Protecting From Shore Power

Rockhouse · 08-27-2008, 06:58 PM

Technology Research Corp's Surge Guard and the EMS Power Protection series from Progressive Industries are two comparable, I think, products. There may be others. Maybe even at less cost.

Any opinions on this concept and the actual protection needed in the real world?

Rockhouse · 08-27-2008, 06:58 PM

Technology Research Corp's Surge Guard and the EMS Power Protection series from Progressive Industries are two comparable, I think, products. There may be others. Maybe even at less cost.

Any opinions on this concept and the actual protection needed in the real world?

j griff · 08-27-2008, 07:06 PM

Rockhouse,
Many of us think they are more than worth while and have them. You will find a large number of posts if you search using "surge guard" or "progressive power protection".
Good luck

becks · 08-28-2008, 04:43 AM

I feel they are a must have for the money. A little more insurance if you will. I have the Pro Inds hard wired model with the inside monitor.

John_Canfield · 08-28-2008, 04:43 AM

One of the first items we bought/installed for our then new coach was a hard-wired surge guard. We now have about 37,000 miles of camping experiences under our belt. My evaluation of the surge guard is very positive.

The most frequent situations I have encountered are power pedestal problems - no power or one side open of 50 amp service. A quick glance of the indicator lights quickly advises of the problem without breaking out the meter. The other advantage is the surge guard is always 'on duty' monitoring for problems.

DriVer (Mike aka 'Sparky') found out a direct lightning strike will bypass the surge guard and still cause problems - Mike wrote up several posts about his en-lightning experience

Doug Sage · 08-28-2008, 04:50 AM

I, too, have a Surge Guard which I hard wired into my rig as soon as I got it. We were at a Life on Wheels conference in Moscow Idaho a year ago and it saved our bacon (and a lot of appliances). The problem was voltage that was too high from their generators. The Surge Guard turned off the power and protected my rig. Something inside the Surge Guard did not allow the power to come back on so I sent it back to the factory and it was repaired for free. I would not be without it!

Pubtym · 08-28-2008, 08:48 AM

The other 50% protection from shore power is..protection from low voltage...

See Forum for Product Evaluations...voltage boosters..

Whatever you decide....I highly reccomnd you not consider Frank's boosters...I say again..buy other than Frank's. Enough negative is posted already about performance problems with Frank's boosters. Been there...done that...lucky to have refund!

http://irv2.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2156094452/m/21910396541

Navy Flier · 08-28-2008, 12:01 PM

I have a portable Surge Guard that I have used for five plus years and over 40,000 miles. As with others it has "saved" me from electrical problems over the years. One thing that hasn't been stated is that the unit is doing its thing all of the time and I am sure there are times that it has provided protection when I didn't even know it. I also had an occasion when it protected me from a problem and then didn't work. My only cost for repair was postage to the factory. It is expensive to purchase but the longer I have it the cheaper it gets.

RV Wizard · 08-29-2008, 12:22 AM

True, they are not cheap but one occurance of a mishap and it's cost is probably less than your insurance deductable. I have not had to repair a coach that did not have one where the owners did not buy one before they left the shop. I will not plug in without mine in line.

FrontRangeRVer · 08-29-2008, 03:37 AM

In over 25 years of RVing, we have never used an EMS/Surge protector of any kind.....but having said that, we now don't take chances anymore and use the Progressive Industries 50 amp portable EMS (wired inside my electrical compartment with a plug-in pigtail), for those possible low voltage situations.

As far as brands, the Progressive Industries is a much better protector than the "Surge Guard" that Camping World sells.

HERE is a comparison chart showing that the PI EMS has digital displays and a higher joule rating than the Surge Guard.

footdoc · 08-30-2008, 10:53 AM

My progressive hw50c has protected me from 2 situations that I know of.....low voltage of 101V and reversed polarity...but it will protect from several other abnormal situations that could be very expensive if not detected.....

Blue74 · 09-01-2008, 03:08 PM

I plan in the very near future to install the Progressive HW 50A surge guard but I have a question. I am gone from my trailer for weeks at a time with it plugged in (I live in it full time) if it trips does it reset automatically when the problem goes away? I know that a lighting strike in the area and all bets are off but the normal power problems like surges and short power failures.

Paul

Route 66 · 09-01-2008, 03:39 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">if it trips does it reset automatically when the problem goes away? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes.

As soon it senses correct conditions, power is restored.

David K · 09-01-2008, 04:51 PM

I have a SurgeGuard hard wired in my MH. It was one of the first major upgrades that I did when I bought my MH --- much less expensive for it than a situation where I would loose my electronics in the coach. I think I am right when I say that the SurgeGuard will also auto reset itself after it has noticed a problem and the problem goes away. As the others have said -- with lightening all bets are off as lightening will follow water lines, phone lines, etc into the coach --- not just the electrical lines. Some people will tell you that the voltage boosters also have surge protection -- I think I am right in saying yes they do but not at the same jules level as the SurgeGuard or Progressive units.

NeilV · 09-01-2008, 11:58 PM

I have both a Surge Guard and an Autoformer installed in my electrical bay because while the Surge Guard only protects from surges and high/low voltage the Autoformer also corrects. I have the Surge Guard first so if I take a damaging surge hit it will blow the SurgeGuard and I will still have the Autoformer with its limited surge protection still running day and night automatically correcting high and low voltage situiations and saving me on the costs related to equipment wearing out prematurely from out of spec voltage at the pedastle while the Surge Guard is out for repairs.

bellsharbor · 09-02-2008, 06:16 AM

I too have been saved over the years with a Surge Guard. I even burned one up from a nearby lighting strike. If this one ever goes out I will look at the Progressive unit. I had a bad experience dealing with the makers of the Surge Guard trying to get it repaired or replaced. I wasn't trying to get something for nothing--just wanted to protect the coach again asap. The woman I talked to at the factory seemed to have an attitude. Oh well, I guess that's life in the fast lane!!

John_Canfield · 09-02-2008, 08:43 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NeilV:
I have both a Surge Guard and an Autoformer installed in my electrical bay because while the Surge Guard only protects from surges and high/low voltage the Autoformer also corrects. I have the Surge Guard first so if I take a damaging surge hit it will blow the SurgeGuard and I will still have the Autoformer with its limited surge protection still running day and night automatically correcting high and low voltage situiations and saving me on the costs related to equipment wearing out prematurely from out of spec voltage at the pedastle while the Surge Guard is out for repairs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm with Neil...

We finally bought a 30 amp autoformer last year primarily due to extremely poor power (105-109 volts at 25-30 amp draw) we encountered at Freightliner in Tolleson (Phoenix.) I was really amazed when we returned to Freightliner equipped with the autoformer. Out of curiosity I studied our voltage carefully and never saw it below about 115 volts.

Of course you don't get something for nothing - trade-off is you have a little less current available but not the damaging low voltage.

Our autoformer is the portable type and I only break it out when we have poor power. Probably 85% of our poor power situations occurs on 30 amp service, and a preponderance of those at non-commercial campgrounds.

Blue74 · 09-02-2008, 03:41 PM

Thanks For the answers.

Paul

Rockhouse · 09-02-2008, 06:38 PM

I sure appreciate the input. I am ordering the hardwire Progressive unit and will twist and turn and bend and twist and turn to install it myself. After all, as I understand it once I manage to mount it there are only four big stiff wires in and four big stiff wires out.

Thank you for the opinions. This was a big help.

Route 66 · 09-03-2008, 04:02 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">will twist and turn and bend and twist and turn to install it myself. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Due to limited space in my electrical bay, I found it much easier to connect the #6 wires before mounting the EMS to the wall.