TV surge protector

[Rich_Grossmann]

Hello,

RVing with friends, staying at an RV par near New York city, they hooked up the cable TV to their 5th wheel. When removing it several days later, discovered both ends of the cable were melted. The cable attachment behind their two TVs also melted. Estimate to repair minimum $8-10,000. KOA’s insurance company condemned the 5th wheel because of liability concerns with the entire electrical system. Fortunately I did not hook-up our cable tv.

Are there any surge protectors for outdoor cable lines used in RVs? I found several for household cable protection against lightning, but nothing for RV use.

Thank you in advance…….. Rich

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[wa8yxm]

I woudl have to agree with the improper ground theory. The only other way current could flow in enough quanity to melt the connectors would be if the wall plate (THe "TV BOOSTER" is what most folks improperly call that) were wired backwards and neither the curcit in the wall plate not the fuse feeding it is anywhere near that big. Fuse would blow first.. Have blown a few of 'em.

[shastagary]

this would not be a cable tv problem and not a surge it is a rv power connection problem either at the power pedestal (open neutral) or a bad plug on pedestal or the rv power cord or a loose connection in the rv at the breaker panel. part of the electricity to run the rv was finding a easier path to complete the circuit through the cable line.

[DutchmenSport]

We have an older APC Battery Back-up Surge Protector (probably 10 years old or more), that has both 120 volt plugs for protecting anything plugged in and as a battery back-up in the event of failure. Originally, we purchased this for our old style desktop computers, so if working on something and the power went out, they wouuld not instantly died. The battery back-up allowed adequate time to save your work before shutting down. We used it for years, and still have it.

It also had plugs for Coax connections, cable or anything else that uses Coax. At the time we used it, we didn't have anything electronic running thorugh Coax except an outside antenna.

Since then, with the ease of using laptop computers that have batteries, and don't even have a dependency to be plugged in, we parked the battery back-up power surge protector away in the closet.

I just did A Google search and found the price has come way, way, way down from our oriignal cost for our. I think ours was like, $500 at that time. Now they sell for $44. Simply amazing!

Anyway, this is probably your best choice. Then you can plug in the coax cable and the power cable to your electronics and have a better assurance of protection. There again, "protection" is a relative term. It's kind of like getting a flue shot. You get the flu shot, only to end up with the flu because the strain you got infected with is different than the one you were vacinatted for. With power surges and such, the forces of nature and electricity have a mind of their own.

[GordonThree]

Sounds like improper ground at the pedestal, leaving the RV to ground through the coax connection. Strange that their EMS or ground fault didn't detect the fault.

I don't know that a surge protector would have helped in that situation.

Anything you like the looks of should work, doesn't have to be RV specific.