Added my Surge Protector - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Fergizmo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Added my Surge Protector

Loydstuts · RV-Dreams Family Member

Was it hard to install? I am 'electrically challenged'

Fergizmo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hardest part after deciding where to mount it, is bending the very stiff wire to get it into the box. I mounted it in the cabinate just below my power panel.

MaryBee · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fantastic! We just got our rig yesterday...that is on the top of our list...I think we will go with the $300 portable one.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fergizmo wrote:
After listening to the forums discussions of surge protectors, I took the plunge. I ordered a EMS-HW50C from Tweetys.com. It is made by Progressive Industries and had very positive comments and reviews. I have it installed and seems to work great. I feel better protected already..

Good for you

Don’t be surprised if the device operates often. You will be surprised how many parks, and cities, have power issues that can damage equipment in the rig.

The Progressive Industries unit is expensive, but it is the best.

Enjoy the ride.

Bill

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just received the Progressive Industries hard mount EMS the other day so that's the next project on the to-do list. Having a bit of a hard time finding a place to mount it in a cramped utility bay but I'll figure it out. Looks like a pretty simple installation - just cut the shore power cord at the appropriate place and wire it into the EMS. I'm not thrilled with their installation instructions though. I've never seen installation instructions that had no diagrams or pictures provided.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

RVRon wrote:
I'm not thrilled with their installation instructions though. I've never seen installation instructions that had no diagrams or pictures provided.

Ron:

Go here on the Progressive Industries Website for a full manual, with diagrams, in color, for installation and operation.

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/manuals/HW50C.pdf

Bill

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and Linda wrote:
RVRon wrote:
I'm not thrilled with their installation instructions though. I've never seen installation instructions that had no diagrams or pictures provided.
Ron:

Go here on the Progressive Industries Website for a full manual, with diagrams, in color, for installation and operation.

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/manuals/HW50C.pdf

Bill

Bill, we have a 30 amp rig and thus have the EMS-LCHW30 unit. Unfortunately that instruction manual has nary a picture or diagram! Guess they figure the 30 amp unit installation is so simple it doesn't require pictures!

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

RVRon wrote:
Bill and Linda wrote:
RVRon wrote:
I'm not thrilled with their installation instructions though. I've never seen installation instructions that had no diagrams or pictures provided.
Ron:

Go here on the Progressive Industries Website for a full manual, with diagrams, in color, for installation and operation.

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/manuals/HW50C.pdf

Bill
Bill, we have a 30 amp rig and thus have the EMS-LCHW30 unit. Unfortunately that instruction manual has nary a picture or diagram! Guess they figure the 30 amp unit installation is so simple it doesn't require pictures!

Ron:

Yea, it is pretty simple. Wire to wire through the relay and connect the grounds to the box ground posts. I haven’t installed a 30 amp unit, but I’ll bet the inside is the same as the 50 except for one less pole (connection) on the relay on each side. The relay just opens all the connections except for the grounds.

PM me if you need some help and we’ll see if we can’t sort it out.

Bill

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and Linda wrote:

PM me if you need some help and we’ll see if we can’t sort it out.

Bill

Thanks for the offer, Bill. It looks pretty simple - black to black, white to white, green to the ground terminal on the plug side. Only difference on the other side is the sensing coil that goes over the black wire. Fortunately the RV doesn't have a transfer switch so that simplifies things greatly!

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ron:

Very glad the outcome was good. This EMS thing is so important and I’m glad you got yours installed before you experienced these wide spread problems, even at "top end" campgrounds.

I hope others that read this thread will take heed and consider this most important rig protection device.

Good for you

Bill

PS
Ron I should have added this as to the reverse of your problem – Sometimes if the voltage is high you can use that extension to drop the voltage. This is pretty obvious but I thought I would mention it. I’ve done that many times and depended on the EMS to protect the rig if things got too low. Usually if it is really high, going low is not a problem.

-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Saturday 28th of July 2012 06:00:19 PM

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, we haven't encountered a high voltage (over 132 volts) situation yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I probably wouldn't have thought of using the extension to introduce intended line loss so thanks for mentioning it. Hopefully I'll remember it when the time comes!

-- Edited by RVRon on Saturday 28th of July 2012 08:22:11 PM

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thought I'd give this old thread a bump to report that our Progressive Industries EMS saved the day... TWICE!

We're staying at a very crowded commercial park near Denver and each site has to share a common power pedestal. I had to run our electric cord under the RV and then add an extension to reach the pedestal. When I plugged in the EMS would not let power into the coach... the polarity on the plug was reversed! That meant that the hot lead would have fed the neutral and vice versa. Certainly bad news! I will hand it to the park management though; when I went to the office to report the problem they sent their maintenance man to the site right away and he corrected the problem.

After some sight-seeing today we returned to the coach to find that the electricity had been off (microwave clock read 0). Our dog Callie was in the coach so this could have been a serious problem! I finally traced the problem to low voltage. The EMS was shutting the power down because it was dropping below 104 volts. Low voltage can damage air conditioning units and electronics (besides cooking the dog!), so this is serious! At first I scratched my head but then my own light bulb came on and I remembered the extension cord. Even though it's rated at the same amperage as our power cord there would probably be at least some line loss. So, we stowed stuff away, disconnected everything, pulled in the slides, raised the levelers and moved the coach over just close enough to the power pedestal for the main cord to reach. Viola! We gained 2 volts and it didn't drop as much when we cranked up both air conditioners. Lesson learned: if the voltage is already low (it's been hoving around 109-110 volts) then don't use an extension!

The Progressive Industries EMS unit was an expensive addition to the coach... but it just became a very cost effective one!

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

RVRon wrote:
Bill, we haven't encountered a high voltage (over 132 volts) situation yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

-- Edited by RVRon on Saturday 28th of July 2012 08:22:11 PM

Yes, Ron, you will indeed. I've had more high voltage than low in the last two years. Has to do with old transformers at the power pole feeding the campground. With a 30 amp rig you have a 50 / 50 chance of getting a "high leg" from these old transformers. If you do, and can get to it, try another 30 amp outlet on the next site over if it is available. If it is on the "other leg" you might be just fine. Can't hurt and the EMS will protect you regardless.

Bill

-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Sunday 29th of July 2012 03:50:53 PM

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

I just followed everyones lead and ordered our LCHW50C. I really wanted to order the plug in model for ease but it just makes sense to hard wire it and forget it.

happy paddler · RV-Dreams Community Member

We also ordered the HW50C and just came in the mail.. plan on installing this weekend.

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

I installed the HW50C several months ago. We went fulltime a month ago and our 3rd night out the progressive unit tripped 3 times within a 2 hour period. I had not installed the remote monitor yet so I couldn't identify the issue. Each time the unit would reset several minutes later. After the 3rd event power came back on and stayed on for the remainder of our stay.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Trabuco wrote:
I installed the HW50C several months ago. We went fulltime a month ago and our 3rd night out the progressive unit tripped 3 times within a 2 hour period. I had not installed the remote monitor yet so I couldn't identify the issue. Each time the unit would reset several minutes later. After the 3rd event power came back on and stayed on for the remainder of our stay.

This is a typical “small” event, where power will go up or down and then stabilize when work is being done bringing generating stations on and off line. (Simple explanation)

For additional information – As you know the Progressive Industries remote power meter will give you a code and let you know just why the unit shut off power. Could be high / low voltage or one of the 50 amp legs dropped – as well as the power going off frequency (i.e. 60 cycles per second) or other such anomalies.

The unit does have a nominal 2+ minute reset timer. That is, if the EMS shuts off power for any reason it will wait a bit over 2 minutes before turning the power back on AFTER it senses the power is “OK.” (It does not take 2+ minutes to make the evaluation of power – that happens almost instantly.) This delay has two purposes: one to protect air conditioners that do not have built in delays from a quick restart which could damage the compressor and also to assure power really is stable / “OK” before putting power back on the rig.

This 2+ minute delay can be eliminated by changing a jumper in the EMS unit. If the jumper is changed the delay will be much shorter. (It’s in the manual.) I don’t recommend taking out the 2+ minute delay, however. It is a really good safety feature even if your AC units have a built in time delay. Wait the 2+ minutes and let everyone else take the power surges as the grid stabilizes. Those 2+ minutes are a very short time in comparison to the time and money required to fix a fridge or microwave, for example.

We’ve had a bunch of threads on this before, but maybe time to provide some info for those who might have joined the Forum more recently.

Bill

Dave Buck · RV-Dreams Family Member

I bought my EMS-PT50C from Dyers. They had the best price and free shipping and I got it in three days.

http://www.dyersonline.com/progressive-industries-50-amp-portable-electrical-management-system.html

Dave

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 4th of November 2012 06:30:55 PM

rljmowl · RV-Dreams Community Member

I am loving all the info on SurgeProtectors. We are about to buy ours this week. Can't afford the hard wired, is portable just as good as you are talking about the hard wired? Also, you all seem to have gone with Progressive Industries. I have been looking at them and SurgeGuard. Can you tell me why you Went with Progressive?

Thanks so much,

Jim and Robin

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

rljmowl wrote:
I am loving all the info on SurgeProtectors. We are about to buy ours this week. Can't afford the hard wired, is portable just as good as you are talking about the hard wired? Also, you all seem to have gone with Progressive Industries. I have been looking at them and SurgeGuard. Can you tell me why you Went with Progressive?

By published specifications the Progressive Industries unit can “absorb” more surge than the Surge Guard. (This is measured in Joules which most people are not familiar with.) Therefore, on this one thing alone I would choose the Progressive Industries. PI also has a lifetime warranty and excellent phone support. They will more or less replace your unit if it "breaks."

If you purchase the Progressive Industries EMS-PT50C plug in unit it will work just as well as the hardwired Progressive Industries unit, just not a convenient, IMO. Remember these are much more than just surge surpressors. That's why they cost more - and actually work.

This is one site I would check for pricing – This is for the 50 amp plug in unit:

http://www.bestconverter.com/search.asp?keyword=EMS-PT50C+&search.x=29&search.y=12

Bill

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dave Buck wrote:
I bought my EMS-PT50C from Dyers. They had the best price and free shipping and I got it in three days.

http://www.dyersonline.com/progressive-industries-50-amp-portable-electrical-management-system.html

Dave

Good find - better price. It doesn't matter where you get them, the service is direct from PI, so get the best price.

Bill

rljmowl · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thank you Bill

That was a good site. We are new to all of this and thought both compared pretty close. I appreciate your help with clarifing "joules".

Robin

rljmowl · RV-Dreams Community Member

I bought my EMS-PT50C from Dyers. They had the best price and free shipping and I got it in three days.

http://www.dyersonline.com/progressive-industries-50-amp-portable-electrical-management-system.html

Dave

Dave,

Thank you also for your help. Dyers does seem to have great prices with free shipping. Will continue to research prices tonight. See if anyone can beat them.

Robin

Dave Buck · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry,

I'm sure this is a question that may be of interest to others so I as it here. How do I activate a link or is that something only a moderator can do?

Dave

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dave Buck wrote:
Terry,

I'm sure this is a question that may be of interest to others so I as it here. How do I activate a link or is that something only a moderator can do?

Dave

Dave,

Anyone can do it, so it is only as a service to everyone that I watch for "unactivated" links and activate them. That is much easier and quicker than copying the link and posting in the browser address line.

Up at the top of the forum categories is a category called "Forum Tips." At present, the first thread is the one and it is entitled, "Inserting Links Into Forum Posts." Here is a link to it:

Inserting Links Into Forum Posts

When doing the links, Howard prefers that the links open in a separate window, and I find that easier if I am wanting to switch back and forth between the original thread and the linked site. The instructions do include how to make them open in a new window.

Terry

Dave Buck · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Terry, I'm a little computer challenged. This is something I should have asked about sooner.

Dave