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Old 05-31-2023, 07:22 PM   #1
DutchmenSport
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Progressive EMS saved the day again ... today!

Currently we are camped at an Indiana State Park. We've been here for over a week now. We were on one site for 5 nights and then scheduled a move to another site that has full hookups for another 7 nights. We're on the full hook up site now.

Earlier today, power went out on the camper. As it turned out my Progressive Industries EMS-PT50X (portable, not hard wired) tripped the power off to the camper with an E-6 error code. That code stands for "Line 2, low voltage, less than 104v).

The 50 amp breaker itself was extremely hot. The plug for the EMS was hot, and the EMS went into the error, and I couldn't clear it.

Well, it's HOT right now in Central Indiana and the camper started heating up immediately with no AC. So, I pulled out my 30 amp Hughes Autofoamer and plugged into the 30 amp outlet with the dog bone adapters and temporarily went back to power management in the Montana. Water heater was flipped over to gas, one AC was turned off, unplugged the coffee pot, stuff like that. One AC helped keep it tolerable cool, but not comfortable cool.

Meanwhile, I contacted park management about about 2 hours later someone came out and replaced the entire electric box, didn't even attempt to swap out breakers or anything, just swapped the whole kitten-kah-boot-el thing out. Got the camper powered back up again and no more issues the rest of the day.

Low volatage can be an RV destroyer. Progressive saved my caboose again!

IF you don't have an EMS.... get one! They may cost $300 or more, but many electronic components in your RV cost a lot, lot more than that! This is now several times that Progressive EMS has treated me right!
 
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Old 06-01-2023, 09:03 AM   #2
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I have a Hughes Watchdog. I’ve never needed it but I’m not going to bet my camper that I’m never going to need it. That’s why I use it.
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Old 06-01-2023, 09:30 AM   #3
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Yep…pretty cheap insurance. My Progressive killed power to the rig due to open ground. Caused me to find and fix the problem. I’m a fan of the cost saving protection.
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Old 06-01-2023, 09:43 AM   #4
Jay & Bobbie
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I have the Progressive also.
Never had a problem so far in our short time camping, but good to know the device does it's job.
Thanks for the info.
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Old 06-01-2023, 02:10 PM   #5
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I opted to go with Power Watchdog PWD50EPO, Bluetooth Surge Protector with Auto Shutoff, 50 Amp, Portable. It paid for itself once already.
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Old 06-02-2023, 03:09 AM   #6
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Our hardwired Surge Guard 35550 has been peace of mind. Went ahead and got the remote display to put into the control center. Right off the bat, it let me know I had reversed polarity out in our carport when I plugged up to a 15a circuit just to cool down the residential refrigerator a day before a trip. Wouldn't be without an EMS for love nor money...
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Old 06-02-2023, 04:49 AM   #7
MandK
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I am surprised to see how many campers are not using EMS as we walk through the parks. All of the units I see without them can’t be running hardwired boxes. Mine has done its job twice so far in 2 years.
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Old 06-02-2023, 08:42 AM   #8
Mikendebbie
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I learned about these things by reading this forum and other forums only in the last 6 years or so. I suspect most of the folks we see out there are not reading the forums.

I started traveling in RVs with my folks when I was a kid in the late 60's. Never once worried about plugging in to the campground pedestal. I suppose ignorance was bliss. Same goes for our Coleman pop-up when we started traveling with our kids in the early 90's. I could not afford the fancy stuff anyway. "Hey honey - is this a good week to buy a Hughes Power WatchDog? or should we buy groceries to feed the kids?"
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Old 06-02-2023, 08:54 AM   #9
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Old campers probably did not need it like the ones we have now. I have the Hughs Autoformer and Power Watchdog hard wired. Won't (can't) plug in without them.
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Old 06-02-2023, 09:04 AM   #10
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We have a hardwired Watchdog and it has tripped a few times already. I think the Progressive and Watchdog are the two most likely used. As Tony said, the Watchdog has Bluetooth. What I appreciate is should something happen to my Watchdog, I have a spare module along should the surge protection take a hit. On the road to Alaska, if I lost surge protection I might go a week or more before I could get a replacement unit.
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Old 06-02-2023, 10:36 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MandK View Post
I am surprised to see how many campers are not using EMS as we walk through the parks. All of the units I see without them can’t be running hardwired boxes. Mine has done its job twice so far in 2 years.
Part of the problem today, is the rv parks you used inthe 50s to 70s are still going - and using the 50 year old wiring, I would guess.
Also, we don't really camp anymore - it is more glamping with all the electric gizzmos, etc. So much bigger draw on a park's resources. Several times mine has gone off because of low voltage caused by too many users.
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Old 06-07-2023, 02:03 PM   #12
duane909
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EMS

Bought our Montana used and the previous owner had an EMS hard wired in. So not sure which one it is (have not had to get into that part of the camper yet). A couple of years back we were at a campground near Winchester VA when a medium sized travel trailer plugged in and blew the whole campgrounds electric. As in the power company had to come out and replace stuff. At least a few other campers lost TV's, refrigerator's, and etc. Our EMS saved everything in our camper that day !!

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Old 06-07-2023, 06:11 PM   #13
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Wouldn't be without one

Parked in a campground in Revelstoke BC last year. We only had the ceiling fan and TV on and our hard wired Progressive EMS kept tripping. I complained to the campground owner and he came to our site to inspect. He was adamant it was not his power pedestal rather than my fifth wheels electrical system even though we could clearly see the low voltage reading and error code on the EMS. What an idiot!! Anyway, he suggested we plug into the adjacent pedestal. Only problem was my dogbone got "fried" from the dodgy pedestal. The campground owner supplied another dogbone, and for the rest of the day and night, we had absolutely no problems running an air conditioner and other electrical appliances on the 30A circuit. We left the next morning, leaving the fried dogbone plugged into the defective pedestal and his dogbone tucked away in our basement. Then he had the hide to email me and suggest I "stole" his dogbone. To me it was merely him replacing my property that was damaged due to his deficient campground electrical supply. By the way - it was Lamplighter Campground in Revelstoke. Don't camp there unless you want to freecamp.
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Old 06-07-2023, 07:24 PM   #14
Djgrimaldi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rames14 View Post
We have a hardwired Watchdog and it has tripped a few times already. I think the Progressive and Watchdog are the two most likely used. As Tony said, the Watchdog has Bluetooth. What I appreciate is should something happen to my Watchdog, I have a spare module along should the surge protection take a hit. On the road to Alaska, if I lost surge protection I might go a week or more before I could get a replacement unit.
Thanks for the tip. Did you buy the module from Hughes or off of Amazon? Never quite sure where that stuff comes from when buying from Amazon.
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Old 06-07-2023, 07:59 PM   #15
Mingus Pirate
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Surge Guard twice

In two campgrounds we have experienced open neutral. Up to 8 others campers lost a lot of electronics. We didn't. We have a 2008 Surge Guard where the label is gone due to sun exposure. However, it still works. We even use it at home. One of our friends had an open neutral at home because a high truck took out the neutral in the neighborhood. They lost a lot of home electronics.
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Old 06-07-2023, 08:00 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozzie Cozzies View Post
Parked in a campground in Revelstoke BC last year. We only had the ceiling fan and TV on and our hard wired Progressive EMS kept tripping. I complained to the campground owner and he came to our site to inspect. He was adamant it was not his power pedestal rather than my fifth wheels electrical system even though we could clearly see the low voltage reading and error code on the EMS. What an idiot!! Anyway, he suggested we plug into the adjacent pedestal. Only problem was my dogbone got "fried" from the dodgy pedestal. The campground owner supplied another dogbone, and for the rest of the day and night, we had absolutely no problems running an air conditioner and other electrical appliances on the 30A circuit. We left the next morning, leaving the fried dogbone plugged into the defective pedestal and his dogbone tucked away in our basement. Then he had the hide to email me and suggest I "stole" his dogbone. To me it was merely him replacing my property that was damaged due to his deficient campground electrical supply. By the way - it was Lamplighter Campground in Revelstoke. Don't camp there unless you want to freecamp.
A few years ago we were at a CG in SD & it was hot, breaker at the box tripped. Little while later it tripped one side only. I told the guy & all he said was must be something wrong with your trailer.
It's always the other guys fault, what an ass.
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Old 06-08-2023, 05:26 AM   #17
DebNJim B
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Our Surge Guard has protected us a couple times at our home base. This is a private site, not CG and only a couple years old. This is Goergia Power not the box. The main house we are tapping into doesn't have EMS and they haven't lost any electronics. So that tells me my EMS is more sensitive than most appliances which for me is a good thing. When it has gone out it has come back in just a few minutes so it must be just a quick dip below that 104 threshold.
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Old 06-08-2023, 06:33 AM   #18
DutchmenSport
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikendebbie View Post
...

I started traveling in RVs with my folks when I was a kid in the late 60's. Never once worried about plugging in to the campground pedestal. I suppose ignorance was bliss. Same goes for our Coleman pop-up when we started traveling with our kids in the early 90's. ...
Your life style experience is similar to mine. My parents purchased a brand new 1963 Phoenix Travel trailer pulled with a Pontiac station wagon. I was 8 years old when they brought the camper home.

As I remember, all it took was a heavy construction style extension cord plugged into a 15-20 amp plug (and then, they weren't even grounded back then). But then, the only things that ran off electricity in the camper were the outlets and the lights on the side of the wall. There were no electronics in that camper, no computerized devices, no electronic games, no "smart" televisions or microwaves, or anything that even remotely required charging with a USB plug.

It was very simple then and if there were power fluxes in the electric grid it almost always affected nothing. Even the radio my parents drug along still had vacuum tubes in it as transistors weren't even invented yet. Electric coffee pots was pretty much non existent, at at most, we had an electric toaster. Cooking was done on the the gas stove, no electric appliances, and the camper had NO air conditioner. It was simple.

It wasn't until popular demand insisted on RV's and campers to have all the modern devices that one uses in their stick n brick homes. Luxury became more demanding. Convenience became more demanding. All of that meant installing more and more sophisticated equipment that demanded the latest and greatest electronic technology. All of these devices we use today are much more sensitive to power fluxes, surges, low voltage, and any number of electric power issues.

Not to mention, the cost to replace any one of these devices in an RV can end up being a very costly endeavor. The price of a good EMS is far, far cheaper than the cost of the computer system for your Key TV, the air conditioners on the roof, or the electronics that control the jacks on your camper, that all depend on your converter.

That is the difference between yesterdays campers and lifestyle and todays campers and lifestyle.

For what it's worth, we had a pop-up for 6 years. It plugged into a 20 amp outlet with no issues. It didn't even have an air conditioner, no electric water pump, no microwave, no water heater, not even a toilet, ... nothing, except outlets for a coffee pot and a toaster. Lights ran off the battery. It did have a converter, that if left on boiled the battery.

Times have changes, and things have gone astronomical expensive. EMS ... cheap protection when you REALLY think about it!
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