Autoformer - Montana Owners Club

harleyrider · 02-18-2006, 07:36 AM

i know some of you guys and gals in here have this.So convince me its worth the 450 bucks and its something I shouldn`t be without????

Its doesn`t happen to often thats you get to spend MY money-so take advantage of this offer.

ols1932 · 02-18-2006, 09:23 AM

Do a search on autoformers and I think you'll find the information you are looking for.

Orv

Glenn and Lorraine · 02-18-2006, 10:39 AM

John, Here's 5 pages about the Autoformer....

As you will see I started this thread and many folks chimed in about their experiences.

In my opinion it is well worth the money

harleyrider · 02-18-2006, 01:52 PM

Thanks Glenn-I knew you would step up to the plate and help me spend my money.i don`t care what Lorranie says your a good man Glenn.(laughing)

richfaa · 02-18-2006, 02:35 PM

The autoformer is on my wish list. Saw them last year at the FCRV Campvention, at a reasonable price, so to speak, If I can find the $ perhaps we will get one at this years Campvention In July 06. The autoformer is one of the things we see as a must have when we start longtiming. We plan to be in the RGV winter of 06/07, Is there a need for one in most of the CG there???

sreigle · 02-18-2006, 02:49 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

The autoformer is on my wish list. Saw them last year at the FCRV Campvention, at a reasonable price, so to speak, If I can find the $ perhaps we will get one at this years Campvention In July 06. The autoformer is one of the things we see as a must have when we start longtiming. We plan to be in the RGV winter of 06/07, Is there a need for one in most of the CG there???

My opinion is it is of value anywhere you plug in, in any part of the country. We're in the RGV in a three-year old park with excellent power but I still see mine kick in fairly often. When we have the AC running along with the washer, the dryer, TV, a couple of laptops, lights, and who knows what else, that puts quite a load on the park's circuit at our supply post. That's one of the times it kicks on. I have a volt meter in an outlet I can see from this chair. I have seen that needle drop then immediately jump back up in the above circumstance. That's just an example.

richfaa · 02-18-2006, 03:41 PM

Good information Steve.. The reason I asked about the RGV is because Helen will retire in Nov 06 and we will officially start Longtiming about then. Should be on the road after the holidays and in the RGV by Late Jan or Feb. Guess I will drive a lot of Charter work to pay for the autoformer and pick one up In July at the FCRV campvention. We monitor as you do and Most of the Cg 's we camp in around here have excellent power and even on the Holidays we have no problem..on the road is another matter and you folks know that better than I.

Glenn and Lorraine · 02-19-2006, 12:06 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by harleyrider

Thanks Glenn-I knew you would step up to the plate and help me spend my money.i don`t care what Lorranie says your a good man Glenn.(laughing)

Not a problem John. As a fellow Pennsylvanian it's the least that I could do.

While here at Avalon I have not found the need for the Autoformer as our voltage has remained at a fairly constant 120V. Even on the hottest days my volt meter hasn't come close to going into the red.

harleyrider · 02-19-2006, 01:08 AM

Ok just one more question on the set-up

Autoformer pluged into camp ground post-surge guard pluged into autoformer-power cord from Montana pluged into surge guard??sound about right????

Glenn and Lorraine · 02-19-2006, 01:46 AM

Quote:

quote:sound about right????

No not really. It sounds like you have 2 surge guards.

I don't use a surge guard but if I did I would want the surge guard before the Autoformer. This way the surge guard is also protecting your Autoformer. The Autoformer in itself is a surge guard to a degree but a very expensive one.

In other words..
Campground power to surge guard to Autoformer to Monty

BTW-A surge guard is on my list of things to get but not a priority.

ols1932 · 02-19-2006, 03:30 AM

[quote]quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine

Quote:

sound about right????

No not really. It sounds like you have 2 surge guards.

I don't use a surge guard but if I did I would want the surge guard before the Autoformer. This way the surge guard is also protecting your Autoformer. The Autoformer in itself is a surge guard to a degree but a very expensive one.

In other words..
Campground power to surge guard to Autoformer to Monty

BTW-A surge guard is on my list of things to get but not a priority.

/quote]
Only put the surge guard in front of the autoformer if the campground voltage is above 102 Volts. Otherwise you'll not get any power to the autoformer and the rig. The surge guard is designed to remove power at 102 volts and below.

Just my experienced 2 cents worth.
Orv

harleyrider · 02-19-2006, 07:21 AM

mmmm my thinking on this Glenn was IF i had the surge guard pluged into the camp ground post first.And if the voltage is low the surge guard would cut the power off.And the autoformer would kind of be left their hanging with out any power to it???You see what I mean???

O brother this is getting confusing.

Well any way I went to camping World today to see about getting a 50 amp autoformer.they don`t carry them in stock in the winter monthes.They had plenty of the 30 amp models though.So I went on line anf got one for 499 bucks-with free shipping.the place I bough it from gave me a number to call if I have any questions.

And I do believe I do!!!!!!!!!!!

dsprik · 02-19-2006, 05:52 PM

Let us know what they have to say about this surge protector/autoformer setup.

Two things I have heard is: 1. Surge protector before autoformer because it is easier (cheaper) to replace if something happens, compared to a blown autoformer having to be replaced. Downside: Surge protector will cut off power if voltage drops to 102v. #2. Autoformer in front of surge protector to prevent total loss of voltage. Downside: blown auto former is bad for the wallet.

What do you do? Using neither is the worse option, I believe. Burning up wiring on your Montana and appliances is bad, bad, bad from the threads I've been reading lately here. It stresses out the other MOCers too much when something serious like this happens to one of us - not to mention, the stress to our friend who this happened to.

azstar · 02-20-2006, 03:07 AM

Hi All,
We have never heard of a A/F being returned, due to a surge overload. It has its own built in surge/spike protection, although minimal and maybe a little slow, it must be enough to protect itself. Their built pretty heavy duty.

The idea of having a S/G after the A/F (the way we have ours set up) in my mind is to have a quality surge/spike protection that's fast enough to stop the surge/spike before it can damage the electronics in our Rig. The A/F isn't fast enough.(My Opinion here)

The A/F can only boost to a point and then it will pass the low voltage on to our Rig. The S/G also will stop this from happening. If during a brown out the A/F is boosting to its max and the Voltage drops to 102V after the A/F the S/G will do its job and shut the door to save our Rigs from seeing that low Voltage.

As I see it it's the best of both worlds.

Happy Camping.

ols1932 · 02-20-2006, 06:57 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by azstar

Hi All,
The idea of having a S/G after the A/F (the way we have ours set up) in my mind is to have a quality surge/spike protection that's fast enough to stop the surge/spike before it can damage the electronics in our Rig. The A/F isn't fast enough.(My Opinion here)

The A/F can only boost to a point and then it will pass the low voltage on to our Rig. The S/G also will stop this from happening. If during a brown out the A/F is boosting to its max and the Voltage drops to 102V after the A/F the S/G will do its job and shut the door to save our Rigs from seeing that low Voltage.

If you still have low voltage after the autoformer, you shouldn't be at that campsite! You really would like to have 110 Volts into your rig and if the campsite voltage is so low that increasing it 10% (autoformer increase) does not get you to 105 or above, I would recommend that you move.

I've had a lot of experience with autoformers and find they do the job they are designed to do. There's also another thing you can do to increase your voltage inside the rig and that is to put your frig and water heater on propane. This will help in those cases where input voltage is low.

harleyrider · 02-20-2006, 10:03 AM

Talked to the guy today that I got the autoformer from.

This is the correct order in which to have it placed.straight from the horses mouth.

Park power-autoformer-surge guard-RV

P.S.-He told me I got myself a great machine.

dsprik · 02-20-2006, 05:27 PM

Sounds good. Just have one thought... if the A/F is also a surge protector, why do you even need another surge protector behind that? What am I missing here?

Treecounter · 02-21-2006, 02:45 AM

The CRA park in Yuma AZ. will not let you use a auto former. But that is only one of the things they don't allow.

azstar · 02-21-2006, 07:30 AM

dsprik,

The A/F has minimal/slow acting(relative here) surge protection. The S/G has a very sophisticated surge/spike protection as well as miswire protection and high/low voltage protection. You could be off sightseeing and your park could experience a brown out and the A/F will boost to its limit of 10% and then begin to pass along the low voltage to your rig. The S/G would then shut down the low power and save your stuff. That's why a lot of us have both.

Treecounter,

If your A/F is built in how does the park know your using one? We have seen the warning a couple of times at Parks but never understood how they would know if it were build in out of sight.

Happy Camping

dieselguy · 02-21-2006, 09:06 AM

You might check this website (RV Performance Products) out ... $299 / free shipping for the 30 amp model and $499 / free shipping for the 50 amp model.http://rvperformanceproducts.com/index.php?id=autoformers
I got mine there with no problems and quick shipping.

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