In the market for a surge suppressor and find that the Hughes RV2130 Autoformer says it's also a surge suppressor .Does this mean there is no need to have both?Thanks,Mike

popeyemth wrote:In the market for a surge suppressor and find that the Hughes RV2130 Autoformer says it's also a surge suppressor .Does this mean there is no need to have both?Thanks,MikeSometimes the term "surge suppressor" is incorrectly used for an EMS unit. An EMS does surge suppression, low voltage, open neutral and some other functions. Progressive Industries makes the best one IMO. The Hughes site does not give any technical data on their surge suppression, unlike the EMS manufacturers. Progressive Industries and SurgeGuard both have surge protection only units as well.Good info. on the Hughes autoformer and EMS units here. The author states that the surge suppression in the Hughes is not very good. Probably explains why Hughes has no info. on it.I would get both an autoformer and EMS.

Hi,I'd prefer an autoformer to a surge unit because low voltage kills air conditioners.

I doubt any voltage regulator also offers true surge protection and certainly not protection from a variety of campground power post wiring errors. TRC in their owner's manual for their Model 10176 Voltage Regulator recommends using a surge protector without low / high voltage threshhold cutoff before the voltage regulator plus a full featured surge protector such as their Model 34370 (now discontinued and replaced with Model 34380) after the voltage regulator.I can see why ... I bought a used TRC 10176 but the moment I plugged it in it became evident it was faulty. Opening the case revealed several melted parts on the circuit board so even though it was outputting voltage it wasn't being controlled properly. Turns out the original owner hadn't used any other protection for the voltage regulator itself and unquestionably this was the result. Fortunately for me he was an honourable person and after I sent him the affected circuit board he returned my cost of purchase. I've since decided I can live without voltage regulation but upgraded from a TRC 34370 Surge Guard to a Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C surge protector ... if incoming voltage drops to where the EMS cuts it off, so be it, I'll run on battery power 'til proper park power is restored.

I would not buy an autoformer for surge protection.

smkettner wrote:I would not buy an autoformer for surge protection.Ditto.The Hughes autoformer manual hedges at just how much protection its autoformers offer: "Voltage booster with some surge and spike protection"Exactly what does "some" mean? Hughes doesn't tell you.It sounds like a Hughes autoformer has some surge protection, but no electrical fault protection (open neutral, open ground, etc).

Autoformer/Surge Suppressor | Good Sam Community

pianotuna
Nomad III
Mar 06, 2016
Hi,

I'd prefer an autoformer to a surge unit because low voltage kills air conditioners.
myredracer
Explorer II
Mar 06, 2016
popeyemth wrote:
In the market for a surge suppressor and find that the Hughes RV2130 Autoformer says it's also a surge suppressor .
Does this mean there is no need to have both?
Thanks,Mike

Sometimes the term "surge suppressor" is incorrectly used for an EMS unit. An EMS does surge suppression, low voltage, open neutral and some other functions. Progressive Industries makes the best one IMO. The Hughes site does not give any technical data on their surge suppression, unlike the EMS manufacturers. Progressive Industries and SurgeGuard both have surge protection only units as well.

Good info. on the Hughes autoformer and EMS units here. The author states that the surge suppression in the Hughes is not very good. Probably explains why Hughes has no info. on it.

I would get both an autoformer and EMS.

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