The RV Gear We Wish We Had Bought Sooner

By: Caly J. Behymer – Editor in Chief

There are some pieces of RV gear you buy because they’re convenient, some because they make life easier and a few because they can potentially save you thousands of dollars.

For us, the Power Watchdog falls very firmly into that last category.

And this is not one of those situations where we started using something because a company advertised with us. Long before Hughes Autoformers ever became an advertising partner with RV Destinations, we owned a Power Watchdog because we had already learned the hard way what bad campground power can do to an RV.

Twice, actually.

Before we bought one, we had two separate incidents where power issues at RV parks fried air-conditioning motherboards. And when I say fried, I mean literally fried them to a crisp. After paying for that lesson more than once, we finally got smart and decided maybe trusting every campground pedestal with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics wasn’t the greatest plan.

Enter the Power Watchdog.

Since then, ours has shut things down and alerted us to bad power on multiple occasions, and every single time I’m reminded why this is one piece of gear I would never RV without.

One experience in particular completely sold us.

We plugged in at an RV park and the Power Watchdog immediately detected a problem. From the error code, we could see that it wasn’t detecting a neutral coming from the campground power. Instead of simply knowing, “Hey, something is wrong,” we were able to tell the RV park maintenance crew exactly what the Watchdog was seeing.

They started tracing the issue and eventually found the problem at one of the park’s main breakers.

After they repaired it, the maintenance guys actually thanked us. They told us that without knowing they were specifically looking for a neutral issue, they could have spent hours trying to track down what was wrong.

That was a pretty good day to own a Power Watchdog.

It Does More Than Catch a Power Surge

I think “surge protector” sometimes undersells what the better Power Watchdog models actually do. The EPO versions continuously analyze incoming campground power and can automatically cut power to the RV if they detect unsafe conditions such as high or low voltage, open neutral, open ground, reverse polarity and other electrical faults. Once conditions return to normal, the system can automatically restore power after its built-in delay.

There’s also an app, which is one of my favorite features because you can monitor voltage, amperage and wattage rather than simply plugging into the pedestal and hoping for the best. The Power Watchdog also uses error codes to tell you why it is unhappy, which is exactly what helped us diagnose that campground neutral problem.

Another feature I really like is the replaceable surge module. If the unit takes a significant surge, you don’t necessarily have to throw away the entire Power Watchdog and start over. The surge module itself can be replaced.

Which Power Watchdog?

Hughes offers Power Watchdog models for both 30-amp and 50-amp RVs, with standard surge-protection models as well as EPO versions that add the automatic emergency shutoff protection. Hardwired versions are also available if you would rather have the protection permanently installed inside the RV.

They’ve also introduced the Gen II Power Watchdog, and this is probably the newer one you’re thinking of. The portable Gen II design is more of an enclosed box-style unit rather than the traditional hanging dog-bone configuration. It adds built-in Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth, a protected side-entry receptacle, a lockable receptacle door and mobile fault alerts. There are 30-amp and 50-amp versions, with both standard and EPO options.

For me, though, the biggest selling point isn’t any particular feature. It’s what hasn’t happened since we started using one.

We haven’t been standing inside an RV smelling burnt electronics and wondering how much this repair is going to cost us.

There are plenty of RV accessories I love because they make camping more comfortable or convenient, but the Power Watchdog is different. It sits between campground power and our coach every time we plug in, quietly checking the one thing I no longer blindly trust.

Because after two fried A/C motherboards, I’ve officially learned my lesson.

The Watchdog gets plugged in first. Then the RV.