Monday, January 9, 2023
HomeRVTop 7 RV Surge Protectors & Electrical Management System

Top 7 RV Surge Protectors & Electrical Management System


Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means we will earn a commission on the products or services you purchase using the links. There is no additional cost to you and the earnings help keep this website running. Read the Affiliate Disclaimer for more information.

RV electrical systems are very sensitive. Costly damage can be done if these systems are exposed to surges, but there are a number of other electrical issues that a simple surge protector cannot defend against. That is why an electrical management system (EMS) is a better choice to protect your RV investment. 

Top 7 RV Surge Protectors and Electrical Management System (30 Amp & 50 Amp)

While surge protectors are designed to protect RVs from voltage spikes, electrical management systems are designed to protect the RV from voltage spikes and other electrical damage such as: low voltage, open ground, open neutral, reverse polarity and accidentally plugging into a 240 volt outlet.

Before buying an EMS or RV surge protector, here are a few things to consider

  • Do you want a portable or hard-wired unit?
  • Is your RV setup for 30 amp or 50 amp service?
  • Does your RV already have an electrical protection system built-in?

1. Southwire Surge Guard RV Power Protection – Portable

The latest Surge Guard product will protect the RV when there is high or low voltage, misfired pedestals, open ground, open neutral, reverse polarity, high neutral current, surges, overheating plug or receptacle.

Features:

  • Limited lifetime warranty.
  • Will automatically shut off power to the RV when AC power falls below 102 volts, or is higher than 132 volts for more than 7 seconds.
  • LCD display indicates: power surge, open ground, reverse polarity, voltage >136 or <102, overheating plug, abnormal voltage on ground, open neutral
  • Time Delay for Reset: 128 seconds
  • Model 34931 is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 2,450, 6,500A surge current, maximum watts 3,600.
  • Model 34951 is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 4,200, 6,500A surge current, maximum watts 12,000.

Buy Surge Guard 30 amp unit from Amazon, TechnoRV or Walmart

Buy Surge Guard 50 amp unit from Amazon, TechnoRV or Walmart

2. Progressive Industries EMS – Portable

Progressive Industries makes one of the leading electrical management systems on the market. The portable EMS is easy to use, no installation required. We had the older version of this portable EMS.

The latest Progressive Industries EMS (PTX – PT30X and PT50X) has a few new features: weather shield to protect it from the elements, a pull handle to make it easier to disconnect the unit and a better bracket for securing the unit to the pedestal.

We used the older unit for 5 years without any issues. Read our full review of Progressive Industries PT30C.

Features:

  • Limited lifetime warranty.
  • Will automatically shut off power to the RV when AC power falls below 104 volts, or is higher than 132 volts.
  • Will not allow power to the RV when there is reverse polarity, open neutral, open ground, or when 240 volts is detected.
  • Will shut down power if AC power frequency deviates +/- 9 hertz from 60 cycles per second.
  • Designed for outdoor use with a security locking bracket to prevent theft.
  • Time Delay for Reset: 136 seconds
  • EMS-PT30X is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 1,790, 44,00A surge current.
  • EMS-PT50X is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 3,580, 88,00A surge current.

Buy Progressive Industries 30 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Progressive Industries 50 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

3. Southwire Surge Guard RV Power Protection – Wired

Similar to the portable EMS, the hard-wired version is installed in your RV. It does not come with a built in display, but a separately sold display can be installed on the inside of the RV in order to monitor voltage and amp draw along with any power issues.

Features:

  • Limited lifetime warranty.
  • Will automatically shut off power to the RV when AC power falls below 102 volts, or is higher than 132 volts for more than 7 seconds.
  • LCD display indicates: power surge, open ground, reverse polarity, voltage >136 or <102, overheating plug, abnormal voltage on ground, open neutral.
  • Time Delay for Reset: 128 seconds
  • Model 35530 is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 2,450, 6,500A surge current, maximum watts 3,600.
  • Model 35550 is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 3,850, 6,500A surge current, maximum watts 12,000. 

Buy Surge Guard 30 amp hard wired unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Surge Guard 30 amp hared wired unit from Amazon or Walmart

4. Progressive Industries EMS Hard-Wired

Similar to the portable EMS, the hard-wired version by Progressive Industries comes with a display that can be installed on the inside of the RV.

Features:

  • Limited lifetime warranty.
  • Will automatically shut off power to the RV when AC power falls below 104 volts, or is higher than 132 volts.
  • Will not allow power to the RV when there is reverse polarity, open neutral, open ground, or when 240 volts is detected.
  • Will shut down power if AC power frequency deviates +/- 9 hertz from 60 cycles per second.
  • Remote digital display can be wired inside the RV to monitor status of the power source.
  • Time Delay for Reset: 136 seconds
  • EMS-HW30C is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 1,790, 44,00A surge current.
  • EMS-HW50C is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 3,580, 88,00A surge current.

Buy Progressive Industries 30 amp hard wired unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Progressive Industries 50 amp hard wired unit from Amazon or Walmart

5. Camco Power Defender Voltage Protector

Camco also makes a portable voltage protector that will shut off power to the RV when low or high voltage is detected. The display will show other electrical issues, but will not stop power from going to the RV.

Features:

  • One year limited warranty.
  • Will automatically shut off power to the RV when AC power falls below 102 volts, or is higher than 132 volts.
  • Shows faults for reverse polarity, open neutral, and other power pedestal wiring issues.
  • Time Delay for Reset: 140 seconds
  • 55301 is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 2,450, 6,500A surge current.
  • 55306 is for RVs with 50 amp service. This unit has a total Joule rating of 3,850, 6,500A surge current.

Buy Camco Power Defender 30 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Camco Power Defender 50 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

6. Hughes Autoformer Power Booster with Surge Protection

The Hughes Autoformer is a power booster with built-in surge protection. When the input voltage is below 113 volts, the Autoformer will go into boost mode to increase the output by 10%. It does not draw power from the campground or any source the RV is plugged into.

Keep in mind the units are heavy. The 30 amp version is 21 pounds, the 50 amp version is 35 pounds. The company does offer an installation kit for outside storage compartments. They do not recommend hard-wiring the unit to the RV as that will void the warranty.

Note: we’ve stayed at campgrounds that do not allow products like this to be plugged into the pedestal.

Features:

  • Two year limited warranty.
  • Will automatically boost low voltage in the range of 95 to 115 volts.
  • Designed to absorb electrical surge or spike. If the Autoformer is damaged during a massive spike, the unit has to be sent in for service.
  • RV2130-SP is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 2,400.
  • RV220-50-SP is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 4,800.

Buy Hughes Autoformers 30 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Hughes Autoformers 50 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

7. Hughes Autoformer Power Watchdog

The newest product from Hughes Autoformer is the Power Watch Dog Surge Protection with EPO. Bluetooth connectivity allows you to monitor real time power conditions on your smartphone.

Features:

  • Two year limited warranty.
  • 4 second power-on delay after plugging in
  • 90 second power-on delay after a fault to protect AC unit
  • Receive alert on smartphone when a dangerous event occurs
  • Provides Open Neutral Protection, Open Ground Protection, Low or High Voltage Protection, Low or High Amperage Protection
  • PWD30-EPO is for RVs with 30 amp service. Total Joule rating of 2,400.
  • PWD50-EPO is for RVs with 50 amp service. Total Joule rating of 4,800.

Buy Hughes Autoformers 30 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

Buy Hughes Autoformers 50 amp unit from Amazon or Walmart

Why Do I Need an EMS?

Some of the different electrical scenarios that can cause damage to your RV

  • Voltage surge. This happens when the power grid experiences a disruption that causes an increase in voltage. It can be an increase of 1 volt to thousands if, for example, lightning strikes a power line. These surges can damage any electrical device that you have in the RV, including anything you have plugged into an outlet. Surges can also start electrical fires. 
  • Low voltage. Have you ever seen your lights dim when you turn something like the A/C? This is low voltage caused by your A/C briefly drawing a large amount of power away from other things like your lights. This can happen at RV parks, especially in the summer when everyone is running their A/C, but the low voltage can be persistent and not just momentary. Persistent low voltage can damage sensitive electronics like your A/C, which will cause the unit to run much hotter and damage it. 
  • Open Ground. This happens when the power at the campground pedestal is not property grounded. This can be dangerous if you have some type of electrical “leak” inside your RV, such as a bad appliance or frayed wire. Since the power is not properly grounded, the chassis and skin of the RV can become electrified. 
  • Open Neutral. All power coming into to a system is 240 volts and the neutral wire at the pedestal allows it to split and become 120 volts. If the neutral is open, this means there is a break in the neutral wire somewhere in the system and you could potentially get high or low voltage coming into your RV which can damage electronics and be dangerous. 
  • Reverse polarity. This is a dangerous situation that is caused when the hot and neutral wires are reversed. This can be very dangerous because even when an appliance is turned off, the hot wire is still energized and if someone, for example, touches the metal inside a toaster trying to dig something out, they can complete the circuit and get electrocuted. 
  • 240 volt outlet. The 30 amp shore power plug on your RV will fit in a household 240 volt plug that’s typically used for things like dryers. If you plugged into it you would damage the RV electrical system and possibly start a fire. We’ve been a few places where people told us they had the right size outlet for the RV but when I plugged in our RV electrical management system, it showed that the outlet was actually 240v rather than 120v and prevented the power from flowing into our RV. 
  • Overheating Plug. If the plug on the EMS becomes too hot, it will cut off power to allow it to cool. During the hot summer in Florida, we witnessed an overheating plug catch fire at an RV park. Luckily, there were people around who immediately put the fire out but not before it damaged the pedestal and the RV’s shore power cable. It’s worth noting that I’ve only seen the overheating feature in portable units since the EMS is plugged directly into the pedestal.

How do electrical management systems prevent electrical situations from damaging your RV and creating unsafe situations?

Very simply, the EMS will automatically cut power from the shore power pedestal (or anywhere you have your RV plugged into) to your RV. For example, if the voltage in the RV parks drops, the EMS will sense that and, after a predetermined amount of time, it will cut power to the RV to prevent any damage.

On most EMS units, once it senses that the power is back to a safe level, it will allow the power to begin flowing back into the RV. What’s nice is if you come back to find all of your clocks blinking and wonder why the power went out, most EMSs will have a readout to show you what fault occurred. 

Our Experience with Electrical Management Systems, EMS

After reading numerous horror stories on the internet about electrical issues at RV parks, an EMS was one of the first things we bought when we got our Class A motorhome. We purchased the Progressive Industries 30 amp portable EMS (the version we purchased is no longer available but they do have a new version with several updates).

During the 5 years we owned the EMS, we experienced a number of electrical issues. Most common was low voltage at campgrounds during the summer or at events/gatherings where they would bring in generators and set up temporary hookups for RVs. The problem was that some older campgrounds and these make-shift RV parks at events didn’t have the capacity to supply adequate power to all of the RVs when they were running their A/C systems. We also noticed a couple open ground situations and reverse polarity. Also, as mentioned above, we did witness a pedestal and plug catching fire one summer from excessive heat.

After those 5 years, we no longer needed an EMS and sold ours. Despite having always been outside in all sorts of weather, it was still in great shape and worked perfectly. If we needed to buy another EMS I would probably buy the Progressive Industries EMS again but I would strongly consider the Southwire Surge Guard since it has protection against an overheating plug.

EMS vs Surge Protector

Surge protectors will be the least expensive option because they provide less protection than an Electrical Management System. Most surge protectors will offer high and low voltage protection but that’s about it. If you want more comprehensive protection, consider buying an EMS which will protect against most, if not all of the electrical scenarios listed above.

Portable vs Hard-Wired

We chose a portable EMS and would chose one again because they are, well, portable. When we sold our Class A and got a Class B campervan, the EMS came with us…no need to buy a new one. We also didn’t need to wire and install an LCD panel inside the RV to see what faults were triggered. With some of the newer portable EMSs, they have additional features like detection of an overheating plug. That said, since an EMS can be expensive, they can be targets for thieves. We typically carried a bike lock with us and would secure our EMS to the pedestal so someone couldn’t just run off with it.

Hard-wired units are great because every time you plug your RV into shore power it’s working. No forgetting to connect it. It can also be tucked away so you’re not sacrificing storage to carry around a portable unit. If the interior LCD is installed and the EMS cuts your RV off from power, you can check it to see why without having to go outside. It also can’t be stolen (unless they take the entire RV). The downside is that if/when you get another RV, you can’t take it with you. Also, some smaller campervans, etc may not have space to install a wired unit.

As I mentioned earlier, a quality EMS is well worth the money spent and I consider it to be an insurance policy for protecting our RV. We’ve had a number of incidents over the years that our EMS protected our RV against. Since we first purchased our EMS in 2015, a number of generic EMSs have been popping up on sites like Amazon at prices a fraction of what the name brands cost. Since you RV is an expensive investment, I would be cautious purchasing one of these generic EMSs unless you’ve read reviews



Source link

RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular

Recent Comments