Surge Protectors

[wracinti]

Looking to replace my 12 yo surge protector. What does everyone like for surge protection and detecting bad wiring at the pedestal?

[TDL]

Progressive as primary. I also just purchased a Hughes Autoformer because we tend to stay at older campgrounds / state parks that have low voltage during high demand periods.

TDL

[cavie]

Be aware that a surge protector and an Ems and an autotransformer a 3 different types of equipment.

Surge Protector is an often misused term.

Surface protector is a generic term for a one use device to stop very high surges only. It takes a hit and you throw it away. It will tell you what is wrong with the system but will do nothing to protect you from any other type of damages such as low voltage.

EMS is a energy management system. It will turn off the power in cases of miss wired pedestals, low voltage, high voltage etc.. It will turn it back on when voltage is within parameters.

Autotransformer is just that. A transformer that increases voltage by about 10 % to help keep the A/C running. Low voltage is death for an A/C. It will give you readouts about conditions and possibly have built in surge protection but nothing else.

No one device does it all.

You have better odds hitting the lottery in a campground than getting a surge. Low voltage and miss wired and loose connections at the ped on the other hand is very common. Do your research and choose the on that you think it right for you.

My choice would be auto trans at the ped first then EMS then to the coach.
Auto trans will keep the voltage up and the EMS would not have to shut it down.

[reubenray]

Progressive

[TheRod]

Progressive EMS

[Hugh Jass]

Progressive industries.

[oregonhiker]

Progressive for both the quality and outstanding customer service. We have always used their hardwired model in each of our coaches and love the peace of mind.

[GaryKD]

Hi wracinti,
Surge Guard for me. Been installed since 2005.

[TonyDi]

I've had a Progressive for 10 years and it leads the pack.

[TomAndPeg]

Wracinti:

I recently upgraded to a Hughes RV-220-50-SP autoformer with surge protection. It's a 50 AMP model. They also have a 30 AMP version.

I've been to a lot of campgrounds over the years and only experienced one surge event; thankfully we survived it. But since I started monitoring the voltage I get in real time, I've seen a lot of voltage dips and a number of brown outs (extreme low voltage events). That's why I went with an autoformer. It will boost my voltage as needed up to 10%, and if the voltage drops even too low for the autoformer, it will shut down.

Voltage quality varies from place to place as much as water quality; it's very localized. Running your AC or a heat pump or a residential fridge on low voltage can cause those to overheat, reducing the life expectancies of such appliances or even worse.

Now I'm protected if the voltage drops or surges. An autoformer with surge protection is expensive, but I view it as cheap insurance when compared to repairing or replacing expensive appliances.

Good luck!

[handstjg]

2008 Kountry Star 3910
I was given an older Hughes Auto Transformer by a friend. I decided to hookup a Volt meter at the transfer switch to check the voltage at the transfer switch. I was shocked at the poor terminations made on the incoming #6 SO cord. Please do yourself a favor and REMOVE each cable and check for a proper termination. It's not a walk in the park dealing with fine stranded #6 has it's challenges especially stripping the proper length without cutting the strands and then getting each strand back into the terminal takes time and patience. These pictures speak for themselves. Luck is not a very good quality control especially when it comes to electricity.

[FLJOE]

We have had two EMS systems hard wired in RVs in the past and of course those current owners are enjoying those benefits now.

On my last two RVs I'm using the plug-n-play protection at the pedestal. If I ever get rid of this Ventana I'll be taking protection with me.