UL 1449 Certified Surge Protection Devices for RVs

[avanti]

Originally Posted by westom

We also know that a protector for direct lightning strikes must not and do not fail. Similar devices for home lightning protection come from a long list of manufacturers with integrity including Square D, ABB, Intermatic, Cutler-Hammer, Ditek, Polyphaser (an industry benchmark), General Electric, Syscom, Leviton, and Siemens. Routine is a direct lightning strike without protector failure. These devices cost about $1 per protected appliance ... for homes. And do not protect using sacrificial parts.

Taken directly from your "long list of manufacturers with integrity":

Square D:


ABB:


Intermatic:


I won't bother to continue down the list. Please note that EACH AND EVERY such device has an indicator to show when the device has suffered sacrificial damage and must be replaced. Why would` "manufacturers with integrity" sell such devices? Because there is NO CHOICE. I repeat: IT IS NOT ECONOMICALLY POSSIBLE TO SPEC FOR ANY POSSIBLE TRANSIENT. To suggest that sacrificial devices are "old wives tales" is simply wrong.

This will be my last post on this topic. The discussion is obviously going nowhere. There are legitimate points to be made about the presence of proper grounds and other technical points. But throwing out long lists of such issues and making unsubstantiated claims about them is not going to help anybody choose cost-effective protection devices. Nor will scary, unsubstantiated claims about fire hazards.

[westom]

Originally Posted by avanti

Please note that EACH AND EVERY such device has an indicator to show when the device has suffered sacrificial damage and must be replaced.

Again, that light can only report one type of failure ... that is catastrophic. Sacrifice must not happen. That indicates the protector had to disconnect protector parts as fast as possible to avert a human safety threat. And leaves a surge still connected to attached appliances.

A surge that damaged a grossly undersized protector was also outgoing into attached appliances that remain undamaged. Because protection inside the appliance was more robust.

Normal failure mode for MOVs is to degrade. Not fail catastrophically. MOV manufacturers even state how to test an MOV's Vb change.

The change of Vb shall be measured after the impulse listed below is applied 10,000 times continuously with the interval of ten seconds at room temperature.

It did not fail catastrophically. Normal failure mode is to degrade. The light can never reprot a degraded protector. It can only report a thermal fuse averted the unacceptable catastrophic (sacrificial) failure.
MOV protectors, when properly designed, only degrade. Its Vb voltage changes. Its light never reports that acceptacle type of failure.

This is relevant only to RV surge protectors located at the pole. Since MOVs only avert that anomaly when connected low impedance to an earth ground provided by the pole. Instructions for this RV protector
http://trci.net/products/surge-guard-rv ... -protector
state it must attach directly at the pole.

Other RV "surge protectors" are for anomalies not considered here as surges. Therefore need not be attached so close to earth ground.

[avanti]

I finished my install of power protection for my shore power input:



BlueSea 8077 Circuit Breaker:


Leviton R00-51110-SRG Surge Protector: