SouthwireSurge Guard 35530 Hardwire Model - 30 Amp

Buyer beware because if you hardwire the Surge Guard 35530 Hardwire Model - 30 Amp and intend to use a portable generator you will need to follow the instructions below that I received from Surge Guard when my unit failed to function properly. Other than this little issue the unit works as advertised.Portable generators by their very nature are portable and have a floating ground. Our voltage protectors will see this missing ground and will not pass electricity into the RV for the specific reason of protection. A grounding rod will not ground your units to your RV. Remember it is an RV and not a house! To trick the Surge Suppressor, you need a Neutral to Ground Bonding plug. I have attached my Tip document which explains what is going on and how to build one of these plugs.We also manufacture these plugs and they are Model 44400 and can be purchased from RV Parts Source 800-621-1271.I believe our Surge Guard device will operator as per design when used with a proper shore power source (Residential) or portable generator with a Neutral to Ground Bonding Plug.Steve’s Tip Information:I get frequent questions concerning the operation of a portable generator with one of our Surge devices that has voltage protection. Our devices will see an open ground when then are used with a portable generator. This is because a portable generator has a floating ground by its very nature of being portable. So, to use with one of our voltage protection devices, you need to trick it with a “Neutral to Ground Bonding Plug”. We are in the process of manufacturing one of these plugs and it will be available in the near future. However, these plugs are quite easy to make yourself and detailed information can be found on the internet if you google Neutral to Ground Bonding Plug. To make one yourself, purchase a blank 15-20-amp 120-volt replacement plug at your local hardware store. Open the plug to get to the screw connections. Connect the neutral blade to the ground blade with a small piece of wire. Do not connect the power blade to anything! Close up the plug and insert it in a 15-20-amp 120-volt receptacle on your portable generator. Now you are good to go. I have included a photo of a typical N-G Bonding Plug below.Please refer to the more detailed explanations and fabrication instructions on the internet. My above descriptions are more for an explanation of what is going on and how to correct the situation and should not be used as fabrication instructions!

Installed the surge guard in our 2021 Northwoods Nash 24M travel trailer and camped the first time with shore services and it performed flawlessly. Then for the next camp trip I prepared the trailer for dry camping. So at home before we left I ran my Champion 4500 watt dual fuel inverter generator to the trailer to make sure everything would work correctly. To my surprise the surge guard continually showed an open ground and I couldn't figure out why. So to camp I bought a 600 watt electrical terminal to temporarily tie the travel trailer straight to the 30 amp receptacle. Then when we got home I did a ton of research and found out that some inverter generator manufacturers have a floating ground which the surge guard sees as a problem and will keep the trailer from connecting to the power source. So industry came up with a way to bypass this with a generator bonding plug which bonds the neutral and ground and plugs into a 120 volt receptacle on the generator together so the surge guard doesn't see an open ground. I'm in no way an electrician and do not condone bypassing any safety features but for me it was the only way to get my generator to power my trailer. Long story short bought a bonding plug, plugged it in to one of my 120 volt outlets, put the surge guard back in line with the trailer and the generator powered the trailer with no problems. Lesson learned!

The Surge Guard unit is easy to install once you figure out where to make the installation. The external display (sold separately) easily connects to the unit and the display is digital, clear and easy to read. The one major issue I have with Surge Guard is the total lack of customer service on the part of Southwire the manufacturer of the unit.When trying to run the A/C unit in my trailer I was getting a ground fault error message. This didn't make any sense to me since I've power my trailer through the same home outlet and never received a ground fault error on the other Surge Guard units I've owned (pole mounted). My thinking is rather than a ground fault the shutdown is occurring due to a low voltage situation that occurs when the A/C compressor turns on so I contacted Southwire to see if I could get clarification.I used their on-line message system to send a message explaining my issue. After a few days I got no reply. I checked my spam mail folder to be sure an email response wasn't being pushed to my that folder. No message was found. After a few more days I called the company and got an automated message saying that due to Covid they should only be contacted for technical issues via their online messaging service so I sent another message regarding the issue. It's been over two weeks and still no reply.So my 3 star review isn't a knock against the unit (although if the issue is low voltage the message should say low voltage) but the lack of response from Southwire, not even an acknowledgement that my message was received and being looked into. This is the third Surge Guard unit I've owned so I don't have a negative opinion of their product BUT if you have a problem with a unit this experience tells me you are on your own to find a solution.

relatively large item but easy to install and so far does what it says it should. slight delay between plugging in and allowing power supply it normal and totally acceptable. there is a low operating hum but it’s not been noticeable in our trailer and it’s mounted beneath the bed.

This is the 2nd one we have owned, first lasted almost 10 years so no complaints there. Easy to install and hook up. We got the remote reader for it this time, all I can say is get it, they are worth the money.

I bought the hardwired one which is really simple to install. I did end up in a park where the power was fluctuating a lot. This unit has hight and low voltage protection, it kicked my power off a few times at this one park because voltage was to low. Definitely a good investment when you consider how much the appliances in a travel trailer are. I also bout the LCD external digital readout, it's not needed but I wanted to be able to see what the voltage actually is at the time. I put mine behind the cabinets where the electrical runs before the fuse panel. There is a very faint hum from the unit but no one in the family mentioned it and I'm a very lite sleeper and it was fine.

no where near satisfied. the only product i have purchased this year that i will have to return or resell. and going thrugh a major over haul of my setup thats a statement. if you are purchasing this unit to run off a honda generator do not bother. theres a 5% chance that the surge guard will accept the wiring as is. ive rewired the plug had my electrican go over everything. and i even hauled over to my neighbors house and plugged in to see if it was just me. it was a toss up. one outlet worked the other didnt. her house was just rewired so i know it isnt the house.

Exactly what I ordered. The instructions need to be written for the 30 amp version. Not for the 50amp then include ilitrations of the 30amp. I'm hoping my electrician hooked it up correctly.

Installé dans mon class-c. Utilisation facile. Protège bien. En plein ce que je cherchais.

Great product . If campsite power or wired wrong this won,t power up your unit, which it is supposed to do. Total protection I like it.