# Power Line Conditioners?



## motormonkey (Jul 10, 2016)

The water heater, refrigerator, and the outlet circuits for the wifi and computer systems in my house are wired into a Reliance transfer switch/sub panel which can be fed from a 30 amp plug box outside, where I plug in my trusty old Generac 7200 watt generator during power outages. The genny is of course NOT an inverter type.

I've looked at the output of the generator on my o'scope and on a distortion analyzer, and the output looks fairly clean. It's never damaged any equipment it has powered. I'm just wondering if a little power line conditioning might be a good idea anyway. Anybody out there using anything like that for basic protection? If so, what kind? How's it working for you?


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## ToolLover (Jan 13, 2020)

I looked around. One that looked great with meters clearly stated it was not for use on US 220.
Then this one:








Amazon.com: 3000 Watt Step Up/Down Voltage Converter Transformer AVR-3000, 5 Year Warranty, Fuse Protection and Automatic Voltage Regulator - Two Way Transformer - 110 to 220 V or 220 to 110 V 110/120/220/240V : Electronics


Amazon.com: 3000 Watt Step Up/Down Voltage Converter Transformer AVR-3000, 5 Year Warranty, Fuse Protection and Automatic Voltage Regulator - Two Way Transformer - 110 to 220 V or 220 to 110 V 110/120/220/240V : Electronics



www.amazon.com




It had a four star rating.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

avr for the grid as well as generator is a good idea!

it all depends on what you are wanting to protect from
apc makes solutions..
and up to REAL power..
I use the little 1500 and 3000 watt units...
and LARGE battery array.
custom built.

yea surge protection as well on the system here for both grid and gen system
that has saved me from some grief with power pole hits as well as lightning this 2020 year.

I like avr for each device.
big bucks.. but it works.


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## Airstreamer67 (Oct 3, 2020)

I use a Surge Guard unit that is popular with the RV crowd to gain some protection from iffy campground power, which is often delivered via old, overloaded and poorly maintained distribution systems. On a number of occasions over the last few decades, the Surge Guard has disconnected my RV from the campground service due to various problems, often related to voltage sags or spikes and wrongly wired or burned out receptacles.

A few years ago I also began using a 50 amp Surge Guard unit to protect my home from problems with the generator due to such things as high or low voltages and such, which can happen when things go bad with the gen-set. The Surge Guard also helps protect the generator from me, too, as more than once I have run out of fuel, and the Surge Guard terminates service as soon as the voltage falls below 102V as the generator falters. I believe this is good for the generator by preventing it from being damaged by the load under such conditions. 

The Surge Guard is wired into the generator-to-home circuit via standard L14-30 connectors. The Surge Guard plugs into the generator 240-volt circuit, and my home's entrance panel disconnect switch is plugged into the Surge Guard. The unit terminates service when voltages drop below 102V or rises above 132V on either of the two 120V legs coming off the generator. 

It is designed to do other things as well, such as provide protection from surges, reversed polarity, etc.

It's probably a relatively coarse device compared to units designed to finely "condition" power and rid it of various harmonics, but since I have it and use it to protect my RV from errant campground service, it just seems to make sense for me to use it to protect my home from errant generator service as well.


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

Airstreamer67 said:


> I use a Surge Guard unit that is popular with the RV crowd to gain some protection from iffy campground power, which is often delivered via old, overloaded and poorly maintained distribution systems. On a number of occasions over the last few decades, the Surge Guard has disconnected my RV from the campground service due to various problems, often related to voltage sags or spikes and wrongly wired or burned out receptacles.
> 
> A few years ago I also began using a 50 amp Surge Guard unit to protect my home from problems with the generator due to such things as high or low voltages and such, which can happen when things go bad with the gen-set. The Surge Guard also helps protect the generator from me, too, as more than once I have run out of fuel, and the Surge Guard terminates service as soon as the voltage falls below 102V as the generator falters. I believe this is good for the generator by preventing it from being damaged by the load under such conditions.
> 
> ...


I really like the idea of the Surge Guard 50A – Model 34951 to use for my 15,000 watt generator for home backup power. Reading the documentation for this, it appears that the Surge Guard will not allow power to the output side to the house if the generator has a floating neutral.
My neutral is bonded at the main disconnect panel at the meter. My service panel in the house, has the manual lockout transfer switch, so this requires me to have a floating neutral on the generator.
Surge Guard says the generator must have the neutral bonded in the generator before it will allow power to the RV (or my house in this case). 
Is this correct?


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

Old man here said:


> I really like the idea of the Surge Guard 50A – Model 34951 to use for my 15,000 watt generator for home backup power. Reading the documentation for this, it appears that the Surge Guard will not allow power to the output side to the house if the generator has a floating neutral.


After doing more research on RV forums, which discuss Surge Guards in depth, it is made clear that these cannot be used with a floating neutral generator. 
That is one of the condition checks these units check for when you connect your RV to outside power at your parking spot. 
It will not allow power to pass thru to the RV if the power pole at your parking spot has any faults such as an open neutral.

I was interested in this unit because of the overvoltage/ under voltage protection. It cuts power to the house very quickly if voltage goes above about 305V or below 105V.

I have a friend that fried all of his appliances when the AVR failed on his generator and started producing 350V output.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

rv powered as a stand alone on generator should have a bonded generator with a ground stake at the generator.
same as a construction site.


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

iowagold said:


> rv powered as a stand alone on generator should have a bonded generator with a ground stake at the generator.
> same as a construction site.


I'm well aware of that. Plenty of RV time under my belt.


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Old man here said:


> I have a friend that fried all of his appliances when the AVR failed on his generator and started producing 350V output.


One of the several reasons I use a GenerLink ATS with whole-house Surge Protection: GenerLink 40 Amp Meter Mounted Transfer Switch with 75kA Per Phase Surge Protection-MA24-S - The Home Depot


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## Old man here (Nov 5, 2020)

tabora said:


> One of the several reasons I use a GenerLink ATS with whole-house Surge Protection: GenerLink 40 Amp Meter Mounted Transfer Switch with 75kA Per Phase Surge Protection-MA24-S - The Home Depot


Thanks for the link. Wow that is a pricy device!
My system is already setup, wired to my indoor breaker box - interlock switch, and an outdoor 50 AMP female connector.
I don't think that would protect from over voltage or under voltage, which I am more interested in.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

as tab stated yup a generlink works well for under 40 amp back up systems!
easy setup if your utility company will let you run one!
and get the version with the surge protection!


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## Raiin (Apr 14, 2021)

I've been living alone in the neighborhood for several years. S I use a small medium-power generator for my fridge and TV. I think it never hurts to protect yourself and your property from a fire, which can be caused by overvoltage in the network, power surges when someone shoves their welding machine into the socket and so on. It is better to be ready for everything than to fix everything and sit by the burned-out TV. I see that a little higher they already wrote about Surge Guard, which saves from overvoltage and turns off the network automatically. Not a bad solution And it is even better to always stock up not only on the means of cooling the generator, but also a normal air duct in the house. So as not to breathe any slag from the road. Sometimes these things overheat and get clogged, so I have to call cleaning services, but I somehow do not worry and call Duct Cleaning, Sanitation&Repair


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## exmar (Jun 29, 2015)

At the risk of starting a range war with the inverter generator enthusiasts, I mentioned in another post that I was adding a power line conditioner to my Frig and Freezer. What attracted me to these is the four minute delay until power is up and steady. We have far fewer outages that we did even ten years ago, however, power blips and on-offs are still with us due to the number of "reclosers" on our utility circuit. Those are not good for items with compressors. Last outage I brought out the open frame generac and all was good, except the units wouldn't feed power to the appliances? Unplugged and plugged in directly and they started up, no issues. Evidently the unit thought the generac power was too dirty or something. After the outage, restored them. I still maintain that appliances, including sensitive electronics are designed to exist in a very dirty electrical environment. 









Amazon.com: Voltage Protector Brownout Surge Refrigerator 1800 Watts Appliance : Electronics


Buy Voltage Protector Brownout Surge Refrigerator 1800 Watts Appliance: Surge Protectors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



www.amazon.com


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

yea the power jerking on and off is a real pain....
that is why on the ats gen sets you can set the time to reconnect to the grid...
or make it as a manual only reconnect or reset to grid..

i use the main breaker box surge protection as the front line for spikes...
then ups units for the jerking power...
and have 15 min time start delays on all compressors..

there is no sure fire fix for bad power....
but yes the power conditioners sure help! and on tv gear as well as computer gear it is a must!
lots of brands are good.... 
we have a few triplett units and some other gear that they use for music stage use.

look in to compressor time delay units and you can feed those in to LARGE contactors field for breaking power for large items with a restore power delay...


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## Crossout11 (Jul 31, 2021)

It is a very cool device, but my experience shows me that it needs to be cleaned regularly. I can say that cleaning such things is much easier and faster than cleaning an apartment. That is why I stopped wasting time and effort on cleaning and entrusting this to professionals from the cleaning service. Finding qualified professionals is not easy, but at https://www.emop.co.uk/clapham-cleaner, I found specialists in my city.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

Crossout11 said:


> how do i connect this to a generator ??


welcome to the group!
what brand and model of gen set are you working with?
and what are you powering with the gen set?

if you are doing an rv as a stand alone unit to be powered with a generator.
all generators have a frame ground screw marked with the earth symbol for the green ground stake wire.
we us a 10 gauge fine stranded green wire with #10 lug to 1/4 bolt eye on the gen side and a #10 to 3/8 bolt lug on the ground stake side.
and use the proper brass ground stake bolt assy to clamp on to the ground stake.

if you are in a state park etc. watch where you drive the stake so you do not hit any utilities.
do a locate first.
same if it is at your property.
do a locate first.
most states it is now the law on the locates before digging or driving posts etc.
ours here is 811 on any phone.
and the locate service is free.


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