How over and under voltage protection works
Everyone,
Basic surge protectors are designed to stop voltage spikes (aka surges) from getting into your RV’s electrical system. They do this using MOV (Metal Oxide Varistors) to clamp the voltage to a specific level. These high-voltage surges can be caused by nearby lightning strikes, power company switching issues, or even large electric motors switching off.
But these inexpensive (around $100) surge protectors do nothing to prevent long duration over-voltage (over 128 volt) and under-voltage (under 105 volt) conditions from damaging your RV appliances.
What about Advanced Surge Protectors (AKA EMS)
These do cost more ($200 to $400) but in addition to MOV voltage spike protection, they also monitor the power for high-voltage, low-voltage, open-ground and reverse polarity conditions. And then they shut off the power to your RV before any electrical damage can occur.
Here’s a short video I just made that demonstrations how a Surge Guard Total Electrical Protection unit tests for high/low-voltage conditions and then disconnects your RV from shore power if the voltage gets out of range.
Please let me know if you have any questions about how surge protectors work.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
