Rv surge protector

Bobbo wrote:
If not the portable unit, it is user serviceable. They will ship you the replacement part, and you install it. The portable is not user serviceable.

Having chosen a hard wire EMS-HW30C over the portable EMS-PT30C but being quite familiar with both versions I'd say it's not entirely true that the portable unit is not "field serviceable". In fact, the portable unit can also be opened by removing the same six screws that are used to hold the top plate to the hard wire version. The difference is the portable version has a rubber seal to keep out water whereas the hard wire version does not. That said, Progressive might insist that if a portable unit is opened by an owner such action would void any warranty on the product ... if so that in itself may by definition then make the portable unit not "field serviceable". ;)

Ava wrote:
There has been many posts about a good surge protector. The most popular is from Progressive Industries. The warranty and service is said to be the best. I use one of these and it has worked by shutting down from too much power as well as too little power. It also checks for incorrect wiring from the source.

I will support your statement with a warning.

Progressive Industries makes a low cost "Spike Suppressor" which is advertised (industry standard by the way for advertising this type of product) as a "Surge Protector"

Avoid this one, get the more expensive HW or PT, 50 or 30 C
the meaning of the letters and numbers
PT= PorTable
HW = Hard Wired (This is best cause you never forget it)
50 or 30.. 50 or 30 amp RV. Not the outlet you plug into but the RV
C, Revision if there is a D or E, that would be newer but C is the last one I saw.

Regarding their warranty (lifetime) customer in another thread reports he has one. It failed, due to a nearby lightening strike (he showed us some of the stuff the strike struck) He has two of them so he broke out the "Spare" and send the "Primary" back to P.I. for postmortem and repair. NOT Repairable the said.. And returned to him a brand new in the box PT-50c at no cost. (Oh and thanks I had trouble spelling one word in this post and now know how to do it thankis to looking it up).

(I do research for fun and knowledge). (Used to do it for profit, (part of what I got paid to do) and better sleep.. Yup Better sleep. After I got done researching some people we could all sleep better.

You see, a bad person (the one I researched) was in jail where they could not hurt us so we could sleep better.. And the bad person, well the night before had to worry about the long arm of the law putting the habius Grabbius on them and tossing their sorry you know what in the slammer.. Tonight, as they go to sleep, in the slammer, that worry is past, so they can sleep better too.. See. I helped people sleep better through research.

wa8yxm wrote:
Progressive Industries makes a low cost "Spike Suppressor" which is advertised (industry standard by the way for advertising this type of product) as a "Surge Protector"

Progressive makes many models. Each claim to protect from some similar anomalies and some different anomalies. To claim all surge protectors are spike protectors is bogus; not from first learning manufacturer specifications.

Listed were surges that a campground protector must protection from including high voltage, brownouts, reverse polarity, open neutral, and floating ground. None of them is a spike. Spikes that can do damage typically occur maybe once every seven years. Not all RV protectors even claim to protect from transients (spikes) that are rare.

A protector that would protect from spikes must be connected as short as practicable to earth ground. That means a protector typically chained to a pole - to make a low impedance (as short as possible) connection to earth. Surges such as brownout or loss of one phase are many times more common. And what a typical RV protector detects and protects from.

Most who assume an RV protector is for spike protection do not read spec sheets and do not learn each function for that unique model. A word 'surge' is very arbitrary. Completely insufficient to make any informed recommendation. Best recommendations will list numbers for each 'protected from' anomaly - with numbers. No spec numbers for each anomaly means a recommendation is best ignored.

westom wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
Progressive Industries makes a low cost "Spike Suppressor" which is advertised (industry standard by the way for advertising this type of product) as a "Surge Protector"

Progressive makes many models. Each claim to protect from some similar anomalies and some different anomalies. To claim all surge protectors are spike protectors is bogus; not from first learning manufacturer specifications.

Listed were surges that a campground protector must protection from including high voltage, brownouts, reverse polarity, open neutral, and floating ground. None of them is a spike. Spikes that can do damage typically occur maybe once every seven years. Not all RV protectors even claim to protect from transients (spikes) that are rare.

A protector that would protect from spikes must be connected as short as practicable to earth ground. That means a protector typically chained to a pole - to make a low impedance (as short as possible) connection to earth. Surges such as brownout or loss of one phase are many times more common. And what a typical RV protector detects and protects from.

Most who assume an RV protector is for spike protection do not read spec sheets and do not learn each function for that unique model. A word 'surge' is very arbitrary. Completely insufficient to make any informed recommendation. Best recommendations will list numbers for each 'protected from' anomaly - with numbers. No spec numbers for each anomaly means a recommendation is best ignored.

You are "muddying" the waters!

If someone wants a *spike* protector - such as genuine protection from lightning strikes - we're talking thousands of dollars.
(Check "Lightning Protection Corporation" of Santa Barbara)

Not practicable for an RV.

Progressive Industries is the gold standard for "add-on" Electrical Management Systems (which include surge protection) for RVs.
(High-end MHs often come with "built-in" EMS from the factory)

Sound guy covered it (PI) very well.

An -excellent- example of what surge protection is all about -

The Electrician Said..."Oops"

BTW - lots of good 'follow up' in the thread - by the OP as well as others. Makes the entire thread worthwhile - as a "good read"!..:C


~

ol Bombero-JC wrote:
If someone wants a *spike* protector - such as genuine protection from lightning strikes - we're talking thousands of dollars.

Nonsense. Protection from direct lightning strikes for homes typically costs about $1 per protected appliance. Those protectors do something completely different from what an RV protector does and what a Progressive claims to do.

Protection for homes that makes direct lightning strikes irrelevant also would not (and need not)protect from that more common campground anomaly.

Different protectors adress completely different anomalies. Home protectors need not and do not claim to address reverse polarity, brownouts, and floating ground - anomalies that are observed in campgrounds. And what a Progressive is designed to protect from.

Wow...you guys are a wealth of knowledge, and I really appreciate your comments. I'm such a novice and these comments are invaluable to newbe's like me. Wading through all this information, I will focus on an EMS device from Progressive Industries. I've been on their site and saw the model comparisons. Hearing everyone's comments, I will stay away from the lower cost devices.
Thanks again all,
Steve

My personal preference is the EMS-HW50C or the EMS-HW30C, whichever is appropriate for your rig.

WeBeFulltimers wrote:
Don't waste your money on a "surge protector". Spend a little more and get a Progressive Industries Electrical Management System. Works great and is a great company that stands behind their product.

X2

Best $300 I ever spent for our rig.

Desert Captain wrote:

WeBeFulltimers wrote:
Don't waste your money on a "surge protector". Spend a little more and get a Progressive Industries Electrical Management System. Works great and is a great company that stands behind their product.

X2

Best $300 I ever spent for our rig.

X a bunch! Go EMS for the best protection for an RV available.

Best 2 posts in this thread.

Progressive Ind is discontinuing their portable units, I did not see a new/replacement product. Anyone know more on this?


edit,

I found it,

They are replacing the "C" models with "X" models.