Thor Forums

[gmc]

Even the SurgeGuard units do much of what the Progressive Industries does -

Verifying the connections/voltages before allowing anything to touch the RV...
Open Neutral; Open ground, wrong voltage.
Could you do that part yourself with a multimeter before hooking up each time - sure - but will you??

Over/under voltage protection - 'brownouts' can be as bad as surges - Like Jerry, I have had mine cut out at a campground due to a wiring issue causing low voltage as more campers turned on their AC.. Can I prove that mine would have been damaged without it? Of course not - but to me not worth the risk. (Campground found loose connections/overheating in their main distribution panel when I reported the issue to them.)

Time delay - A very short interruption of power to compressors can be a bad thing - trying to restart before pressure dissipates can damage the compressor. Most (I won't say all.... lol) of our thermostats also have a delay built into them to protect the AC compressors - but residential fridges don't have that protection and can be damaged by a short interruption to power (though may be protected by inverter taking over).
Not as important an item to me.

From the surge side - I've had RV neighbors with damage from a nearby lightning strike when I've had none... and in sticks/bricks home - was about 20' away when a whole house suppressor attached to my service panel 'gave its life' (with a very loud bang) as a power surge came across the neighborhood at the end of a blackout... Multiple neighbors replacing appliances and electronics... I replaced a $75 surge suppressor.

Does it solve everything? absolutely not... (Ed's experience with his melted connector at RV connection is one example - wasn't a 'surge' or any other condition the device cared about.)

Is it peace of mind for me and a good investment - I think so...
But the choice is up to each of us whether it is worth it.