Do I really need a EMS surge protector

[sunshine 1]

I finally bought me a 50 amp surge protector. I have been delaying buying one, since I am boondocking 90-95% of the time. I am thinking about taking it back and exchange it for a EMS surge protector since it doesn't have low and high voltage protection. I would have to add another $200.
How often does it happen that CGs have low or high voltage?
Doesn't my breakers and fuses protect any against low and high voltage? Sorry if that was a stupid question.😀

[Jeffrey]

They do stop the occational lighting strike and miss wired electrical pedestal. There are a few appliances in your camper that will be destroid by an electrical strike. Anything that has an electrical board in it is possible to be damaged. I have had a few, not a lot but it only takes one. Sometimes low voltage has happened and it has saved me, and no the fuses and breakers will not save you.

[rohrmann]

This is kind of like the Dirty Harry character asking, “Do you feel lucky?” You may be one of the lucky ones that never have a problem with low or high voltage or miss wired panel or other things that an EMS will protect you from, but, do you feel that lucky? It only takes one incident to do major damage to your electrical system and the electronic devices in the rig to make you wish you had installed one of these devices. They will also protect against a missing ground which could also save your life from a hot skin condition that is caused by a missing ground. So, Do you feel lucky?

[sunshine 1]

Okay, so my 50 amp progressive surge protector wouldn't give me much protection the few times I take in to a C.G.

[sunshine 1]

I just like to know how often it happens that there are low voltage. How many of you guys have experience with low or high voltage on CGs?

[Old Dad]

I can remember one campground in particular that it happened several times (low voltage) during one summer when the campground was full and their system was under heavy load. Who can say if it was enough to cause damage, but the EMS caught it.

[DutchmenSport]

I first purchased a Surge Guard 30 amp for our second travel trailer. It lasted one year and it blew at a campground. Unfortunately, this protector had no warranty and it was not usable any more. Did it do it's job? I can only hope it did. Like the bumble bee that knows it will die if it stings anything, the Surge Guard gave it one good shot and that was that. But it protected my travel trailer.

After that, I switched to a Progressive Industries version. I heard their warranty and replacement is much better than Surge Guard. The first one we purchased was stolen. The second one (30 amp) was installed inside the trailer, and still portable with the 3rd travel trailer. Eventually it died too. Too many spikes, to many low-voltage situations, I don't know. But I replaced it with a Hughes 30 amp autoformer. And then 2 weeks after I purchased it, we traded the 30 amp travel trailer for a 50 amp fifth wheel. I kept the 30 amp autoformer anyway, for those situations where we may have 30 amp power and not 50. I also have all the step-down and step-up dog bones too, and now extension cords for both 30 amp and 50 amp cords.

So we now have a Progressive Industries EMS-PT50X. It's about a year and a half old now, plugged in at the house 24x7 and it's used always. I never plug the camper in anywhere without it now.

Because the EMS has line 1 and line 2 readouts, it's easy to monitor what kind of power is available. And even at home, on a dedicated circuit, it's amazing how much fluxing occurs. We never see it in the house, appliances and electronics don't seem to be affected, but yet, the line going to the camper will display anomalies and it's amazing how many there are.

Are any of these anomalies enough to shut down the camper? Well, it happened twice at home last summer. The protector prevented electricity from reaching the camper when the pedestal at the campground had a bad breaker, and it's caught reverse polarity a few times last Summer. Each time, campground management came out fixed the power pedestal.

Do they work? do they help? are they necessary? I think so. At least for me they are.

[mtlakejim]

Allow me to make an analogy:
I went fishing with a friend once and we stop at a bait shop. I notice him staring at the bait scents and walk over. He asks me "should I buy this bottle of juice". My response:

"you have a brand new $60K bass boat with at least $2K in rods, reels and tackle in it, your pulling that with a brand new $50K truck but your asking me if you should buy a $2 bottle of scent"!?


Buy the best surge protector they have and stop worrying about it..........it is worth it!


PS: Yes there are parks that are not adequately wired that will have low voltage issues. Particularly in the summer if they are crowded and everyone is running the A/Cs.

[luckeyd]

My Progressive EMS has caught the following: Low voltage, low frequency, no ground. The low frequency was a puzzle. Never heard of that one until it happened to me. Low voltage was for a very crowded campground in the middle of July in the south. Go figure, everybody was inside with the A/C's on. Campground just could not keep up. So, IMHO, buy one. By the way, low voltage is very common, especially when hot outside and crowded campgrounds. You can tell those that don't have any protection, the A/C units actually sound different. Running on low voltage is harmful to the device, but it will run for a little while at least.

[1retired06]

We never plug in to any CG without using our Progressive which is ten years old and still ticking.

[DQDick]

We've been full timing with a Progressive EMS for the last 9 years of full timing and over 100K miles. At a campground in Indiana it wouldn't come on because of an open ground. The campground gave us a different lot, but the next year they put me in the same spot and the open ground was still there. Last year the campground went bankrupt. Just because their open doesn't mean they have the money to fix things. In Black Jack, MO, Wilsey, Ks twice, Deming, NM and Albuqurque, NM we have had it shut down due to low voltage. Low voltage will cause your motors to run hot and can do a lot of damage to your rig over time. In this day when many large rigs have three AC's it's not hard to stress the campgrounds electical if it's marginal. Our rig is one of the three AC electic hogs and ours is set up to be able to run all three at once.

[bigred715]

The one time I didn't use my EMS I blew out my microwave because the pedestal was wired wrong. This was in San Antonio Texas and the park said it was my trailer. After hooking my EMS and it showed a very hot reading, they still didn't believe me. Tried the 30 amp and it didn't work. Took the retired "navy" electrition most of the day to fix the 30 amp. The people next to us said the trailer before us had problems with that same pedestal. The manager of park was a real jerk. Didn't offer any compensation. GET and use EMS every time!

[Carl n Susan]

Open grounds and low voltage are everywhere. I use my Progressive 50 amp every time.

[H. John Kohl]

I feel the expensive EMS Surge guard is an Insurance Policy. You never know when you need it until it is to late. I recommend it for all. You never know when power will fail especially in RV parks.

[WeBeFulltime]

After I back/pull in to a site the FIRST thing I do is hook electric and let the Progressive EMS analyze the pedestal before I do anything else. After I am sure it is OK I then drop, level, etc. I have experienced low & high voltage, reversed polarity, and open ground with mine. I have mine hard wired so there is no chance of leaving home without it.

[richfaa]

Originally Posted by sunshine 1

I just like to know how often it happens that there are low voltage. How many of you guys have experience with low or high voltage on CGs?

Several times over the last 13 years. It kicked us off line yesterday here at our lot at our Florida residence. Fault was open ground

It once takes once to cause a lot of damage.

[richfaa]

Originally Posted by WeBeFulltime

After I back/pull in to a site the FIRST thing I do is hook electric and let the Progressive EMS analyze the pedestal before I do anything else. After I am sure it is OK I then drop, level, etc. I have experienced low & high voltage, reversed polarity, and open ground with mine. I have mine hard wired so there is no chance of leaving home without it.

Same routine here and been doing it since 2006 have seen all of the above faults.

[mtlakejim]

Well we may not agree on what truck to recommend but sure looks like the surge protector is a universal YES!

[sunshine 1]

Thanks to all for your response. You all have convinced me.
I will definitely take back my Progressive SSP-50 XL and upgrade it to EMS PT50X.

[Texan]

I'm glad everyone can agree with so few of post compared to say 3/4 ton, 1 ton single or dually.