need more advice plz

[fulltimerv]

I did a search but didn't find anything concrete on the forum... What surge protector will fully keep my 3700RL from a melt down ??

[snfexpress]

The most popular are a SurgeGaurd and Progressive Industries. We have the SG portable and have been protected for 7 years.

[Art-n-Marge]

If all you are looking for is protection from a meltdown (from a power surge or bad wiring), then snfexpress is correct because like he suggests a Surgeguard is what we have. Now with more experience and time I have learned I set my sights too low and have missed some important features by not going with something better - like brownout protection and power conditioning (if the voltage drops, the device will correct it and raise it), which at least the Surgeguard will not perform.

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it and miss what you should have wished for, like I did. Even today I do not have what I should have gotten (surge protection, bad wiring protection, brownout protection, and power conditioning). I feel I am about 50% of what I should be and just very lucky so far that the other 50% has not occurred. I must mention we do not venture out near as much or as far as many MOC members and this might be why we have been so lucky.

[astrungis]

Art & Marge - So what would you recommend then if you were to do it all over again? I am about ready to pick up our new 3900FB and want to start off on the right foot. Thanks

[ols1932]

Surge Guard here and for the past almost 13 years full timing. Saved us several times when RV park power went bad.

Orv

[WeBeFulltime]

We use the Progressive hard-wired 50A with remote display. Has worked well for us on about 4 hook ups.

[TYR]

We use the Progressive Industries portable unit.

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_pt50c.htm

This sweet box has saved our Monty on several occasions. Excellent product and still going strong 2+ years on the road.

[1retired06]

We have had the progressive for two years now and no complaints.

[kylec2]

We originally had the portable 50-amp SurgeGuard for three years and were very satisfied. Last year we replaced it with a hard-wired unit from Progressive Industries and have not regretted the move.

Our change was driven partially for convenience (less to carry with the cord) and partially for security (hard-wired can't be stolen unless they take the RV). As mentioned by others, our progressive unit has a remote display so I get information on inbound voltage and amperage for each phase plus operational status readout.

All in all we feel both companies make quality products, but having used both we prefer the hard-wired unit from progressive.

[Larry-P]

We also use the Progressive Industries 50amp portable unit.
Shop around before you buy. We purchased ours in 2012 & I believe we paid around $350 for the unit.

[seahunter]

We have the Progressive Industries 50 amp Hardwire Surge Protector EMS-HW50C. Pros and cons to portable or fixed. I wanted the hardwire as one less item for setting up, and it won't get stolen. The hardwire versions are actually a little cheaper than the portable, as they don't have to be weather resistant. Rather than just a surge supressor, this is a electrical management system so it will also shut down the power if the voltage is too low as well as too high. Camping World quite often has these with substantial discounts every few months. If I recall mine was about $120 off normal price or something like that. I also would recommend one with a digital readout whichever one you get, so you will actually know what the problem was if it kicks off the power.

[PackerFan]

We have the Progressive 50 amp portable model and really love it. It has saved our bacon several times now from low voltage/brown outs situations. We have used it now for about 2 years and still working great.

[Farmhawk]

We have the Progressive 50 amp hardwired protector. It shut down the power to the coach when we plugged into 50 amp because of low voltage. I switched over to the 30 amp receptacle and every thing was OK. Mine also was purchased at CW while on sale for less than $300, it also has a lifetime warranty, which I don't believe Surge Guard has one.

[bigred715]

Progressive 50 portable. The one time I didn't use it my microwave was blown out. A bad wired pedestal at the RV park.

[snfexpress]

One thing to remember. If you have the hard wired version of either and you want to use a portable generator like a Honda or Yamaha, you need to bond the neutral and ground at the generator so your EMS won't shutdown the power. The way to do this is to bind neutral and ground in a plug, typically purchased from Home Depot or Lowes, and plug it into the 110 volt outlet of the generator. This fixes the "floating ground".

[seahunter]

Just happended to notice that RV Upgrades has the EMS-HW50C for $333 or $112 off.

http://www.rvupgradestore.com/Progre...4d534857353043

Here's a brief overview for folks that may not have seen an EMS before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aynx6WqT5xA

[mtheo]

I have the Progressive, hard wired. On the way to Qzite had it trip a couple of times in a campground, low voltage, lots of electric heaters running, one friend in a near by campground had the same problem and one trailer lost tv, refri. From low voltage

[Parts Ed]

We have the portable surge guard and feel alot better knowing that it is protecting our investment.

[Art-n-Marge]

Sorry I took so long to get back to you, but the Progressive Industries box protects against low voltage (brownouts) and improper park voltage. I did a quick look, but I thought I recall there was a system that actually transformed a low voltage condition and increased the supply voltage to a minimum of 110v so that even in a brownout, the device increased the voltage to its acceptable range, but I could not find it.

This is what I was referring to. I saw this device for sale at a campground I stayed once and figured that the price was too high and therefore I did not buy it. By the time I researched that is what a good system costs, we were long gone from the campground and I missed my chance. So for now, I stick with a 50 amp Surge guard and only protect against spikes and bad wiring which is better than nothing.

On Edit: I FOUND IT!!! But it's not necessarily good news. There is a company called Hughes (the inventor's name, not the (Howard) Hughes aircraft company) that makes a product called an Autoformer (one for 30 amp and one for 50amp). This device boosts the campground voltage if it drops below what's desired and boosts it back up, for example, if the voltage drops to 90v it boosts it back up to at least 105 which might be enough to prevent a brownout.

The bad news is that it acts like a power conditioner/booster but does not protect against spikes and if the voltage drops below 90 then it is provides an unreliable voltage. This tells me that you might need both this autoformer to boost voltage, but then you'll need the surgeprotector to prevent spikes that might get through it or shut down if the autoformer does not solve the brownout.

I hope all that's been done is to describe that there are several things that can be done to safeguard your RV's electrical supply and with more information you can make a more informed decision on what you want to do.

[seahunter]

Bingo should be long. He was either going to put in one of these autoformers, or he may have already done it. It looks like Hughes went out of business and was taken over by Pacific Transformer, who is still making the same units. They're definitely not cheap, but would add one more level of technology so the "camper" is not too inconvenienced while they are "roughing it".