Surge protection

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samthetramp

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Luckily for me I had a southwire 34850 50amp surge protector. Evidently while I was home over the weekend they had severe storms where the camper is. Came back to no power. Reset the main breaker at the pedestal and still no power to the surge protector. Took it out and plugged in direct and all is well. Unfortunately now I need another surge protector.

While it saved me what could have been a very expensive ordeal that's a good chunk to lay out every time it storms badly. So here's a question. Is it really worth the money to get the more expensive model?
 
That Surge Guard protector was only doing it's job!! You would not want to pay for the RV repairs had it not done so.  There are certain models on the market that would be replaced at no charge should that kind of failure occur. Not cheap, but think of it as insurance. The alternative might be to unplug completely before leaving but that method may not be your best choice either.
 
The OP did indicate the make and model.

I think your surge protector sacrificed itself for the greater good! I believe the more expensive ones are worth the price, because they do so much more than protect against surges.
 
What models ate y'all talking about. I don't mind paying if it's gonna be worth it. And I understand what happened and am thankful. But if I can pay a little more and have more than 1 use it's worth it to me.

Or if the one I have can be rebuilt.
 
Southwire is the new name for SurgeGuard (Southwire bought them out). 

Progressive Industries has a better reputation for helping with failed units than Surgeguard/Southwire.


Is it really worth the money to get the more expensive model?
The higher grade models check for more kinds of power problems.  Do you know any way to predict which kind of problem you will encounter?  The protection device is insurance, so in essence you are asking about insurance coverage. Fire insurance only is worthless if you have a flood, right?

It's not common for a power line protector to self-destruct in a storm, but it can happen if there are numerous or very large surges.  You could well go through the rest of your RVing life without it ever happening again.

Abut the only thing I can think of to deal with this situation is to own two units, one basic model and one all-inclusive. Put the cheaper basic unit inline ahead of the more expensive one and hope it self-destructs in time to save the second one.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Southwire is the new name for SurgeGuard (Southwire bought them out). 

Progressive Industries has a better reputation for helping with failed units than Surgeguard/Southwire.

Not any more. Since Progressive Industries was sold to Power Products, things have changed:

- https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29515060/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

- https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29428828/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

On the other hand, the Southwire takeover of TRC, who makes SurgeGuard products, has improved things:

- http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/11/prweb14954140.htm

 
I too recommend Progressive Industries the HW models. I will be doing a "Hughes like" install of an HW-50 soon on my rig (Look up hughes autoformer install) that way in a worst case. I can remove it and bypass it in under 5 minutes
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
LOL! Both brands are easy to love as long as they are working. Maybe less so when they get noisy, report false faults, or simply stop passing power at all.

Hey Gary what do you mean by get noisy?

I've called both SW and PI. SW wants the unit to determine if it was a defect or a surge. Since they're paying for the return shipping I'm sending it today. It's worth a shot.

PI says that their units show an E 10 code if hit by a surge and that if it happens within the 1st year the replace it under warranty. Think that's the route I'm gonna go this time.
 
FWIW, I bought a Progressive Industries HW50C Hardwired EMS Surge & Electrical Protection- 50 Amps.  I installed it in the basement of my fifth wheel.  Easy peasy. 

I have never had an electrical issue, but I have heard of quite a few from others.  I opted for a hard-wired one, as theft is not an issue.  The hardest part of the install was working with the 6 gauge wires, (or 4 or 8?).  They needed to be bent around to be able to fit into the connectors.

Now I have a visual indicator inside my kitchen cabinet, along with all the other electrical switches.
 
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