EHU surge protection

We experienced a massive electrical surge at Cabopino Campsite, Spain last year. It blow most vans/shacks numbering about 400. We witnessed general repair bills of €200-€250 per van. We als heard of bill of €2k-€4k. Our RCD was blown and had sacrificed itself protecting the van. We had it repaired in the uk for about £100. It happened because the local electricity board decided to do work off site, but when they switched on the electricity they produced a huge surge.
To combat it in future, we have purchased an Inline RCD, waterproof, 13amp max. European Inline RCDs are 16amp. It is fitted to our electric cable at the end nearest the electric supply. If the electric is cut off, then switched on, the unit WILL NOT supply the van with electric UNTIL the reset button is pressed. It cost £20 on Amazon. Please see photos attached:)

ACF28C8D-3044-4259-ACD4-7AD2000362B4.jpeg 6A981392-989B-433F-A653-D7A686C70868.jpeg
 
PeterCarole29 said:
I have recieved mine today direct from Sollatek i will open it tomorrow.Yours looks genuine and very different from my counterfeit
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mine arrived today from RS components - i will take it with me tomorrow and look at fitting it while we are away!
 
MobyDick57 said:
We experienced a massive electrical surge at Cabopino Campsite, Spain last year. It blow most vans/shacks numbering about 400. We witnessed general repair bills of €200-€250 per van. We als heard of bill of €2k-€4k. Our RCD was blown and had sacrificed itself protecting the van. We had it repaired in the uk for about £100. It happened because the local electricity board decided to do work off site, but when they switched on the electricity they produced a huge surge.
To combat it in future, we have purchased an Inline RCD, waterproof, 13amp max. European Inline RCDs are 16amp. It is fitted to our electric cable at the end nearest the electric supply. If the electric is cut off, then switched on, the unit WILL NOT supply the van with electric UNTIL the reset button is pressed. It cost £20 on Amazon. Please see photos attached:)

View attachment 730016 View attachment 730017
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RCDs are readily obtainable and dead easy to fit. They cost about £25.
 
MobyDick57 said:
We experienced a massive electrical surge at Cabopino Campsite, Spain last year. It blow most vans/shacks numbering about 400. We witnessed general repair bills of €200-€250 per van. We als heard of bill of €2k-€4k. Our RCD was blown and had sacrificed itself protecting the van. We had it repaired in the uk for about £100. It happened because the local electricity board decided to do work off site, but when they switched on the electricity they produced a huge surge.
To combat it in future, we have purchased an Inline RCD, waterproof, 13amp max. European Inline RCDs are 16amp. It is fitted to our electric cable at the end nearest the electric supply. If the electric is cut off, then switched on, the unit WILL NOT supply the van with electric UNTIL the reset button is pressed. It cost £20 on Amazon. Please see photos attached:)

View attachment 730016 View attachment 730017
Click to expand...
No-one has commented on this device but it seems to be the easiest solution for someone like me with limited electrical skills. It could just be wired into the EHU lead?

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Hoovie said:
Made the change :p

View attachment 729806
Used the official range of 230V +10%/-6% for the High/Low disconnects with the default differences for reconnections. (y)

(didn't uncheck the 'accept frequency range' option but I don't think we see that really fluctating do we? I never have anyway.)
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The low voltage cut off is far too high if you use sites as they are often down at 200v, 290v not uncommon especially when the site is full.
 
wp1234 said:
So do folk fit an RCD and Voltage Surge Protector or is one one or the other ?
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Looking online the USA has a wide range of Surge Protectors for the EHU cable rated at 30 amps. I expect they are also only for 110v mains. Nothing similar seems to be on the market for UK EHU cables.
 
Lenny HB said:
The low voltage cut off is far too high if you use sites as they are often down at 200v, 290v not uncommon especially when the site is full.
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I'll stick with the UK defaults :).
If the voltage cuts out if too low, I still have 500Ah of battery to help run the TV for a few hours ;)
 
MobyDick57 said:
We experienced a massive electrical surge at Cabopino Campsite, Spain last year. It blow most vans/shacks numbering about 400. We witnessed general repair bills of €200-€250 per van. We als heard of bill of €2k-€4k. Our RCD was blown and had sacrificed itself protecting the van. We had it repaired in the uk for about £100. It happened because the local electricity board decided to do work off site, but when they switched on the electricity they produced a huge surge.
To combat it in future, we have purchased an Inline RCD, waterproof, 13amp max. European Inline RCDs are 16amp. It is fitted to our electric cable at the end nearest the electric supply. If the electric is cut off, then switched on, the unit WILL NOT supply the van with electric UNTIL the reset button is pressed. It cost £20 on Amazon. Please see photos attached:)

View attachment 730016 View attachment 730017
Click to expand...
An RCD won't give any protection against a voltage surge, the reason your one went is because the high voltage blew it up, no guarantee it would ever save your system again, IMO waste of time.
 
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Hoovie said:
I'll stick with the UK defaults :).
If the voltage cuts out if too low, I still have 500Ah of battery to help run the TV for a few hours ;)
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But sites are often constantly at 200v or below.

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Lenny HB said:
But sites are often constantly at 200v or below.
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I don't do motorhoming in foreign countries with dodgy mains supplies. and usually don't use hookup at all anyway. and finally, if i happen to be on a site where the voltage is poor AND I need power, I can simply upload a changed setup. so really is a non-issue to have the voltages parameters set correctly as standard.
 
Actually I
MobyDick57 said:
We experienced a massive electrical surge at Cabopino Campsite, Spain last year. It blow most vans/shacks numbering about 400. We witnessed general repair bills of €200-€250 per van. We als heard of bill of €2k-€4k. Our RCD was blown and had sacrificed itself protecting the van. We had it repaired in the uk for about £100. It happened because the local electricity board decided to do work off site, but when they switched on the electricity they produced a huge surge.
To combat it in future, we have purchased an Inline RCD, waterproof, 13amp max. European Inline RCDs are 16amp. It is fitted to our electric cable at the end nearest the electric supply. If the electric is cut off, then switched on, the unit WILL NOT supply the van with electric UNTIL the reset button is pressed. It cost £20 on Amazon. Please see photos attached:)

View attachment 730016 View attachment 730017
Click to expand...
Actually I like this as a cheap solution. If surges most commonly follow a power outage, a non latching RCD like this will not reconnect till manually reset. Not as comprensive as a proper surge protector but will probably do the trick most if the time. Cheap and easily fitted.
 
Lenny HB said:
An RCD won't give any protection against a voltage surge, the reason your one went is because the high voltage blew it up, no guarantee it would ever save your system again, IMO waste of time.
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True, and also it won't give you any protection against excessive amps. That 13A 'max' is simply the amps it is designed to work with. If it goes up to say 30A it won't do anything except maybe smoke. An RCD is only for protection against earth leakage.
 
There's a plethora of the in-line RV surge protectors available from Amazon US that can be shipped to the UK.

https://www.amazon.com/RV-surge-protector/s?k=RV+surge+protector

I don't know if they can be modified to work here simply by fitting our 16 amp plug and socket in place of the US ones.

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Lenny HB said:
So did you get it, have you tested it & does it work?
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It’s sat on my worktop
on your advice I asked them for a return via ebay
they did the usual thing of saying would I accept a partial refund and ended by fully refunding me
I’ll try it but I have no way of testing it
I need to find a suitable enclosure
 
Hello again:)
My main issue is as we travel, we find some campsites with poor electricity supply, which trip on a regular basis. Some trip at your personal distribution point, others trip further up the distribution line. These are the ones that worry me more. However when visiting a site for a short period, one doesn’t know there is a problem until the worst has happened. Therefore having the security of having a reset button when there is a break gives me the opportunity to choose whether to stay on mains or disconnect and rely on our leisure batteries:)
 
MobyDick57 said:
Hello again:)
My main issue is as we travel, we find some campsites with poor electricity supply, which trip on a regular basis. Some trip at your personal distribution point, others trip further up the distribution line. These are the ones that worry me more. However when visiting a site for a short period, one doesn’t know there is a problem until the worst has happened. Therefore having the security of having a reset button when there is a break gives me the opportunity to choose whether to stay on mains or disconnect and rely on our leisure batteries:)
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Looks like you have a Morelo so could be worth a rejig of your electrics with a big Lithium bank and a Victron Multiplus.
Martin funflair could advise.
 
Hi Lenny:)
Thanks for the suggestion, but Already pimped out with 600ah lithium & 750w solar via a Votronic Triple Charger:)

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What’s a Multiplus?
 
Just googled it:) Smart piece of kit, but I would be doubling up on most of the kit. Definitely would recommend as all in one box:)
 
What size cable are people using to connect the AV30 to the consumer unit. Was thinking 13a would be sufficient based on campsite ehu & my house sockets.
 
I use the standard 16amp ehu cable 25m
Connected a male (input) & female (output) connectors to the avs30

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I found I had a surplus of O/E cable running from the EHU point to the CU so measured (once, twice, and thrice) before cutting into it so it would connect to the adjacent location for the AV30.

IMG_0207.jpeg
 
Newfie said:
What devices do you use to protect your motorhomes electrical systems from electrical surges/fluctuations whilst connected to an EHU supply.
Both in the UK and elsewhere.
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I use AVS 30 I don’t want a permanent connection so I keep it in a plastic box with inline connectors between the mains and the van connector. As worked well for me for the past 5 years and when I change the van I just take the AVS 30 out of the garage ready for the new van.
 
TinaLes said:
Its Soooooo annoying to see The AV30 being listed at £7.83 plus shipping on Alibaba, it might take a year to arrive, there will be shipping & import tax to pay, but its just another example of how cheap these Chinese manufactured products actually cost, and the mark up UK suppliers put on them.:mad:
EG: Pump Express £122.40, E Bay supplier £167.18, RS Components £82.62 Inc Vat.:mad:
LES
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As I found out there are counterfeit AVS30s around only buy from Amazon R/S of AVS30 mnfacturer direct
 
Sorry predictive text took over
From Amazon . R/S or direct from manufacturer

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