Power strip surge protectors

[Mary]

The previous NMC all in one unit I had would not accept a power strip with surge protection; it had to be one of those cruiseship-safe non-surge protector ones. I assumed it as because it had protection already built in and adding another one on top of that was hazardous in some way but I'm not entirely clear on that. Is this typical of all in one devices? I'm using a different one now, and I'm shopping for a power strip. Do I need to get a non-surge power strip? Why?

 

[RCinFLA]

My guess is the power strip has EMI filtering with capacitors to ground pin that the inverter does not like, causing a GFI ground fault trip.

Some surge suppressor power strips put MOV's across hot-neutral and two more between neutral-ground and hot-ground. This is just like a capacitor to ground pin.

If you plug strip into a bathroom outlet does it trip GFI ? GFI's spec is 5 mA leakage max to trip but there is a lot of variation below this number. I have measured GFI's only needing a leakage to ground of 100 uA.

 

[Mary]

My guess is the power strip has EMI filtering with capacitors to ground pin that the inverter does not like, causing a GFI ground fault trip.

Some surge suppressor power strips put MOV's across hot-neutral and two more between neutral-ground and hot-ground. This is just like a capacitor to ground pin.

If you plug strip into a bathroom outlet does it trip GFI ? GFI's spec is 5 mA leakage max to trip but there is a lot of variation below this number. I have measured GFI's only needing a leakage to ground of 100 uA.

I don't have that strip OR that power station anymore. I'm speaking generally. I know you can't use a surge protector on a cruise ship because of fire risk due to (I think I'm understanding this correctly) a conflict between the strip's protection and the ship's protection because the strip doesn't interrupt circuits the same way?. Here's an article about it. I have never heard anyone mention this in relation to solar power but I know my old power strip with surge protection caused my old power station to shut down so I stopped using it. I'm just trying to find out if this is a "thing" or if it as unique to that particular device. https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/TVNCOE/Documents/SafetyAlerts/SurgeProtectiveDevices.pdf

 

[Bud Martin]

The previous NCM all in one unit I had would not accept a power strip with surge protection; it had to be one of those cruiseship-safe non-surge protector ones. I assumed it as because it had protection already built in and adding another one on top of that was hazardous in some way but I'm not entirely clear on that. Is this typical of all in one devices? I'm using a different one now, and I'm shopping for a power strip. Do I need to get a non-surge power strip? Why?

What is the make and model of that unit?

 

[Mary]

What is the make and model of that unit?

I don't remember the model, it's not being made anymore, it was Kyng Power but it was a rebranded generic, I'm pretty sure. But the point is, I'm trying to figure out if surge protection in power strips is an issue, in general, going forward. This is a general question, it's not specific to the power unit OR the strip.

 

[Bud Martin]

I have surge/over-under Voltage protection strips on the AC input and AC output of my MPP Solar All in one with no issue.
Did the unit give fault code when the power station shut down?

 

[Mary]

I have surge/over-under Voltage protection strips on the AC input and AC output of my MPP Solar All in one with no issue.

OK, thanks.

 

[Mary]

I have surge/over-under Voltage protection strips on the AC input and AC output of my MPP Solar All in one with no issue.
Did the unit give fault code when the power station shut down?

I don't remember. It as a year ago. I'm not asking about that device, though. If you look at the linked article from the Coast Guard about why it's an issue on ships, I'm inquiring whether there is a similar issue with solar. If there isn't, there isn't. I'm not trying to troubleshoot a specific problem. I'm just asking a question, and it sounds like the answer is no, it's not an issue.

 

[Bud Martin]

That article is dealing with how the power system are wired so you have to use appropriate SPD:
The primary concern of this alert is to ensure electrical protection devices such as SPDs operate correctly with the manner in which the 120 volt receptacle circuitry onboard the vessel is wired. Receptacle circuitry may be wired in Delta or WYE configurations. Using a voltmeter, a marine electrical professional will note that a Delta wired circuit will read the voltage across the terminals as shown in the image on the right. The Delta configuration has two hot leads one at +/-60 VAC, the other at +/- 60 VAC, simultaneously to provide the 120 VAC potential. Here lies the problem with inexpensive and older SPDs that only disconnect one “hot” terminal lead. The other “hot” terminal remains hot if the circuit breaker supplying the receptacle and SPD does not trip.
A marine electrical professional using a voltmeter on a WYE wired circuit will read voltage across the terminals as shown in the image on the left. For a WYE configuration 120 VAC is established between the hot terminal and the neutral terminal and the hot terminal and the ground terminal of the receptacle.

For my MPP Solar SCC/INVERTER, the Neutral is connected to ground via Ground relay (your home AC system has Neutral Bonded to Ground at the Main breaker panel) so Neutral to Ground is 0VAC thus I can use my typical power strip which when the circuit breaker trip it will disconnect the Hot wire only.

 

[Mary]

That article is dealing with how the power system are wired:
The primary concern of this alert is to ensure electrical protection devices such as SPDs operate correctly with the manner in which the 120 volt receptacle circuitry onboard the vessel is wired. Receptacle circuitry may be wired in Delta or WYE configurations. Using a voltmeter, a marine electrical professional will note that a Delta wired circuit will read the voltage across the terminals as shown in the image on the right. The Delta configuration has two hot leads one at +/-60 VAC, the other at +/- 60 VAC, simultaneously to provide the 120 VAC potential. Here lies the problem with inexpensive and older SPDs that only disconnect one “hot” terminal lead. The other “hot” terminal remains hot if the circuit breaker supplying the receptacle and SPD does not trip.
A marine electrical professional using a voltmeter on a WYE wired circuit will read voltage across the terminals as shown in the image on the left. For a WYE configuration 120 VAC is established between the hot terminal and the neutral terminal and the hot terminal and the ground terminal of the receptacle.

For my MPP Solar SCC/INVERTER, the Neutral is connected to ground via Ground relay so Neutral to Ground is 0VAC thus I can use my typical power strip which the circuit breaker trip and disconnect the Hot wire only.

OK. Then the answer is no, it's not an issue. Thanks, that's all I'm trying to find out. The article is over my head, but I try to err on the side of caution which is why I brought the question here.