UL 1449 Certified Surge Protection Devices for RVs

[avanti]

Originally Posted by westom

For RVs, probably the most common anomalies are overvoltage and undervoltage. Both the Tripplite and APC ignore these anomalies.

Voltage can drop so low that incandescent bulbs dim to 50% intensity. That is perfectly good voltage for electronics. And potentially harmful to motorized appliances (ie refrigerator, air conditioner). Both undervoltage and overvoltage tend to be more frequent in campgrounds and almost non-existant in homes. So an RV surge protector should, at minimum, disconnect power during these unacceptable conditions.

Many also keep power disconnected during polarity reversal. That is typically not destructive. But is so easy to implement and can be seen in campgrounds as to be routine for RV protectors. Again, those home protectors ignore this anomaly as well.

Demonstrated are typical anomalies to be defined before anyone can recommend a protector.

I hope that these interleaved topics aren't confusing people. All of the above is correct. But, high-end inverter/chargers do NOT ignore any of the stated anomalies. So, if your AC power is flowing through one of those, the only missing protection is transient surge suppression. If that is your need, then residential surge protectors such as the Leviton unit appear to be a superior and cost-effective choice.