Anyone ever have their equipment saved by a surge protector? I just sprang for a new one for my rig. Has indicators that show correct current or reversed bad ground and so on. Its SSP 50 xl if you are wondering. Got some good revues.

My EMS has protected my rig from 160V so yes it saved my equipment. I've also had reverse polarity twice (30A pedestal). Plus numerous cases of low voltage. The surge protection has never detected a surge.I recommend the much better EMS which won't connect power when there is a fault and disconnects when there is a fault. I have the PI HW50C with a remote inside.There is a lot of additional protection with a EMS that surge protectors don't provide. It's like insurance...

I had a Progressive on mine. A surge hit it and fortunately we were in the trailer and were able to save it when we smelled the burning wires. The Progressive didn’t stop squat.

campigloo wrote:I had a Progressive on mine. A surge hit it and fortunately we were in the trailer and were able to save it when we smelled the burning wires. The Progressive didn’t stop squat.I am a retired electrical engineer and professional troubleshooter. I am curious on why you thought there was a surge. What did you find that caused the burning wires? If there had been a significant transient voltage spike you would not have time yourself To shut it off because the voltage spikes only last for microseconds or milliseconds. Please let me know some more details and especially what caused the burning wires. Thanks.

An EMS (electrical management system) is SO much more than a surge protector. They perform multiple functions. In our previous rig, the Progressive industries saved us from appliance damage on two or three occasions: 1) a lightening strike less than 100 yards away which caused a spike, an outage, and a surge when the power came back up; 2) very poor 50 amp power at a place in east Tennessee. The voltage dropped below the threshold on one leg (would have damaged the AC on that leg) and the EMS took us off line (the park owner ended up scheduling a complete rebuild of their electrical system); and 3) a faulty 50 amp breaker in another park that would intermittently drop the voltage and/or drop out altogether (again, the EMS took us off-line until the situation was remedied). In our new rig we had an incident last week. We are staying on a military installation and contractors were clearing vegetation from the fence line behind us to prep for new fencing. A worker backed a Bobcat over the transformer for the FamCamp. The power crew told me that the transformer had been pushed off its concrete slab and two 13kV lines were shorted. I don't know what happened downstream (our side), but the EMS in our new rig took us off-line until we had clean power again (on an 85 degree day with 75% humidity!).Rob

Use the EMS and don't worry. Most of the cheap surge protectors protect nothing.

50 amp surge protector | Good Sam Community

30 Replies

kellem
Explorer
Sep 12, 2020
campigloo wrote:
Lynnmor wrote:
cavie wrote:

Ask the tech if he is a Master Electrician. A surge usually hits and burns out electronics and never starts any fires or melts anything. It is a very fast jolt of very high electricity.

I agree, the "tech" has no clue. The "surge" word is used excessively, just like the word "short", to describe so many electrical problems.

Ok ok. Everything is perfect. No damage done to anything. It’s strictly my imagination.

Lol, us internet folks have a better idea what you experienced.....better so than you. Grin
campigloo
Explorer
Sep 12, 2020
Lynnmor wrote:
cavie wrote:

Ask the tech if he is a Master Electrician. A surge usually hits and burns out electronics and never starts any fires or melts anything. It is a very fast jolt of very high electricity.

I agree, the "tech" has no clue. The "surge" word is used excessively, just like the word "short", to describe so many electrical problems.

Ok ok. Everything is perfect. No damage done to anything. It’s strictly my imagination.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Sep 12, 2020
cavie wrote:

Ask the tech if he is a Master Electrician. A surge usually hits and burns out electronics and never starts any fires or melts anything. It is a very fast jolt of very high electricity.

I agree, the "tech" has no clue. The "surge" word is used excessively, just like the word "short", to describe so many electrical problems.
Bobbo
Explorer II
Sep 12, 2020
cavie wrote:
campigloo wrote:
cavie wrote:
campigloo wrote:
I had a Progressive on mine. A surge hit it and fortunately we were in the trailer and were able to save it when we smelled the burning wires. The Progressive didn’t stop squat.

You smelled burning wire because of loose connections. No surge protector of any brand will protect from loose connections.

It was a pwm30 and there were no loose connections. The burnt wires were attached to the lugs on the device. The tech confirmed from the pics that it was a surge.

Ask the tech if he is a Master Electrician. A surge usually hits and burns out electronics and never starts any fires or melts anything. It is a very fast jolt of very high electricity.

I just love it when someone argues with the messenger. campigloo is reporting what the tech said and cavie wants to argue with the tech. Clue: do you argue with a newspaper report?
cavie
Explorer
Sep 12, 2020
campigloo wrote:
cavie wrote:
campigloo wrote:
I had a Progressive on mine. A surge hit it and fortunately we were in the trailer and were able to save it when we smelled the burning wires. The Progressive didn’t stop squat.

You smelled burning wire because of loose connections. No surge protector of any brand will protect from loose connections.

It was a pwm30 and there were no loose connections. The burnt wires were attached to the lugs on the device. The tech confirmed from the pics that it was a surge.

Ask the tech if he is a Master Electrician. A surge usually hits and burns out electronics and never starts any fires or melts anything. It is a very fast jolt of very high electricity.
campigloo
Explorer
Sep 11, 2020
cavie wrote:
campigloo wrote:
I had a Progressive on mine. A surge hit it and fortunately we were in the trailer and were able to save it when we smelled the burning wires. The Progressive didn’t stop squat.

You smelled burning wire because of loose connections. No surge protector of any brand will protect from loose connections.

It was a pwm30 and there were no loose connections. The burnt wires were attached to the lugs on the device. The tech confirmed from the pics that it was a surge.
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Sep 11, 2020
The EMS has shut down for low voltage a couple of times (probably saved AC from damage), once for a ground fault, and once for reverse polarity, but never had a surge problem.
kellem
Explorer
Sep 11, 2020
2oldman wrote:
ken56 wrote:
Yep, bad lightening storm.
You should unplug during lightning storm.

I always do but it sucks when an unsuspecting storm hits at 2am.
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 11, 2020
ken56 wrote:
Yep, bad lightening storm.
You should unplug during lightning storm.
ReneeG
Explorer
Sep 11, 2020
Yes, twice. Parks insisted it was our rig till we showed them there was no fault running off our generator.

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50 amp surge protector

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