Surge protectors

[ewlee]

I had a Progressive Industries on both my old coaches and agree the important thing is to have a level of protection to protect the various coach systems. The question is if anybody with a LADP or MADP with Silverleaf have had any problems with the 40100 ATS and the Progressive Industries unit. Newmar believes there is a problem between the three systems but does not have an alternative solution for us yet. We are trying to be proactive in solving this issue.

[freen03]

Originally Posted by ewlee

We are currently going through our FPU with our 2017 LADP. The coach has a Surge Guard 40100 ATS. This transfer switch has zero surge protection, zero reverse polarity, zero miss-wired pedestal, zip-zero-nada. You would think Newmar would do better than this. We are trying to get a Progressive industries HW50C installed, but Newmar is reluctant due to interference they think there will be between either the Surge Guard unit or Silverleaf and the Progressive Industries unit. Has anybody had this issue in a Mountain Aire or London Aire with Silverleaf. Our alternative solution is maybe installing the 35550 if they can solve a LADP Silverleaf interface.

We picked up our 2017 London Aire at the factory in Oct 2016. We have the portable Progressive and we have not had a problem at all. Don't forget it does have about a 2 minute delay before the transfer switch is activated. My dealer Midway RV has been installing the Progressives on Newmars with no problem.

[DHart]

Originally Posted by ewlee

We are currently going through our FPU with our 2017 LADP. The coach has a Surge Guard 40100 ATS. This transfer switch has zero surge protection, zero reverse polarity, zero miss-wired pedestal, zip-zero-nada. You would think Newmar would do better than this. We are trying to get a Progressive industries HW50C installed, but Newmar is reluctant due to interference they think there will be between either the Surge Guard unit or Silverleaf and the Progressive Industries unit. Has anybody had this issue in a Mountain Aire or London Aire with Silverleaf. Our alternative solution is maybe installing the 35550 if they can solve a LADP Silverleaf interface.

Right. The transfer switch is simply a transfer switch, installed to automatically transfer power from shore power to generator power. There is no expectation, implied or otherwise, that such a transfer switch would provide surge protection or other electronic protective features.

As far as what Newmar could do, sure they could also install a surge protection device and that would be nice if they did. American Coach installs a combined transfer switch and electronic protection device on their Revolution coach, the TRC Surge Guard 40250 (or updated version of the same). Newmar could spend a few more bucks and do the same.

As far as the Silverleaf system is involved, I have no knowledge of that as our coach does not have that system. I would imagine there are a whole level of other complexities involved with that system.

I was told by my Newmar dealer that Newmar recommends using the TRCI Surge Guard 35550 unit in my Ventana 4369, so that's what we decided to go with. I don't have enough experience with it yet to provide user feedback.

[georgeaz]

Originally Posted by ewlee

We are currently going through our FPU with our 2017 LADP. The coach has a Surge Guard 40100 ATS. This transfer switch has zero surge protection, zero reverse polarity, zero miss-wired pedestal, zip-zero-nada. You would think Newmar would do better than this. We are trying to get a Progressive industries HW50C installed, but Newmar is reluctant due to interference they think there will be between either the Surge Guard unit or Silverleaf and the Progressive Industries unit. Has anybody had this issue in a Mountain Aire or London Aire with Silverleaf. Our alternative solution is maybe installing the 35550 if they can solve a LADP Silverleaf interface.

I got the Autoformer with surge protection built in. I sent to Newmar and they installed it on my LADP while I was there.

https://hughesautoformers.com/produc...ter-and-surge/

This way I can protect against low voltage with the benefit of a surge protector. Not sure if that meets your needs, but wanted to share.

G

[jimbo2013]

Why would you spend twice as much on an Autoformer over a Progressive unit?

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by jimbo2013

Why would you spend twice as much on an Autoformer over a Progressive unit?

Progressive units are not Autoformers.........and do not "Boost" the voltage in a low voltage condition, thus the reason for double the cost.

[Canuck53]

Does the Autoformer with surge protection do the exact same thing as the Progressive unit? All the same checks etc?

[Yosemite77]

You can't go wrong with Progressive Industries. Hard wiring it in is the way to go. PI provides good directions. I would describe it as an easy installation. As a matter of fact I spent more time deciding where to locate the unit than I did hooking it up.
We came back to our trailer after an outing during a stay in the Black Hills to find that the power had been cutoff to our trailer. The voltage was all over the place, running both high and low. The problem turned out to be a bad neutral at the post. Without the Progressive Industries unit I'm sure we would have sustained some damage. Our AC and refrigerator were both running at the time. If you are on the fence on buying one think of it as cheap insurance.

[georgeaz]

Originally Posted by Canuck53

Does the Autoformer with surge protection do the exact same thing as the Progressive unit? All the same checks etc?

As was stated earlier, this unit deals with both low voltage as well as having a surge protector built in. I think a lot of people damage their equipment because of low voltage, like your AC in the dead of summer, without ever knowing it. Most parks are way overloaded when everyone has their AC units cranking. Thus, the Autoformer was a must for me. I did get the unit that had surge built in. You have to order from them directly for the dual version vs Amazon.

Good info is here. Protect Your RV From Low Voltage with a Hughes Autoformer

I don't know if it has the exact same protection as the Progressive. Might be worth calling them. I can say this is a high quality and well built device. If anyone knows the answer, please post back. Thx.

G

[Canuck53]

The autoformer does the voltage bump but I was wondering about the surge and other checks. Maybe Autoformer has more detailed info in the manual.

Nope checked user guide no discussion on the voltage/line other than boosting. Only the picture of the front of the unit to show issues.

[georgeaz]

Originally Posted by Canuck53

The autoformer does the voltage bump but I was wondering about the surge and other checks. Maybe Autoformer has more detailed info in the manual.

Nope checked user guide no discussion on the voltage/line other than boosting. Only the picture of the front of the unit to show issues.

If you go to the homepage here you can see what the lights indicate.

Missing ground
Reverse Polarity
Missing Neutral
Plus Surge

https://hughesautoformers.com/

Hope that helps.

G

[Canuck53]

I will have a look at the Progressive site and compare. Thanks

[DHart]

It would seem as though an autoformer with surge protection and other protections is worth the extra money. If you have low voltage with a surge protector, it cuts off the power entirely. If you have low voltage with an autoformer, to a point, it can boost the voltage and keep the power going.

[SailorSam]

From what I've read, the Progressive unit adds over and under current protection and better info display. If current in the campground drops below the level the Autoformer can compensate for, the Progressive unit will shut things down. Consensus is that your setup is power source, Autoformer, Progressive, RV.