Surge protector

[camperman1]

Anybody have one of these? I've read where you should get an EMS over just a regular surge protector. This brand was top rated. Quite pricey though. Is there something just as good at a lower price?

 

[DonTom]

Looks like a high-quality unit.

You get what you pay for. Since it costs a few hundred bucks just to fill up an RV gas tank, I cannot see being cheap with other RV related stuff.

That unit costs about the same as a tank of gasoline for an RV. A bit under $300.00 in this case.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Kevin Means]

One suggestion when purchasing a 50 amp EMS... (this comes from personal experience) Get a hard-wired unit - not the kind that plugs into the end of your power cord. I used to have one of those, and one day, I plugged it into a 50 amp pedestal and turned on two of our rooftop AC units. To make a long story short - within seconds, the washing machine's circuit board caught fire, an armature in one of the AC units burned up, sending acrid smoke throughout the coach, the refrigerator's mother board burned up and our Magnum inverter shut down to protect itself. (luckily) There was about $1500.00 in damage.

Our portable EMS was working fine, but unbeknownst to me, the neutral ground wire inside the power cord's plug had broken, which of course is impossible to see. Since the power cord's plug was downstream of the portable EMS unit, the EMS unit couldn't see the problem. The broken ground wire caused upwards of 240 volts to surge down one line of our electrical system causing all the damage.

After repairing everything, I converted the portable unit to a hard-wired unit and installed it where the power cord connections are in the RV. NOW the EMS can detect a broken neutral ground wire in the power cord's plug, and not allow power to flow into the RV. And FWIW, broken wires inside power cord plugs are not terribly unusual to encounter.

Kev

 

[DonTom]

The broken ground wire caused upwards of 240 volts to surge down one line of our electrical system causing all the damage.

You must have had very unbalanced loads for that to happen. And you must mean an open neutral.

You still shouldn't get 240 VAC on a single line. But instead of 120 VAC on each line, if the neutral is open, it could be something like 80 VAC on one line and 160 VAC on the other, depending on the load on each line, still totaling 240 VAC when the loads on each line is very uneven. The neutral keeps each side of each line at 120 VAC as the loads vary.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Larry N.]

Anybody have one of these? I've read where you should get an EMS over just a regular surge protector. This brand was top rated. Quite pricey though. Is there something just as good at a lower price?

As Don says above, you get what you pay for. I learned the hard way, before I knew what these EMS things were - bad power (surges and worse) at a campground caused my rear air conditioner to not work on a Bounder 33. After having the rig in the shop off and on over the summer and early fall, he dealership and Fleetwood jointly discovered that the A/C control board that was mounted in the front A/C was faulty, due to that faulty power. Lots of time, though minimal expense since it was under warranty, and it was a couple of years later before I figured out what caused the problem.

On a different coach, I've had both low voltage and high voltage protection briefly shut off the coach power (leaving me on batteries and inverter), thus avoiding coach damage. For the $300 plus cost (including installation before I picked up the coach), I saved what was potentially several thousand dollars (multiple occurrences) in damage. Cheap insurance...

 

[DutchmenSport]

I've had a Progressive PT50X ever since we've had our current camper. (over 5 years now). I purchased it the same day we took delivery of the camper. It's been plugged in 24x7x356, non stop, except for when we are actually on the road traveling.

It's worked great. Just today (we are in Louisiana at a state historic site), we had thunderstorms and strange power problems. The EMS shut down the camper several times today preventing it from spikes, power lows, and flickering power.

If the power flickers, that is not good for your air conditioners. Shutting down and then immediately turning back on is damaging to them. The Progressive has a 2 minute and 15 second delay when power is restored, this preventing power surges and lows, spikes, and immediate on-off-0on damaging electronics.

Also, in this really HOT Louisiana temperature right now, the electric shore power box seems to be overheating some creating flakey power. The EMS has shut down several times when "things" got too hot. At first, I thought something was going wrong with the EMS, but I realized it was just doing it's job.

Yes, that Progressive EMS has saved our camper on many occasions now. But this last month in Louisiana has been something else! I'm glad we have it!

 

[Bearcatrp]

I have that one now. Works great. You won’t go wrong buying it. Read the manual to understand what each display means. Good luck.

 

[John From Detroit]

I to support the hard wired suggestion.. Plug in units like that it's too easy to say "oh It's just for one night" and forget it (Same for Brake Buddy Aux Brake systrems it's too easy to say "It's not far" and forget it. and regret later).

That is a good one. TRC/Southwire is also a good one. Originally Progressive Industries had a lifetime warranty and only they had it. When Southwire bought TRC they upgraded the warranty. They tend to be a bit less expensive but I've not laid the ratings side by side.
There are multiple things to look at but the marks of a good unit.,
high voltage cut off, Low voltage cutoff How much current can it pass (That's a 50 amp unit, I don't know of any that are lacking in this factor) And this line from the PT-50X sheet
3,580J / 88,000A max current spike

Lots of J and lots of A for the surge protector.

Also are the MOV's replaceable
The Surge Guard (TRC/Southwire) says 4200 joules (Better)

Did not mention max current spike through the MOV's however.

50A Surge Guard Portable Total Electrical Protection 34950

TechnoRV provides the best RV Surge protectors including surge protection for your whole RV from both internal and external surges and frequency variations.

technorv.com

 

[zulu]

Anybody have one of these? I've read where you should get an EMS over just a regular surge protector. This brand was top rated. Quite pricey though. Is there something just as good at a lower price?

It's either Progressive or Southwire's EMS. The advantage of both of these unit's is that they disconnect your RV from the pedestal when things go south. Less expensive units typically just monitor your pedestal and don't disconnect.

Plus, for those summer days when everyone's AC is running and the voltage starts sagging, I recommend the Hughes Autoformer.

 

[L-M-L]

We have had ours for probably 6 years now. It has worked as it should. My brother had a different brand and had problems with it. I told him what we had and he liked what he read about it and bought one for their camper. When they had low power or a surge it disconnected the power.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I will argue the other way on portable vs hardwired. What Kevin experienced is extremely unusual. Cord has to be "rode hard and put away wet" for stuff like that to happen. The issue with the hardwired unit is, when you sell the RV, either you remove it, and that can be difficult and time consuming depending on how it is installed, or, you leave it, and lose your investment.

I installed the hardwired 30 amp progressive unit in my motorhome. A lot of work went into it, making a new, larger plywood mounting, adding recessed T nuts to mount everything, sanding and varnishing it, adel clamps to support the cords, and eventually I sold the motorhome, at which point, the EMS went with it.

With the trailer I bought the Hughes Watchdog portable, and it lays on top of the shore cord in a container in the front cargo pod of the trailer. First thing I do is check the pedestal with a standard circuit tester plugged into a tiny 30 to 15 amp puck, and if it looks and feels good, then I plug in the Watchdog and it shows that the circuit is good, I open the breaker and hook up the shore cord. Breaking down, I trip the breaker and first take the Watchdog to the trailer and then roll up the shore cord, cannot forget to go back for it that way. Doubt I will ever do a hardwired unit again.

Charles

 

[John From Detroit]

In my RV I had installed a Hughes Autoformer. Now look up how that is done.
I installed the Surge Guard (TRC) after the Autoformer by simply adding a short pigtail plug and a short pigtail socket to it. Way easier than a true "hard wire" and when the RV went to the scrap heap after the insurance declared it a total loss.
I simply pulled the plugs and plugged in direct.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

I have the portable Watchdog. Reading this thread, I began to consider having a hardwired unit for ease of setup, one less connection, etc.
However, just this morning on another RV forum, a member was looking for a solution after having a power surge in a campground that fried his hardwired Watchdog. His RV is pretty much dead electrically.
Now, I’m sticking with the portable.

 

[Rene T]

I purchased a 50 amp Progressive because I wanted the luxury of being able to moving it from my 50 amp fifth wheel to my 30 amp truck camper.

 

[Dusty Traveler]

YES, an excellent idea to have a surge protector, but sadly in some parks you need to protect your surge protectors from theft. I've never lost one yet, must be because my wife sits watch in a chair with a shotgun over her lap at the power pole. No, I'm just JOKING.

 

[Rene T]

YES, an excellent idea to have a surge protector, but sadly in some parks you need to protect your surge protectors from theft. I've never lost one yet, must be because my wife sits watch in a chair with a shotgun over her lap at the power pole. No, I'm just JOKING.

The Progressive Industries portable surge protector has a steel plate attached to the cable and it has a hole in it so you can lock it to a pedestal using a chain/cable with a padlock. But if a thief wants it they’ll get it no matter what you do.

 

[Kirk]

I've read where you should get an EMS over just a regular surge protector.

When you get a surge protector you only gain protection from things like lightning strikes, while any of the EMS type devices have far more protection capabilities. Pretty much all of the different brands have the ability to protect your RV from things like open neutrals and voltage sag, both of which are far more common than power surges. I made a career of electrical maintenance and repair and would not use an expensive RV without one of the devices.

As to what brand is best, Surge Guard was the first product of that kind for RVs and it was followed by Progressive. Today there are several other brands that seem to be just as good as either of those and often for a lower price. I suggest that you get the technical rating of several of them and compare them, looking for the larger numbers as you don't have to be an expert to know that larger numbers mean greater protection. I would choose the best priced device that has comparable numbers. As to hard wired, compared to portable, each has it's advantages but with a hardwired device you must add the cost of installing it. I have used a portable one for more than 20 years.

 

[DonTom]

while any of the EMS type devices have far more protection capabilities.

Yep. EMS= Electrical Management System. Manages a lot more than only electrical surges.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[1stimerver]

We've had our PI 30 amp hard wired unit for about 8 years now and it has repeatedly proven to be a great investment. It has a screen that lets you know the status of the unit, which can be remotely mounted and makes it easy to see the status of your power supply.

It turned out to be very easy to install and has protected us from low voltage, general surges, and mis-wired campground wiring.

I also like the idea that it is one less thing I have to remember when setting up or breaking camp and never have to worry about it being stolen.

Safe travels and all the best.

 

[DonTom]

I am neutral (as rare as that is) on the hard wired vs. portable. Either way has its advantages and disadvantages.

So I just keep mine as portable, not that I am against the hard-wired idea.

-Don- Reno, NV