Big Applause for our Progressive Surge Box

[1retired06]

Yesterday, at a campground in central Florida. Plugged in, and no power. Progressive showed ground fault. I disconnected, plugged in without, and Montana powered up. Disconnected, tried progressive box again, no power. Plugged progressive in to receptical adjacent site, no fault reading. Campground insisted pedestal was good, but moved me to adjacent site. Later in the evening, somebody came into the site, and around 0830, lost power. Pedestal fried, and in the process, melted the plug of the poor guys harness. Would have been us, except for our surge protecter.

[kab449]

Worth every penny you paid for it! Campground probably blamed the problem on him so they didn't have to pay for his shore cord. I would tell him that I moved from that site because my monitor showed problems with the power.

[H. John Kohl]

I love it when a plan comes together. Glad it worked. I believe in that insurance.

[sambam]

Thanks for sharing your story. I have one on the way for our new camper and hesitate to go anywhere before the install.

[DQDick]

Considering what electrical problems can cost, EMS systems are cheap insurance.

[NCFischers]

As the commercial says,"Don't leave home without it".

[WeBeFulltime]

quote:Originally posted by NCFischers

As the commercial says,"Don't leave home without it".

Remember "Pay me now...or pay me later" ?

[okierver]

when you all bought your surge protectors did you have it installed or did you do it yourself, how difficult was it.

[Jay Bird]

One note. You mentioned that you disconnected and plugged the Montana directly into the post and it powered up. I would not do that if my power monitor system identified a fault. I would use a meter and test the post. Glad you averted a potential serious problem.

[PackerFan]

I always try to tell everyone I do walk thrus on new campers we sell that they purchase an EMS of some type. I love our Progressive and would never plug in without it again.

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by Jay Bird

One note. You mentioned that you disconnected and plugged the Montana directly into the post and it powered up. I would not do that if my power monitor system identified a fault. I would use a meter and test the post. Glad you averted a potential serious problem.

It was dumb of me to plug in bypassing the progressive. Thought maybe the surge box was not working. Won't do that again!

[richfaa]

If our PT 50C will not connect power to the Rv that is as far as we go.

[RickW]

One of the nice options with the hardwired unit is you can also get a remote display (2nd Display). I stalled the original display in the hall with the other controls for the trailer but I like to make sure my power is good before I finish connections. So I always have to go in to the trailer to check the display. So I bought the 2nd display. I will install it (still on my to-do list) in the basement near the convenience center. Next to the display I will have a chart of what each code means so that if it throws a code I will know what the problem is.

I would also let your neighbor know what happened to you as well. At the very least he needs to check and make sure all electronics still work in his unit. Hopefully it only fried his cord and nothing else but if it got hot enough to melt the cord I would be worried about what else may have been damaged. The cost of the EMS is cheap compared to the cost of some of the other electronics that may be damaged.

[DonPd]

Here is a site with a tester you can build yourself. I do test with one myself before going to all of trouble of setting up at a site. It only takes a minute to do the test.

http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/tester_50amp.htm

[Bigsky3625RE]

quote:Originally posted by Jay Bird

One note. You mentioned that you disconnected and plugged the Montana directly into the post and it powered up. I would not do that if my power monitor system identified a fault. I would use a meter and test the post. Glad you averted a potential serious problem.

Great response. If you get a fault, never plug in your rig. That is the whole idea!

We a 30amp and 50 amp from PI. Highly recommended.

[TYR]

Love our PI box! I'm with those that if it reads wacky, we don't plug in the Monty.

[CBTraveler]

Donpd. Nice job on the tester.

[mtheo]

I might have to build on of those for myself, nice job.
I did have a problem with my progressive this week in Pismo, kept getting a high voltage reading, 132-135 volt and the unit kept shutting down. Told the camp ground manager and had him use his tester and reading only 125-126 volts.
So I contacted progressive and after talking to them found that these can get a high reading from the harmonics from the transformer, located 15-20 from trailer.
First time for me. Well I didn't move, just turned it off and took chance???

[CORattler]

The Progressive Industries HW50C was the first "mod" I did to my new rig before we even left on the 1st camping trip. I keep a Greenlee tester with me in my rig. Thanks for passing on the info.

[Bigboomer]

Yep, that be the one I will be hard wiring into our new solar system I am designing and installing later this spring.....cannot afford to fry our coach especially since we have very valuable items inside (Tabby the cat and Sweet Cheeks the Cock-a-tiel)!