Installing and Using a 50 Amp 220v Hughes Autoformer

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by itat

We just upgraded to a new 5er that has a 50A service. Unfortunately, the Hughes Autoformer that I bought for our previous TT was a 30A unit. The 50A models are very pricey. The new 5er only has one A/C and we had no problems managing with just 30A before, so I figure I can still use it with a dog bone at times when everyone in the park has their A/Cs running or in the event that park voltage is not reliable. I will have a Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C installed to protect the electrical system and equipment.

Yep; same boat. New 50 amp camper (dual AC) with an old 30 amp 2 stage Franks. I would love to buy the 50 amp 2 stage Franks, but Frank is gone and his business was not picked up by his kids.

So... I installed 2 micro-air soft starts in each AC and can use the 30 amp Franks with a little power monitoring. I have a 15K in the living room and a 13.5k in the bedroom. I can either run one or the other, (or both with not much else) and still use the Autotransformer when I need to.

[gordonsick]

Originally Posted by raidernation

The unit is is sealed with rivets. Good luck opening it up without them being able to know.

You probably are not the first person to think of that.

Interesting that they seal it with rivets. I believe that Hughes brags about how the surge suppression circuit board is replaceable, and I thought it was actually user replaceable.

Oh well, I'll just do the hack with my long power cord that came with the motorhome and I'll add the male and female plugs that Oscar linked to.

–cheers, Gordon

[dave-g]

Gordon- from Hughes site-


The legendary, original, and patented RV voltage booster, now with the world’s most advanced surge protection.
The all new Hughes Autoformer 50 amp RV power boosting autoformer (RV220-50SP) has the same performance and reliability of the original RV220-50 but now has advanced surge protection. The unit constantly monitors incoming power to protect against spikes or surges. As an extra feature the surge / spike protection unit is also replaceable. In the event of a massive spike, the surge unit will take the hit ensuring your booster and more importantly, your RV is not damaged.


Looks like only the more expensive one has surge protection.

[gordonsick]

Dave,
Actually, the RV220-SP is the less expensive model and is the one I bought. I suspect that the SP stands for Surge Protection. That is why I queried the anomalous pricing.

OTOH, the manual for the RV220 does say it provides surge protection, as well. It has fewer diagnostic lights. And, it costs more.

–Gordon

[Oscarvan]

Not clear on the difference..... other than the price....

Had to go look....RV-220-50-SP

[itat]

I think they may have changed the programming of their autoformer in the last year or two. They used to boost 2% all the time but the specs now say it doesn’t boost until source voltage drops to 113V and will stop boosting if the source voltage goes back up to 115V. That’s a nice change.

So I wonder if the lower priced unit is the old version that boosts 2% all the time and ther higher priced unit is the new version.

[itat]

Gordonsick, you might also want to check RV Upgrade Store,
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/50-Am...-p/71-2669.htm

Their product description says, “Fully automatic 10% boost when needed.”

[gordonsick]

Itat,
The RV Upgrade store link you give sends me to documentation for a Hughes Autoformer that is identical to some documentation I already have, but which has a 2015 copyright. The pictures on the cover are consistent with the expensive autoformers that only have one (or 2?) diagnostic lights.

The 250-SP model has a 1-page documentation that describes 6 diagnostic lights. I can't identify the date it was created, but this is the less expensive model and seems to do everything that the older model does, and also provides more diagnostic lights, including one that tells when the surge protector MOVs are burnt out.

–Gordon

[itat]

Originally Posted by gordonsick

Itat,
The RV Upgrade store link you give sends me to documentation for a Hughes Autoformer that is identical to some documentation I already have, but which has a 2015 copyright. The pictures on the cover are consistent with the expensive autoformers that only have one (or 2?) diagnostic lights.

The 250-SP model has a 1-page documentation that describes 6 diagnostic lights. I can't identify the date it was created, but this is the less expensive model and seems to do everything that the older model does, and also provides more diagnostic lights, including one that tells when the surge protector MOVs are burnt out.

–Gordon

That’s weird. When I click on my link it takes me to their product page for the RV220-50-SP with a price of $597.67. It’s the same model as the Camping World model that they have priced at $792.99. If you look at the 2 Camping World product pages you’ll see the less expensive one says it constantly boosts power 2% which is the previous generation model.

[gordonsick]

Itat,

We are clicking on different links. I get the same product page as you do for the 220SP model, but Clicking on the link to the Instructions takes you to the older but more complete instructions for the older model RV220-50-Instructions.pdf

As I say, the 220-50SP has 6 diagnostic lights and the older model has fewer of them, so the instructions aren't quite complete for the new model. That is why they created a simple one-pager for the new model, which misses a lot of the documentation for the older model.

If you look at the older documentation, you'll find that it was created with Adobe In Design, which is a professional page layout program. I assume the author of the original document (or the software licence) was not available when they introduced a new model, so they just used some more available and amateurish software (MS Word) to do a quick one-pager.

[Before I get slammed for dumping on MS Word, let me acknowledge that an expert can do good page layout with MS Word. But, clearly they lost that expertise when they lost the person who used In Design.]

–Gordon

[itat]

Oh. I hadn’t clicked on that link. You’re right that is the user guide for the previous generation. It says a constant 2% boost.

I checked the Hughes Autoformer website and they still have that user guide on their website so its not the vendor’s error.

Wouldn’t hurt to call them to confirm the model they’re offering at that cheaper price.