Brian, if the control has mechanical contacts generally they should be somewhat more rugged than a 100% solid-state version with a triac switching the motor. Triacs used to fail just looking at them cross-eyed, but they are getting better. If you can hear a mechanical click, the control probably has mechanical contacts.
The surge protector will be more effective is the pigtail is not curled or longer than to reach the busbar. For most effective line-to-neutral transient suppression, it’s best to keep the wire lead as short as reasonably possible.
