Surge protection

[Phil P]

Hi

My surge protector went up in smoke last week.

I had the Surge Guard by TRC portable.

I opened it up and found that there had been a reasonably hot fire inside the box.

I am not too sure I want to install a permanent unit in the basement area after seeing this.

How about some recommendations from this group about this.

Phil P

[kylec2]

We have the Progressive Industries 50 amp hardwire unit (Model EMS-HW50C) with the remote display. A quality unit and it provides readouts on faults, voltages and current draws. I think you will find it is one of the better units on the market. Progressive also make a 30 amp unit if needed.

[1retired06]

We use the Progressive 50AMP portable, four years without a problem. Cannot recall ever hearing of a fire issue with surge protectors.

[JandC]

X2 on the hard wired unit. We have had one on both of our Montana units. I have never gotten the remote with these units. I just plug in and wait for a minute or so unit I hear the "thunk" sound and we have power to the microwave and I know everything is fine. If it doesn't come on I don't need to know why I just need to switch sites.

[DQDick]

We use the Progressive portable unit, mainly because I want to check a site before I spend the time backing in. Saved me some work twice. If they save you from a surge sometimes they get "fried", but this is the first I've ever heard of one actually frying.

[CORattler]

quote:Originally posted by kylec2

We have the Progressive Industries 50 amp hardwire unit (Model EMS-HW50C) with the remote display. A quality unit and it provides readouts on faults, voltages and current draws. I think you will find it is one of the better units on the market. Progressive also make a 30 amp unit if needed.

Agreed. Zero issues with our Progressive HW50C in over 5 years of use.
If all that fried was your surge protector, it did it's job.

[Mark N.]

I have a portable unit (Progressive 50A) that I first plug into the pedestal and check for errors before I even bother to pull in. Then, I pull into the site and connect the power cord to it. I then use a small length of heavy chain and lock the Progressive unit to the power cord to prevent it from"walking away". I suppose the chain and locks could be cut (somehow, maybe, with difficulty) but I'm not too worried about that in a RV park. I just feel better with it secured by really heavy chain and hardened locks.
This thing could literally blow up and not harm my Montana! Plus, it easily stays with me for my next Montana (It has a lifetime warranty) This is why I opted for a portable unit over a hardwired unit.

[richfaa]

We also use the EMS PT 50C 9 years with not a problem. We also check out the pedestal before applying power to the Montana.No one has nabbed it in 9 years. Have heard of a few giving up their lives to protect the RV but nevar a fire. Did you ever find out what caused it to destroy itself.

[chris199]

We have used the Progressive Industries 30 amp pedestal unit for 3 years on our 2 TT's. Last year, due to a loose connection at the pedestal, a fire started. Pigtail of the surge protector was damaged. Pedestal outlets were fried. Unit was repaired by Progressive Industries even though I was responsible for not ensuring a solid connection. That impressed me. (I then started to wrap a bungy cord around the pedestal to ensure good reliable contact.)

Picking up our new 3791 next week. Pete's RV suggested a Surge Guard unit but, given how customer focused Pete's RV people are, they had no problem installing the hardwired 50a surge protector I wanted from Progressive Industries. I had the unit drop shipped to Pete's. Progressive also offers a substantial discount to repeat customers!

I endorse Progressive Industries...IMHO.

[PackerFan]

I have had the Progressive Portable 50 Amp unit for about 4 years now. This past Fall the unit was giving false readings. I contacted Progressive and they said send it to them right away. They repaired the unit and returned it to me in about a week and the best part...No Charge! Got to love that Lifetime Warranty!!

[fauch]

The newest portables have high temp shutdowns

[Art-n-Marge]

That occurrence has been a smoldering thought in the back of my mind. I do what JandC does - only check it at startup, but now that we are fulltiming, one thing I find is that all kinds of weirdness can occur DURING the camping trip and still not fire off the surgeguard like it probably should have. I really need to invest in something better.

Nice to hear from fauch there are improved models, but who can afford all the improvements as they occur. I got my Surgeguard as a retirement gift and like so many things, now that I'm retired it's a little tougher to afford so many upgrades so often.

[tomNtrisha]

I have a new progressing portable 50 amp surge protector on order should be here in a day or two. I was using a 34750 50 amp surge guard .In OKC last weekend pluged it in. Went in turned the a/c on had problem coming on ran a little bit then went off. Looked at volt meter pluged in outlet way to high. Checked the voltage on the pedestal was ok. Removed surge protector hooked direct a/c worked ok. Monday turn inside lights on battery was weak converter was fried washer/dryer not working have not got fix yet. Called surge guard tech. He told me that it is sound like surge protector lost the neutral in the lower part of the protector. Causing a power surge and we are stuck with all the repairs. The tech said this was not first time he had heard of this happening. Tom

[Ozz]

all good answers and feedback, I would call the service department and chat with them about it, they will want it back in the shop to do a 'Post mortem' check on it to really tell.
Sorry this happened to you bud.

[richfaa]

Surge protection...Electrical management System. There is a big difference. We and many here have the EMS 50 portable or hard wired unit.

The EMS offers more protection. Last week we were dropped off line because line one dropped to 106 volts.

[Phil P]

Hi

I just received my Progressive portable 50 amp EMS.

Thanks to all of you for your comments.

Phil P

[richfaa]

It cost more Phil but I think you will be happy with the unit. We let our PT 50C run at the pedestal without the Montana hooked to it for a few cycles to check the pedestal. We have had to drive away from a few. It has dropped us off line many times over the years for low or high voltage on one of the phases .It has dropped us off and others around us had damage.

[Annaoinga]

I have the portable Progressive 50 amp and when we hooked up this trip we couldn't get power in the camper so my husband took the EMS off and then we had power. I freaked out but he said it would be ok and so far so good but wonder what the deal was?. Should I send it back or just try it again??? Any thoughts?

Thank you
He just told me it showed him a code but the code wasn't listed anywhere and there was no reset button.....

[bncinwv]

Is there another pedestal available that you can plug it into to see if it is working correctly?
Bingo

[Annaoinga]

I'll try it on another post. The day we got here they were full so no chance of moving to another site....