Surge protection

I was advised by a friend to get a surge protector for the entire electrical system on my 2013 3650RL Big Country 5th wheel. Has anyone out there done this, and how difficult is it?

Hi Wolfman409,

I think just about everyone will recommend a surge protector of some type. I have this Progressive unit and it has save me from a surge or low voltage several times. They are guaranteed for life and they do honor their guarantee as mine failed after about 5 years and they repaired it for free. I did have to pay shipping one way, about $20.

Some do go the route of installing a built in unit.

Jim M

Moving thread to correct area of forum.

X2 on what Jim said...but we have the hardwired Progressive HWC50 amp EMS....best investment you can make for your RV!!

And I have a built-in SurgeGuard. Same protection, diffrent brand. Whether to go with portable or built-in is your choice.

X3 on what Jim said. I have the Progressive and it failed after a year and a half because of heavy rains and it too was replaced free of charge and no hassles at all.

If you decide on a hardwired unit, installing it yourself is fairly simple, if you've done any electrical work. Speaking for the Progressive instructions, they are pretty straightforward. I installed mine (or rather reinstalled), and helped a friend install his.

I too installed the Progressive HWC50 it was easy and well worth the piece of mind to ensure the electrical system and appliances are protected.

X4 on the hardwired Progressive Dynamics. Relatively easy to install. It saved me from an intermittent low voltage (brown out) condition on our last outing. Works great!


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Spending $400 to protect your electrical system is cheap if you consider the cost of replacing one A/C unit that is fried due to spike, bad pedestal, low/high voltage, etc. ($400 is for the progressive with 2 displays less if you only get one ). And as others mentioned, the life time warranty on the unit is a great feature. If you search through the forum others have taken pictures of how they installed theirs.

We also have the Progressive hard wired unit. I installed it myself with no help, it was fairly easy to install. I did all the research I could on the installation, and followed the instructions that came with it. I might add that my electrical knowledge amounts to "don't stick your finger in that little hole in the wall!"

I have the hardwired Progressive unit HWC50. I love the peace of mind it gives me when I hear it go CLUNK after turning on the pedestal breaker. That means it checked out the ground, neutral, polarity, and voltage and it deemed it safe for my RV. No clunk means look at the display and see what's wrong that it will not apply power to the unit.

We have the TRC transfer switch with the built in surge guard. Also have the pedestal mounted Progressive Industries 50 amp unit. The TRC transfer switch/surge guard failed and when it did it would make a hammering sound switching the power on and off (we don't have a generator). We replaced the TRC and within 2 hours of replacing it the Progressive Industries unit went out showing 95 volts on one leg and 157 volts on the other leg. Right now I have taken both devices out of the system and have our coach wired direct while waiting on replacement devices under warranty. We are praying nothing else messes up. The good thing is the devices sacrificed themselves preventing damage to the coach. Whatever you do get something.