Whole house type surge protector
- Thread starter Rob327
- Start date
danemayer
Well-known member
You'll want to compare protective features. Check out page 2 of this link.
happykraut
Well-known member
Rob327,
I installed the Progressive HW on my BC and then took it out and installed it in my BH. Don't be without it. Fairly easy to install, but you should probably have some electrical experience. Don't know this to be a fact, but I always assumed the hard wired version is less money because it does not have two connectors on it which are pretty pricey.
I installed the Progressive HW on my BC and then took it out and installed it in my BH. Don't be without it. Fairly easy to install, but you should probably have some electrical experience. Don't know this to be a fact, but I always assumed the hard wired version is less money because it does not have two connectors on it which are pretty pricey.
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olcoon
Well-known member
We bought the Progressive hard wired unit & I installed it myself. I'm VERY limited in my electrical skills & knowledge. But I read everything I could find here on the forum about installing it, talked to a few people, including Progressive. Got it installed & it worked first go around! This year in TX, in my opinion, it paid for itself, as when I plugged in to a post in a park down here, it wouldn't allow the elec. in, the code said the post had reverse polarity. It saved me big time. I won't be without one now!
http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw50c.htm
This unit has worked well for us. My dealer installed for me. The display is mounted in the cabinet with all the other displays.
This unit has worked well for us. My dealer installed for me. The display is mounted in the cabinet with all the other displays.
evolvingpowercat
Well-known member
The house breaker box mounted surge protectors would work in the same way that the cheaper "surge protection only" devices that go in series with your shore cable work. I agree with the other posters that for a slightly higher cost you can get devices that in addition to surge protection provide over-voltage and under-voltage protection and that is better protection. The hard-wired house breaker box surge protectors only have a single LED that indicates that the surge protector has not failed and no other information like the better protection devices for RVs provide.
scottyb
Well-known member
Another vote for the HW50C. I mounted the display inside the basement near the UDC. I instinctively run over to look at it every time I flip the breaker for service. It is comforting to see exact voltage, amps being used on each leg, and the Hz. I have found problem connections with it on two occasions. The 1st one was the very 1st time I connected to a pedestal in a RV park after I installed it. The hardest part about the installation is crawling in the tight confines of the basement.
Cjackg
Well-known member
For a very effective Surge Protector used for whole house applications, check out the DITEK DTK-120/240CM+
I have used this same protector on 2 homes and several RVs. It costs less than $50. and is likely to be just as effective as the expensive units sold for RVs.
It does not monitor high/low voltage problems and that capability will always cost much more...
I have used this same protector on 2 homes and several RVs. It costs less than $50. and is likely to be just as effective as the expensive units sold for RVs.
It does not monitor high/low voltage problems and that capability will always cost much more...
Gaffer
Well-known member
With low voltage issues in so many older parks you should not be without this protection. Even a newer park can have utility side issues.
Cjackg
Well-known member
Every time I bought a different RV in the last 18 years I considered buying the high-end electrical protection devices that are heavily marketed. I am not an engineer but my neighbor owns a large Fith Wheel, and he is an Electrical Engineer.... When I asked him what he uses for protection he laughed and told me he has never used any of these devices!
Maybe a gamble but think I will use the low-cost surge protector and hope for the best. After all, if I jump on the EMS, plus the TPMS, plus better tires, plus stabilizers, plus more batteries, plus all the stuff Camping World thinks I need, I probably wont have enough $$ left over to buy fuel to go anywhere !
Maybe a gamble but think I will use the low-cost surge protector and hope for the best. After all, if I jump on the EMS, plus the TPMS, plus better tires, plus stabilizers, plus more batteries, plus all the stuff Camping World thinks I need, I probably wont have enough $$ left over to buy fuel to go anywhere !
danemayer
Well-known member
Just another data point for your consideration: we probably see a few posts each year from people who have multiple devices and appliances fried, costing them quite a lot of money. There are no doubt others with damage who aren't on the forum or who are but don't post about their experience. And there are quite a few of us who bought the expensive device and who have no reason to post because it saved their coach from disaster. I'm one who hasn't had to post about damaged equipment because our EMS has saved us several times that I know of, and probably a few I don't know about.
It is a gamble and we each get to decide what we want to bet on.
Silverado23
Iowa Chapter Leaders
Although an EMS seems pricey at first, Consider how much it would cost to pay your insurance deductible for a repair, If insurance will cover it. Then think about how long your RV will be sitting waiting for repairs not being able to used.
All just because of a few moments of bad power that could have been avoided by using EMS.
I have encountered failing/overheated circuit breakers that would work for a few minutes over heat then trip, Open ground and very high voltage all detected and problems prevented by using an EMS. It was easy to show that my RV was not at fault with the EMS. Not to mention the power surges from the lightning storm or the other bad power pedestals that I have encountered.
All just because of a few moments of bad power that could have been avoided by using EMS.
I have encountered failing/overheated circuit breakers that would work for a few minutes over heat then trip, Open ground and very high voltage all detected and problems prevented by using an EMS. It was easy to show that my RV was not at fault with the EMS. Not to mention the power surges from the lightning storm or the other bad power pedestals that I have encountered.
DonnyB007
Well-known member
Yeah, last year we were at a park where my EMS protector would not turn on power to my unit. I unplugged and used my voltage tester on the plug and found it fluctuated between 93 and 103 volts!
Another time last year, the unit picked up reverse polarity and would not turn on the unit.
anyway, the EMS unit was money well spent for us.
Another time last year, the unit picked up reverse polarity and would not turn on the unit.
anyway, the EMS unit was money well spent for us.
Ditto for us. About a month after I bought mine (non-hard wired 50 amp version) we plugged into a county park on the beach about an hour away. Middle of night it kicked off - I knew this as it got real hot with no a/c. Problem was low voltage from the pedastal. So I ran an extension cord to the next empty site and it was fine. Made the front desk mad - but I told them it was a bad pedastal.
She told me the fix was to take off my EMS. She said quote "the only electrical problems we ever have are when people use those boxes. I just tell them to take them off and it will fix the electrical problem."
Needless to say - not staying there anymore - only one of several reasons.
And yes - our systems probably could have kept running on the low voltage. And maybe would have been fine. But then have them fail two years down the road due to the damage.
Kind of like when a person runs over a curb hard and then drives another 500 miles and then the tire fails. It must be the tire was made bad because they don't associate the earlier injury to the tire.
