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Surge Guard Protector
Couple of weeks ago when I arrived at the bus barn I could hear an alarm going off inside the bus. Battery Low light was on with audible beep.
At the inverter panel, error code on #1 inverter. Checking things everything is normal all the switches are in their regular position. I reason their must have been a power outage and switches didn’t reset.
Unplugged everything and started over. Everything came back. I wrote it off.
Getting back from Dallas everything was done as needed with bus make ready for parking. When I returned to the bus for the last items to go home I find the inverter lights, one green power is good and amber for bulk charge are not lit. I have no electric service. Bus is operating on inverters.
No trouble the entire time in Dallas. Below is what I removed from the house plug inside the bus barn and everything was normal.
My electric service protector has failed. Removing this from service everything was normal. This protector is about 4 1/2 years old and saved me once at an RV campground prior to plugging in the bus. Other then that has worked great.
Any one had this experience ?
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27 Replies
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Al,
Glad to hear you made it home and have your rig back in the barn…. Your might be differnet but I asked Marathon about surge protection and pressure regulator when I went in for my first service and they indicated to me that neither device was needed externally. Both were built into the bus. They told me if I see 4 green LEDs at the main breaker it was safe to “turn on” the bus via the main breaker if…If I don’t see 4 green don’t turn on the main breaker.
So it might be worth asking leon.
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I agree with Bill, although I think Ben at Parliament explained it to me that the switch with 4 green lights protects you taking out the rest of the campground as well…or something to that effect.
Anyways when wiring up a new 30 amp outlet for me to use at my pit stop place when we had two wires crossed at first at outlet, the box in first bay lights lit up to show there was a problem.
Al if you had a lesser coach like a Liberty or some such you might need devices like that…not with a Marathon! 🙂
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Not certain, but I believe the 4 green lights are an indication that the shore power wiring is good, but I doubt there is any surge protection. So if you get a bad surge while hooked to shore power, you’re not protected.
I also use an external surge protector what will sacrifice itself and keep the bus from getting fried.
If the Marathon 4 green light gizmo is also a surge protector, that would be good to know.
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Al,
This brings up a great point for Marathon owners, specifically a 2005 XLII double slide that used to call KC home. We use a Progressive Industries 50amp surge guard. Have used one for a long time. With the new to us bus, we use it but Bill’s comment about Marathon not needing one perked my interest. Should we use one or not?
I will go review the marathon docs and see if I find any reference to this.
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Our Liberty manual also states it has a built in surge protector, but I also use one externally, nothing wrong with double protection in my book…also you can troubleshoot the power at the post before plugging into a bad source and without it you have to plug in to find out that there is a problem at the post, so we opt to know before hand!
Diane
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I do the same as Diane , I use an external one just to be safe!!!
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Likewise, I always use the external unit even with the coach’s internal unit. Reading the knowlegeable people on this forum has taught me prevention is always better than a repair.
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I’ve used this Progressive Industries surge protector for years with no issues and I think Jon uses the same one, they run about 100 bucks.
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Looks like Camping World has a couple of different models:
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/portable-surge-guard-protectors-50-amp/73995
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/portable-surge-guards-with-lcd-display-50-amp/58465
Is the fancy one with the LED readout for $360 any better than the Progressive Industries SSP-50 for about $115?
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Tom, where did you buy the SSP50? Their website doesn’t show but one dealer?
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Al,
I directly asked about surge protection… but I will go direct to Leon and see what he says and report back tomorrow. I’m all for backup but if it is already in the design of the coach like the pressure regulator on the water side…. in my mind it’s one less thing to bring along…
Bill
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yes. I’ve had the TRC version fail. It only has a one year warrenty and was replaced since it failed within that time. I understand the Progressive model has a lifetime warrenty, if I had known that I would have bought it.
On mine the LCD fails tyo illuminate and restore the power after an outage. Happened twice and I sent it back.
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They are $99.50 with free shipping and no tax on Ebay… ebay search Progressive SSP50 and several will come up.
Diane
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The one Tomn has pictured is exactly what I have used for a long time. And I got it from PPL.
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