Surge protectors

Curlida wrote:
Hey all,
First let me thank all of you for your good advice and input,it has been a big help for us newbies. Anyway I am looking at surge protectors and would like to know if anyone has experience with a 50 amp smart surge protector made by progressive industries inc. it lists for about $130.00. My wife and I, like many of you are retired and on a fixed income so really don't want to spend $400 or $500 dollars. I read some good reviews on that one and I went to the manfg. Web site and saw they have upgraded it. Manf. # is ssp50 and the upgraded one is ssp50x. If this is not recommended can someone suggest another reasonably priced one. Thanks again.

2016 Montana 3711FL
Chevy Silverado 3500 w/ airbags and B&W companion hitch.

2 days ago, I was drinking my morning cup when my power went off abruptly. This was just about daylight and after 30 minutes or so, I went out to investigate. I observed a few lights on but as it was early the state of the campground power was hard to determine.



I looked in the bay where my Progressive resides. The display was flashing all 8888. I had never seen that or seen it documented. I placed a call to Progressive and left a message. As I hung up from the call, the display changed to flashing an E4 code plus a voltage of 87 on L1 and 84 on L2. This is the 50 amp hard wired EMS unit with remote display.

https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Progressive-EMS-HW50C-RV-Surge-Protector-p/emshw50c.htm



As I waited for a call back, some other campers gathered in the street as campers do when issues arise. Some reported a "brown out" lighting condition and others reported A/C units that were struggling to run or were trying to start but couldn't.

I'm sure that those folks incurred some cumulative damage to their A/C that will shorten it's life.



I got a call back & after describing all conditions to the Progressive tech, he said the 8888 code indicated that the voltage was so low, typically in them85-90 range that the unit couldn't analyze. About this time an employee of the campground came by our little group and told us that a power line had been hit by a lift truck at the marina next door.



Very long story but the moral is, the Progressive protected my coach from any damage occurring from the bad power condition. The great tech support was added moral support.



Good power was restored about an hour later. Some unprotected folks had appliances struggling with damagingly low voltage for a total of nearly 2 hours. A year or two down the line, they will have a failure that they will not realize is directly related to this event & will tell folks that these EMS/Surge protectors are a waste of money.