably wire you van up yourself for around $200 and the EMS or "surge protector" another $200. That's probably overkill for your needs.

I agree with Melissa that what most of us have is overkill for your current situation. I recommend you use a good surge protector to plug in computer, etc. I have my tv, computer, etc in one in my mh even with my surge guard. And it has turned off before the surge guard.
That said, I recommend you get the very inexpensive tester which plugs into the outlet on the pole and tells you if it's wired correctly. It will find reverse polarity, etc. I use that before I ever plug in. No need for anything expensive or fancy to find that out.

When we traveled in our bus Mel had a tester hr used every time before plugging in and he found problems at several places. Better safe than sorry. Easier to test then to repair.
I agree with all said ESP the what Beth ended with.
Velda

I have a Surge Guard portable and am glad I have it. In addition to easing my mind, several times it has detected reverse polarity. It amazes me how in those instances, the campground personnel had no idea what I was talking about when I tried to tell them about the reverse polarity. I'm sure they did nothing to fix it, but I insisted on being moved to another site. They just commented that others had used those bad sites with no problem. I get so frustrated with how people who work in those places, at RV dealers, regular stores seem to know NOTHING. When I know more than the so-called experts at those places, we're in trouble.
Sandi

This is the simple tester I highly recommend you get:
http://smile.amazon.com/Electrical-Rece ... l+electric

Bethers wrote:This is the simple tester I highly recommend you get:
http://smile.amazon.com/Electrical-Rece ... l+electric

Yep that should do the trick

I like having a surge protector (or energy management system as Melissa correctly pointed out) instead of a voltage meter because I'm afraid if I check the pole and it's ok, something may happen later to change that. The staff at Nehalem State Park were very responsive and made sure that the bad pole was not used and checked all the others that had been recently rewired. And by the way, if you are looking for a great state park on the beach in Oregon, check out Nehalem! It's next to the cute little town of Manzanita, where I am spending most of the winter in my little beach cottage.