Electrical problem

[Chairboygeoff]

I went on my first trip this weekend and was told that if i use a game console for kids while travelling, using the generator, i should use a surge protector as the generator power is not consistent.
When i plugged in a surge protector, it got fried so i got a bigger one from my house as i thought maybe the first one was too small, but it also got fried when plugged inside the rv.
However, when i plug in the game console, or anything else, it seems to work ok?!
Why do the surge protectors get fried?
Thanks for any help!

[Chairboygeoff]

Thanks. I will have it looked at.

[time2roll]

Yes anything above 133 is too high. Do not start the generator until it has been serviced.

RV surge, voltage, polarity and ground protection here:
http://www.progressiveindustries.net/our-products

[DrewE]

It sure sounds like your generator needs repair, assuming the kill-a-watt is accurate at all. I would not use it until it has been looked at. 170V rms is nowhere near being in spec and would rapidly damage many appliances, not just surge suppressors.

[Chairboygeoff]

Hi again,
So i got one of those kila watt devices and tried it in the rv with the generator. The voltage was 171. I then turned the fridge on which reduced it to 164. I left it on for 10 to 15 mins and it remained pretty constant at around 164/165.
I also tried the kila watt device at home to make sure its working properly and it reads 120 so seems to work ok.
Any ideas?
Thanks much

[Chairboygeoff]

Thanks for all the help people.
I guess I'll first try one of those kill a watt things to see what's coming out of my generator (with no load and when I turn on some stuff), then perhaps get an inverter depending on results.

[DrewE]

The MOV, as 1995brave says, is the gizmo that provides surge protection. They have a limited lifespan. They conduct when the voltage exceeds some threshold. (The ones they use in surge protectors actually trigger at rather more than 130V because the peak voltage of a 120V RMS sine wave is around 170V.)

It would seem that either the voltage output of the generator is high or it has higher-voltage spikes/noise.

Inverter size is determined by the power requirements of the stuff you're powering. Game consoles in particular can vary a good bit in power usage; Xbox's and PS4's are comparatively power hungry. At any rate, 400-600W should be plenty for a game console and a TV. You may be able to use a lighter-powered one, but it would be preferable to have it wired directly to the battery. Just the TV, or the TV and a DVD player, might well be OK with a lighter plug unit; modern TVs don't use too much power. It depends partly on the quality and length of the 12V wiring to the lighter plug.

[1995brave]

MOV-Metal-oxide varistor. In the surge protected power strips they are connected after the power switch and on-board circuit breaker. There are normally three, one between Hot and neutral, another between Hot and ground, and the third between Neutral and ground. Their operating voltage is normally 130 volts. Voltage surges above 130 volts will cause them to short out, causing the circuit breaker to pop.

[Old-Biscuit]

I do think OP is talking about one of those 'surge guard' OUTLET strips that got fried.

NOT a 30A/50A RV Surge Guard/Protector

[Chairboygeoff]

"Get fried" means that the light went out, it got very hot and smelled like it was burning inside.

What's an MOV?

What size invertor would I need and would that plug into the cigarette lighter socket or have to be hard wired to the battery?

Thanks much!

[DrewE]

What does "get fried" mean or look like? If it's complaining of an open ground, you may have a problem with the neutral-ground bond at the generator (which should be a pretty simple fix) or a problem with the automatic transfer switch, if you have one. If it's instead that the MOVs are getting worn out, the power waveform is probably not clean with the generator unloaded or very nearly unloaded, or the generator voltage is a bit high unloaded (which may mean it needs adjustment). Turning on additional devices would help in that case. (Typically, any voltage spikes are low-power noise.)

The Onan should put out reasonably clean power. The surge protector probably is quite unnecessary, particularly as it's fairly likely that the console and TV have multi-standard power supplies that accept most any AC power from 100V to 240V without complaint. You aren't going to have any of the typical sources of power surges between the generator and the rest of the RV, such as lightning strikes or industrial equipment on the same supply grid starting or stopping.

For running the game console while traveling, a modest inverter would seem to me to be a very good investment. It wouldn't take too many hours of use before it pays for itself over the gas required by the generator (about half a gallon an hour, more or less). The engine alternator via the battery isolator will be able to keep up with the power demands of the console and TV while driving so the house battery will not get discharged (but it probably won't charge as quickly from the engine).

[Chairboygeoff]

oh and has 59 hours on it if that makes a difference

[Chairboygeoff]

I think the generator is an Onan quiet (or something) 4000 that is installed in the Rv.
RV is a 2013 Forest River Sunseeker 3170DS class C.

[wa8yxm]

A few comments
1: If your generator fired two surge protectors.. GET A BETTER GENERATOR
2: Contractor's type. open frame, engine runs 3600 RPM, Ear plugs recommended, are nortorious for dirty power and though your device may run well for a while.. Life shortening is likely happening.
3: Inverter generators like the Honda EU-2000i or Yahama EF-2400i Nice clean power, better than commercial mains in many cases.
4: Reduced speed generators 1200 or 1800 RPM Generally like the Onan Emarald 5500 I'm sitting on just now.

Roughly the same quality as commercial mains. Clean or close to it.

[Chairboygeoff]

Thank you for the suggestions!