We've been camping for over 30 years and have had an Energy Management System installed in every RV we've owned. Yes, power anomalies (like reverse polarity, missing ground, over/under voltage, etc.) are infrequent, but when they happen, they can be deadly. I'll make my point with a story you won't forget.
We were camping in a very old campground next to a guy who had a beautiful old GMC bus that he had converted into his rolling home. As I sat in my RV working on my computer, I looked up and saw that he had returned from his grocery shopping trip. He reached for the metal door handle of his bus and the shock he got threw him off his feet and he landed about 15 feet back from the bus on his rear. I ran outside to see if he was OK. Fortunately his was breathing, but in quite a daze. It turns out that the ground wire on his electrical service post was broken. He had an electrical short somewhere in his bus and the 120V power that was going into his RV had no where to go but through the bus door handle, through his body and to the ground he was standing on. He was very fortunate not to be electrocuted. He remarked to me afterwards that he had been having a problem with the wiring to his microwave. I suspect this is where the short was.
IF he had an EMS, it would have immediately sensed a missing ground and turned off all power to his bus.
Now not all power problems have such potentially deadly consequences, but they can be VERY expensive. Our neighbor, Bubba, was camping in Texas and a nearby lightening strike caused an instantaneous over voltage situation that lasted less than a second. He lost his TV, refrigerator, water heater and microwave. An EMS would have stopped the power from entering his motorhome before any damage was done. Bubba had to cancel the rest of his trip and go home for major RV repairs.
In all our years of RVing, I can recall dozens of times I could hear the EMS "pop" and we lost all power to the coach. Every one of these power anomalies could have done serious damage, but my EMS protected our RV.
I even have an EMS installed on my Flagstaff A-Frame pop-up trailer. Every time I plug in my pop-up to power, it takes about 15 seconds for the EMS to verify that the power is clean and within normal service limits before I hear distinct "pop" and power flows through to my RV. What a comforting sound!
A word to the wise is sufficient. Maybe you'll remember my story next time your EMS goes "pop" and saves you from a ruined vacation or worse!
If you have a 50 amp service to your RV, install a 50 amp EMS. Likewise, if you have a 30 amp service line to your RV install a 30 amp EMS. You'll be happy you did.
Bob
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