Progressive Industries PT-50

[phorner]

Last July 15, at the FMCA Convention in St. Paul, I purchased a Progressive Industries EMS-PT50C surge protector with voltage protection. I had had one installed (hard wired) in my '03 Beaver and it always worked great. Never a problem.

This portable version lasted 10 days. On July 25 it started displaying 250 volts on one leg, which was incorrect. I contacted the manufacturer and they replaced it.

In September, my replacement PT50 started shutting off, indicating a ground interruption. It continued to do this at every connection, which was in error.

The "replacement" PT50 was returned in November and a replacement was received. This one worked fine until I unplugged it to go to Titusville last week. Plugged it in at TGO and the LED display is blank.

This makes 3 failed surge protectors in less than 6 months.

I contacted the manufacturer and asked for a refund this time, instead of yet another replacement. But, no dice. They are only offering a replacement.

If you are considering this product, I would steer clear. Apparently, they are not living up to their former level of quality control and performance.

Looks like $400 down the drain !!:mad:!!

[jello_jeep]

Paul, hope it is not a sign of things to come, as I have one too!

Haven't had any problems as of yet, but looking at your posts makes me keep my fingers crossed!

[lewpopp]

I've had one for the past 2 1/2 years and nary a problem. I sit in my coach and monitor the readout all the time. I am really pleased with mine and I think you should give them another chance. Maybe it's too late and the bridges are burnt.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Gee Paul that's hard to take. Sorry to hear it as I have one too. Haven't had it very long though.
Could there have been issues with the electric where you used yours and instead of being deficient it was sacrificing itself to save your bus?

Not sure, but wasn't that the same device Jerry had trouble with?

JIM

[dale farley]

I've had two of them on two different buses with no problems so far. I've kept this one plugged in all the time for the last year with no problems so far. I hope this is an isolated case.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

I too have one of these units, (portable) which I purchased prior to getting the bus. Have used it continuously with no problems, till last week.

The bus was out of the barn at Prevost Ft. worth for almost two months, and when I brought it home to plug it in, I noticed the Progressive Unit was not reading.... Nothing on the display. I thought crap, the power must be out in my storage unit.

I unplugged the Progressive unit, and plugged it back in, and everything seemed find again? Got Normal reads on the display and haven't checked on its status since then, Maybe a week or two?

Will recheck the display power unit today to see if things are ok ?

Here's hoping all is well. KNOCK ON WOOD

Gary S.

[Jerry Winchester]

Yep I had one that just quit one day. But they sent a replacement and it has worked okay so far.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Just a question to see if you guys are awake.............

You buy the product to protect your valuable coach. That way if you get an electric surge or something that can damage the electronics on the coach you have the peace of mind knowing it will be OK.

But the POS fails when it is doing nothing but sitting there plugged in. If it fails doing nothing, why would anybody think it is going to work when you really need it?

They have a better money making scheme than anybody because what they are doing is legal. I would suggest someone open one up and see if it isn't just a few lights.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Damn it Jon, quite be so synical ! :( You mean you don't have any sort of surge protector on, or in your bus at all ? :eek: Well I guess since you can fix everything, it is no big deal to you if you get a surge. :p

I went up to my bus, just a little while ago, and everything was working fine like it was suppose to. The lights in the Surge protector were just whirring by saying "E-0" which means No Errors, and for now I am happy. But believe me I was knocking on Wood, just the same.

SO THERE !

Gary S.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Yes I have one. And yes I have asked my self the same question.

No, it has not failed to work yet, so I have a modest amount of confidence it will work as advertised. I think it is more likely to do what it is supposed to do than the deer whistles you stick on your bumper to make deer get out of your way.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I heard the company was coming out with a dual unit and an automatic transfer switch between the two.
That would double their sales and everyone would go for it.
Those that do not checkup on their buses daily need something like that to know if their bus is getting the charge it deserves.



:DJIM;)








:DI made that up.

[JIM KELLER]

Jim, You need to thaw out. You have been in the snow too long. Come to Florida !

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

The snow is 4' high in front of the door :D

JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I think Jim is one of the guys behind the fence.

Maybe we need to spring him out.

He is sitting up north in 4 feet of snow working on a computer with a bad hard drive, looking at a truck with a blown engine, yet he has a perfectly good bus sitting somewhere that could be used to get him to warm, snowless locations where I expect his sanity will be restored.

Jim, until we all get up there to help you escape, keep taking your meds.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

This is always a bad time of the year for me. (you probably already know that by my posts)
Next year will be different, FOR SURE, I hope.

Jonnie will back me up on this, don't ever come around here in the winter unless you absolutely have to. The lake effect snow, the bitter winds and drifting snow under dark overcast skies, with salt on the roads dripping from everything and in the air to be breathed in by gasping lungs.

Get the picture. This isn't called the RUST BELT for nothing!

When you all gather on the 28th raise a glass to me on my birthday (your tab :p) and think poor guy we sure miss you. Hey Eric tell another joke!:cool:

:)JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Jim,

You are preaching to the choir. Jamestown NY, Panama, NY, remember? The year we left (Jan. 2nd 2000) they had 320 inches of snow.

I don't ever want to drive in that again. Did an approach and landed in it Sunday, but was out of there 30 minutes later.

[truk4u]

Ditto the choir preaching there Jimmy C.... Left Brockport (lake affect) in January 1981, moved to Bradenton, FL and haven't looked back. Nancy was born and raised there, we only visit in July/August. Nothing prettier than upstate New York in the summer though!;)

Next year, you need to have the sun shining on that Liberty in the winter.:cool:

[Jerry Winchester]

Well my replacement Progressive unit has bit the dust. And I'll bet I didn't use it 4 times. I have to think like Jon, yes that hurts to admit for sure, but if it just craps out plugged into the hanger, what confidence is there that it would catch a power surge? Or maybe there was a surge and that's why it isn't working, but you think there would be an error code for that.

When I plug it in, it reads all the voltages, shows no errors, shows no amperage and there isn't an amp of power coming out of it. I have to think the progressive guy is going to get tired of me sending this thing back.

Anyone else out there with a new failure to include?

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Yes Jerry, I have sent my unit back three times already. And your right, on this go around I couldn't tell the thing wasn't working. I had digital display and everything seemed peachy........BUT NO POWER TO THE BUS. I sent it back, and the senior rep called me and said they started to send it back without doing anything to it, but he ran another couple of tests on it, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, there was something wrong with the unit. He fixed it, and sent it back to me, NO CHARGE.

They do stand behind their products, NO MATTER, how many times we send it back, which is a good thing for sure.

I still think I would rather be safe and use this product than take chances on the power at parks without it !!

Gary S.

[grantracy]

I have had good luck with mine and they have been really good on replacing them, there is that quirk of letting them cycle for around 2-4 minutes when you initially plug them in before they allow power to flow to the bus....I assume you are aware of that?

[truk4u]

Jdub,

Exchange it for the cheap one, just a few LED lights, not a problem for 3 years!

[phorner]

I, too, have had my share of returns of the Progressive PT-50. However, they have replaced it time after time after time.

That being said, the last time I thought mine had crapped out yet again, I found that it was simply taking a loooong time to let power through. On the portable unit, this can take as long as 5 minutes.

Apparently I wasn't being patient enough and thought that because all the appropriate displays were made, yet no power, that I had a problem when, in fact, I didn't.

Hopefully your "fix" will be just as simple....

[Jerry Winchester]

I'll give mine the "Long Time To Power Up " test before I box it up. In fact, the perfect box came in today and I had it saved for this very purpose.

[dreamchasers]

I also have a PT-50 that I have returned twice, so far. The first two times I returned it, Progressive could not find a problem with it.

I now have removed it from service. The latest symptoms was a "puzzler" for me. I stepped into the coach and noticed one of my inverter panels with an alarm stating high AC voltage. I glanced at the voltage panels and confirmed the high voltage of 150 V plus on one leg and 0 on the other. I immediately turned the coach breaker off. After a few moments of "thoughts", I removed the Progressive PT-50 from the circuit and plugged in the coach into the 50 amp plug and all was normal again? So, the culprit appeared to be the PT-50. At the time, I did not take the time to look for any alarms on the PT-50, I wanted to turn off the breaker as soon as possible.

So I will box it up again and send it in for repair. Progressive has always checked out and returned it to me, but the reliability of the device has been very low. On the bright side, I am glad I selected the portable unit that plugs into the pedestal, because it is easy to ship back for repair.

Hector

[phorner]

Hector,

Having the portable may just be the problem. I have had a minimum of 4 portable, counting all the "replacements" and I'm not real confident that my current one will be any more reliable than the rest.

That being said, I had the same unit hard wired in my Beaver coach and it performed flawlessly, in constant use as we are full timers, for 4 years. It was that experience that lead me to purchase the portable unit for the bus.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

I have used the PT-50 at my bus barn since owning the bus without incident. I have very good and stable power there.
Since going on the road in Sept. the unit has worked flawlessly and saved my electricals several times.
Many campgrounds do not have good distribution of power and varying power usage in campgrounds stressed under high load cause the PT-50 to kick out until everything is normal again.
Twice accidents involving utility poles caused high voltage spikes to also turn power off.
If the PT-50 is unattended and turns your voltage off, it will turn it back on when it sees the proper voltage again automatically.
In some campgrounds I have found it disconnects every day at about the same late afternoon time, maybe when the power company throws more power on line for added loads?
A neighbor at one campground lost his TV and stereo and printer and and...
I like my unit and would feel very nervous without it.

[Jerry Winchester]

Maybe we need the Progressive guy to come to Austin? I mean, I really like the data it puts out at the pole and I like the protection it offers, but it's worse than owning a Harley.

[merle&louise]

Does anyone have proof that the PT-50 will actually stop a power surge from lightning?

Has your bus survived an electrical spike in an RV park where other coaches have sustained damage?

I am not trying to be sarcastic, I would just like to know the batting average of a PT-50 under real world conditions. I don't have one so any spike could cause damage to my coach. So far I have not lost any electrical accesssories or sustained any damage from electrical spikes or lightning in 20 years of RVing.

It seems to me that devices like this are more trouble than they are worth.

[RussWhite]

Hi Tuga,

You may remember I am an electrical engineer with my career spent in industrial automation and computer controls. I also spend 90% of my time each year in my motor home. The executive summary is I think an attempt at surge suppression as well as neutral protection is worth the investment. Now for a little anecdotal example for which you asked.
It was June 29th, one of those hot and humid summer afternoons when thunderstorms so often occur in the southeast. I was actually standing on the steps of the RV when the lightning struck a large hackberry tree about 25 feet from my feet :-) The bark was ripped off the tree from top to bottom and there was a new trench from the base of the tree to my power post. The gravel that used to be there showered down on the roofs of several nearby motor homes. I could place my forearm in the trench that was instantly created. About as soon as I realized I was okay I felt suddenly even warmer and heard a blowing sound. I think everything that was on at the time, and some things that were not, was damaged by the surge. The noise and heat was my furnace running - the thermostat contacts where welded together. I won't bore you with all the details of the damage but I was a busy beaver for a few days doing board level repairs or about everything you can imagine. To add insult to injury, next time I tried to use the cruise control, it too was fried.
I had no surge protection at the time and I think if I had the PI system installed, that would have been just one more thing that would have been ruined. There are times when lightning and its proximity to your equipment can release energy beyond the capability of the best suppression system. But, on the other hand, there is plenty of evidence there are the other occasions when the surge will have subsided enough due to distance that the suppressors work and project equipment downstream.
I personally have seen more damage at RV parks from poorly made neutral connections on 50A service than damage from high or low voltage.
My present bus has been dumbed down such that the only indications of available voltage were two lamps. I think I enjoy the remote display of the PI that shows phase voltage, phase current, frequency, and reason for last disconnect enough to justify it for that reason alone.
I am disturbed to read about all the trouble on this forum. I thought I had done my homework better than I apparently did. For what its worth, my PI ( hardwired in ) has been trouble free from installation about a year ago. Russ

[merle&louise]

Russ,

What brand of PI do you have?

Does it show reversed polarity?

[rickdesilva]

My PT 50 has worked well with no problems for about 3 years........I haven't had any problems with my Harley either.

[RussWhite]

Russ,

What brand of PI do you have?

Does it show reversed polarity?

EMS-HW50C

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw50c.htm

It will not connect if polarity reversed and has an error code to tell you so.

Russ

[garyde]

Here is a link to Camping World : Their Surge Guard has been around for a long time. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/portable-50-amp-surge-guard/18338

[merle&louise]

Hector,

Having the portable may just be the problem. I have had a minimum of 4 portable, counting all the "replacements" and I'm not real confident that my current one will be any more reliable than the rest.

That being said, I had the same unit hard wired in my Beaver coach and it performed flawlessly, in constant use as we are full timers, for 4 years. It was that experience that lead me to purchase the portable unit for the bus.

Paul,

It looks like you are correct; the hard wired version performs better and you don't have to worry about it being stolen.

[grantracy]

In regard to lightning protection...Kim and I were in Savannah ,Kim was outside after an afternoon thunderstorm had passed through and the skies were now clear. I was inside and heard what sounded like an artillery round going off...when I looked bark and branches from a pine tree were raining down about 20 feet from Kim..there was a strip of bark torn away the entire length of the tree. A clear air lightning bolt had struck the tree and then jumped to the adjacent power pedestal..the guy in the coach next to us came out a few minutes later to complain all his electronics had gone "black" we had a surge protector and all was good..not as good as a bonanza of course

[BoaterAl]

Granvil, Which surge protector are you using ? There seems to be 2 popular and fairly expensive 50 amp portable protectors. From the C W site A) Progressive # PT-50 C B) TRC model 34750.
More features on the Progressive portable unit and reading the posts with it share of returns to factory..per forum members.

Would their be any other opinions on which surge/power guard to purchase ?

Thanks...AL

[grantracy]

I am using the 50 amp progressive industries model,don't have any experience with others

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Do any of you have any type of Electrical surge protector on your home computer, or home TV or stereo components ?????

If you have any of this suge protection on your home stuff, why wouldn't you want to try to protect all of the valuable equipment you have in your bus? Having a $ 400 surge protection unit between the outside world and my bus components is CHEAP compared to what you might have to pay if a surge gets into your bus and damages the electronics.

Even with having to send it back several times for repairs, I am still money ahead, IMO !

Gary S.

[phorner]

Surge protection can be cheap insurance.... but be aware that if a bolt from the blue makes a direct hit of your bus or power cord, there won't be a pleasant outcome.

Back in my working days I was having a microwave communications system installed to control our pumping stations and treatment plants. Of course, I specified lightning protection for the radio equipment. Each and every bidder asked how much protection I wanted.... all with the disclaimer that NOTHING would protect my system from a direct lightning strike. Simply can't be done.

About the best you can do is to protect yourself from the transient electrical spikes that occur when something nearby is hit, or the usual crappy electrical installation/supply voltage found at many campgrounds.

I've had more than a couple friends that have had their RV electrical/electronic systems fried. They are all now believers in surge protection.

[BoaterAl]

OK Gary point well taken. Just one of those things put on the back burner. With the entries on this site I have the lighting bolt to my brain to get it down...Now
Sounds like the Progressive is the more popular unit.
AL

[Jerry Winchester]

Just as Paul suggested, I plugged my unit into the wall and plugged the bus in and started the wait. Sure enough, two minutes and nine seconds later, the coach powers up. Inverters are showing good shore power, alarm is off and I'm thinking, "Let's try that again".

So it gets unplugged, alarms sound, inverters come online and we plug it back it. A little more than two minutes later, shore power light comes on, inverters go back on shore power and it's working.

I'll be more convinced when I go back out there and it's all stable and running like a the Truk man when the Low Beer light comes on, but at least it's working.

Thanks Paul for the suggestion.

[phorner]

Glad I could help.

Mine's still working too.

But I still just can't stopping crossing my fingers every time I plug it in ........

[charlesebrownjr]

Mine has worked fine. The delayed power put through is a feature of the PT50. I sure don't like the smell of fried circuit boards and wire insulation, and when I see smoke, I really freak out.