Surge Gard Portable - Montana Owners Club

bsmeaton · 05-23-2007, 11:10 AM

I believe this was posted by Ozz. I almost bought one on impulse figuring the price was right, but now I hesitate:

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/p...=6221&src=SRQB

The specifications are vague - with no real indication of the level of surge it provides. The Surge-Gard portable units discuss a lot about high and low voltage surge protection and why they are better than a standard surge protector. This one doesn't say that. In fact, this one is not even listed in the manufacturers web page. I wonder if this is a Camping World exclusive from Surge-Gard.

Is this more of a glorified circuit testor than surge protector? Something has to justify the cost difference between this at $100 and the portable ones at almost $300.

Anybody done an research on these??

Ozz · 05-23-2007, 12:03 PM

Brad, I would go with this one. I have a progressive dynamic. You get high-low voltage protection as well as spikes.
http://www.surgeguard.com/40250.pdf

bncinwv · 05-23-2007, 02:18 PM

Hopefully someone can give details on the one that Brad pictured. That is the one I have, like the testing features, but don't know anything about the Surge Suppression capabilities, but the way I have it figured, it is definitely better than the one I was using before......NONE!!
Bingo

nailbender · 05-23-2007, 02:36 PM

I have the one Ozz suggested and really like it. I also got the optional remote indicator and it works on my 30 amp or 50 amp cords

Ozz · 05-23-2007, 02:36 PM

Ok, I found it, this site has more info on it's operation.
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/index...OD&ProdID=1815

dieselguy · 05-23-2007, 04:27 PM

OZZ: Do you think the Joules rating is a misprint (12040 J) ... I'm thinking more like (1240 J)
On Edit: I guess I didn't look long enough at the other sites ... (2040 J) listed there.

Bill and Lisa · 05-23-2007, 05:10 PM

Read more on this product at http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...s=+surge+guard
This is what I had and it is a glorified monitor. If an open nuetral or other fault (besides a spike) develops it has no protective function. If you happen to be looking at the lights when it happens you can take manual action but how likely is that. Mine burned up the first time I used it and I am still waiting on replacement parts for things that burned up. Not a fault with the product just no protection against the fault. The fault wasn't there when I hooked up but developed the next day.

If you already have one of these and want to upgrade to real protection look at surge guard model 34750. Existing customers can get an upgraded product at wholesale price (same as they sell it to camping world and others) In this case I paid $225 for the unit and even though their product was not responsible for my damage they threw in a lock and shipped it for free.

Bill

bncinwv · 05-24-2007, 02:12 AM

Ozz or other electrical gurus,
Is it worth having or should we trade up as Bill has suggested. I know it is a loaded question, but all opinions and expertise will be considered.
Bingo

bsmeaton · 05-24-2007, 03:54 AM

Great feedback folks! Looks like the ol - "you get what you pay for" still applies. As we are already into the season, I was looking for a quick fix, but I need to put more thought into it.

Bill and Lisa, looks like the 34750 offers better surge protection by far.

Ozz - you're right, with the generator, the 40750 would be the ultimate protection. A little pricey and a little work to get it installed, but I like it. (let's see, $699 divided by $3.15 diesel = 222 gallons at 10mpg = 2,220 miles) Wonder how much money is in the kids savings account (hahahhah

)

Guess I better do some more research and consideration.

bsmeaton · 05-24-2007, 05:13 AM

Well, here is my response from Surge Guard -

Hello Brad,

This model AECM10096 offers 2040 joules of surge protection which is very good protection but it does not provide protection from either high or low voltage situations that can also occur as the other 50 amp TRC Surge Guard brand products offer such as the 34750 portable or the 34560 hardwire model.

Thank you for your interest in TRC products.
Best regards.
Jerry

richfaa · 05-24-2007, 06:42 AM

We use the EMS-PT50C by progressive industries, Inc.It is bulky and sort of expensive but it does many things.It does have high and low voltage protection.Shuts down power if it falls below 104 V or above 132V. It also automatically restores the power when it goes back to the safe limits and it stores the error codes so you can tell what happened..It uses a digital read out and monitors many functions 24/7.. We also have the auto former..we are covered.

Cat320 · 05-24-2007, 10:19 AM

The 34750 has a time delay, so that when plugged in, it will not allow power through to the trailer until it is within a certain range. Another feature is that if there is a power interuption, it has a light that will flash for 2 min and 16 sec which tells you that power is not restored until head pressure is bled off the air cond compressor.

richfaa · 05-24-2007, 04:25 PM

Our surge protector saved the day today not to mention the campground. Pulled into a campground in southeren Ohio along the Mohican River with our local camping group. we were in a brand new section, just opened, 133 sites 50 map pull through, full hookups.. We as usual plugged in the surge before hooking camper power and it saw low power L2 (87 volts) and would not allow power to the camper. Checked some other nearby sites..same thing. turned out half the new sites were bad.there had been a power failure a few days ago and no one had used this section since then.. There were electricians, C.G folks, golf carts running every which way and after over 2 hours our surge protector came to life and said all is well. The C.G was very thankful. One of the work ampers here said that he had to get one of these Surge guards..I am going to put the auto former on line also in the AM...

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