If I see one more product that claims they have anything resembling “customizable LEDs”, I think I’m going to lose my mind.
All of this tech available to you and the best thing your designers, developers, engineers, and marketing departments have come up with is, “We’ve finally discovered how to put red, green, and blue LEDs together and make different colors!”
Congratulations, you’ve caught up with 1972 technology!
The SurgeGuard defends against dangerous under- and over-voltage. This is a good thing: electrical fires caused by bad power in an RV are pretty scary. It also protects against a few other types of problems plaguing RV parks and campgrounds: miswired, missing grounds, reverse polarity on single-leg applications…
So this week, our SurgeGuard has steadfastly refused to switch power on when the pedestal voltage is over 129v on either leg. Overnight the voltage here reaches 133VAC. Legs are out of phase–and drifting! And the park hosts say, “yeah, we know–we just tell people not to use their SurgeGuards.”
Do you really now?
Couple things:
– ours is hard-wired, and
– no
So, I’m sitting outside while I work today, enjoying the fresh air.
I keep getting distracted by the neighbor’s occasional outbursts as he fiddles about with the wiring on his middle-aged travel trailer. Rather, it’s not so much that he’s fiddling with the wiring on the trailer, but on his tow vehicle.
He’ll periodically walk back to the rear of the trailer and look at its taillights.
Then he’ll walk up and fiddle with his Yukon’s wiring at its taillights.
Light lenses are off. Bulbs hanging out. Wiring pulled up.
Runs back and checks the taillight on the trailer.
Mumbles something and walks back to fiddle about the tow vehicle’s taillights some more.
I wonder if I should mention to him that the stock trailer plug on his Yukon isn’t wired directly to his taillights at all… but to a MBEC under the dash.
Nah, it’s more entertaining this way.
He’s swapped out a few fuses.
He’s swapped out bulbs.
He’s plugged in an extension cord from inside the RV into his truck. I can only guess to maybe charge its battery.
He’s even pulled his other vehicle (seems his wife is driving the chase-car) up to the front of the rig and hooked up jumper cables.
He does seem quite confident that he’s got it entirely under control though.
And yet I seem to find myself speculating wildly about what degree of electrical damage has been done to his vehicle… or trailer.
Surge Guard: installed.
Had some demonstrable Knowitall remark about “code violations”: exposed terminals and being underneath plumbing without an enclosure.
I asked him to cite which codes applied…to this enclosed space inside the service cabinet of an RV.
**silence**
Bless his little heart.
Although, in fairness, I should have some strain relief on the cable and could have done a better one-handed strip of the cable and conductors.
Next up on the To Do list: install a Surge Guard and its remote monitor.
I was planning on installing it near the inlet, but the only suitable spot would’ve been flat, with the label facing up. With the terminals facing upward, anything landing in there could cause an arc…and other assorted unpleasantness.
So, we’ll find a better spot this weekend and also see about leaving ourselves enough space to later install a transfer switch.
the rest of me 