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Old 11-12-2005, 10:01 AM   #1
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I want to get a surge supressor for the motorhome. I want a 30 amp portable unit.

I would like one that is economical. I have questions like is possible for a unit to be used by resetting or whatever after a surge?

I am looking at the Progressive Industries 30 amp Smart Surge. Any helpful opinions or experiences you may share is appreciated
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Old 11-12-2005, 10:01 AM   #2
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I want to get a surge supressor for the motorhome. I want a 30 amp portable unit.

I would like one that is economical. I have questions like is possible for a unit to be used by resetting or whatever after a surge?

I am looking at the Progressive Industries 30 amp Smart Surge. Any helpful opinions or experiences you may share is appreciated
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Old 11-12-2005, 07:21 PM   #3
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If you are asking whether the surge suppressor is destroyed when it suppresses a surge, the answer is generally "no". Automatic units like the Smart Surge will reset themselves and can be used again, as long as its surge protection circuitry was not totally overwhelmed by the surge. That's where the "Joule" rating comes in - the higher the Joule rating number, the larger a surge can be successfully handled.

If the suppressor cannot handle the size of the surge one or both of two things will happen: (1) someor all of the surge will pass through to whatever is plugged into the suppressor, possibly damaging it and/or (2) the suppressor itself will be "fried" and will no longer be usable - it will have dies trying to defend you.

Most surge suppressors employ electronic devices called MOVs and these will "wear out" over time. Each surge handled takes a little of the life of the MOVs and eventually the suppressor loses the capability to protect much of anything. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell.
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Old 11-13-2005, 02:17 AM   #4
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You may want to check out the Surge Guard as it also has a built in time delay as well as the ability to check to be sure the pedastal is wired correctly. I highly recommend the use of these devices to protect all the electronic componets that are now in these RVs. They are not cheap but in comparison to the cost of replacing everything else worth the cost.
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Old 11-13-2005, 04:58 AM   #5
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RV Wizard gave you great advice as to a brand, the Surge Guard brand by TRC of Florida is an excellent company and they product top quality.

Now for the heat of to your topic. "You get what you pay for" and when it comes to security of your coach's electrical system, being cheap does not cut the muster. If there is one item that every coach should have, it is a good surge protection device... "Never connect to ANY shore power without a surge protection device on/in line" and always trip the breaker "OFF" when connecting or disconnecting to the power source.

Now, as history has proven itself, you'll probably move up into a newer coach sometime in the future. I would highly recommend that you buy a 50 amp unit now. It doesn't cost all that much more, but it will save you from having to ever buy another one. And, 30 amp service will work perfectly on a 50 amp uint. Once you buy a 30 amp surge device, thats all that unit can handle, but if you buy the 50 amp unit, your covered for both services.

Good Surge Protection Devices are extremely sophisticated, and they should be. TRC
(Technology Research Corp.) manufactures some of the highest quality products available and they are extremely simple to use.

I don't work for TRC, but my 50 Amp TRC Surge Guard has been working for me for more then 3 years non-stop. One of the last things I ever want to happen, is for my coach to experience a voltage spike or a brown out. The electrical systems in our coaches are not designed or capable of working in either of those electrical conditions without causing major problems.

You can either pay now, or pay much more later.

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Old 11-13-2005, 05:08 AM   #6
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e have a TRC 50 amp on our pesent coach. On our old coach we had a Huges Autoformer which will handle some surge. We were camped at a Florida State park,one of the lines took a surge. Our friend had his Autoformer fried. The camp host who had nothing, had his coach fried. microwave,tv's,frige, a very expensive and sad thing to happen. Get one and it will be there when you need it.
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Old 11-13-2005, 05:39 AM   #7
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Since most damage done by campground power is done by under voltage rather than over voltage I would purchase an Autoformer rather than a surge suppressor.

Copied from Camping World's website:

"Avoid brownout damage by boosting the park voltage to your RV. Autoformers have increased capacity, with a fully automatic 10% boost when needed. Internal transformer increases volts and lowers amps, while sophisticated circuitry monitors power levels and boosts if power is less than 117 volts. Includes park power diagnostic light, as well as boost indicater lights for both lines, spike and surge protection and polarity and ground test functions. Weatherproof. UL listed components. USA"
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Old 11-13-2005, 07:29 AM   #8
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I would choose a Surge Protector over the Autoformer. I can detect undervoltage myself and it has to be sustained for awhile to do any damage (and then only to motors or compressors, of which there are few in an RV). A surge, on the other hand, is common and can't be seen or acted on before the damage is done.
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Old 11-15-2005, 05:42 AM   #9
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Thanks for the advice!

After getting the advice here, we decided to get the Progressive Industries Energy management System (30 amp). In the past I ad a problem with a mis wired Power company pole supplying my portion of the campground. We all of course have been in areas where there are at east electrical storms.

I chose the 30amp model as my last two new units had that option with the power management system. This works well for me as the 50 amp cord is such a bugger to handle.
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Old 11-16-2005, 03:17 AM   #10
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Just kidding, but you made your mind up as to what you were going to buy in your topic. There really wasn't any discussion about Progessive from us. You didn't have to buy a 50 amp cord, just an adapter.

Just keep in mind, that if you leave it hanging from a pedestal and not secured, someone else might want it more then you.

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Old 11-16-2005, 05:48 AM   #11
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What I changed based on the input was that i went from a surge supressor($87.00 to a unit that handles low and high voltage wiring problems, etc($283 at RVupgrades). this unit is similar to the surge guard. The specs are a little different and it comes with a lock bracket as part of the unit. surge guard sells a seperate lock bracket for $26- at camping World.
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Old 11-16-2005, 02:17 PM   #12
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DS, I'm proud of you just the same. At least you reconized that there is a potential for serious damage and you want to protect your investment. I guess all the preaching I have done, has sunk in to some. Lets hope that others don't make the mistake of waiting to see what happens, then it's too late.

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