E M S and Campground/Park Question

[6CatDaddy]

Hi, Got the Mini Lite ordered, and have been busy researching as much info as I can to get back into camping...

I see the vids and posts about an EMS device, surge and hi/lo voltage at the pedestal in some parks...

Wow, I never thought about that before, albeit my previous "camping" was only as a seasonal in the same campground on the same site, electric was good, no problems.

Traveling, camping at various places and plugging in, how common is it to find bad power?

My question really is, say you pull in to camp, go to set up and the EMS device shows bad power, reverse polarity, etc, what do you do? Pull out to another site, ? If it is a state park, or I guess any campground, do they have maintenace people to come out and fix it...?

I think I know the answer, but I' d like to know what folks do if this situation comes up.

This camping/travel trailering isn't as easy as I thought! Haha!

Thanks for any input.

[W5CI]

that is a very good Question. It happened to me at FROG this year. Rennie called Scott on the radio and he replaced the breaker and all was fixed in just a few minutes. Thank you Scott but the EMS showed me that there was no power at my site

[Wheels Down]

My EMS just wont work in some CG's. Mostly due to low power received to unit. I have to switch to bypass mode and walk away wondering why did I buy this thing.

[dwayneb236]

We haven't camped as long as lot of these folks, but in the year and a half I have had my EMS, I have found one pedestal that had a problem. The EMS found it and I moved to the spot next door. Worked fine on that one. Think is was for an open ground. Can't quite remember now.

[HONDAMAN174]

Typically, when we get to a site we plug in first to make sure we have good power. Lower voltage is more of an issue when running ac or micro.

But as other members here will tell you, would you rather file an insurance claim cause every thing has fried or just move to a site that power is good.

[ependydad]

I regularly see low voltage and would manage my electrical usage- no air conditioner and everything else off to run the microwave. I've now bought a Hughes Autoformer to boost voltage (at the cost of available watts).

I've seen issues with miswired or broken pedestals. In that case, I have adapted down to 30amp or used electric from a different site or changed sites.

It has also protected me against high voltage when a campground was monkeying around overnight.

[Oaklevel]

Its like insurance, but some of what it detects is only an issues if there is another issue............ I am not saying not to get one though...

Like the open ground, while yes it is a bad thing but it is only an issue if there is another issue with your wiring. Same as cutting the ground pin off of a tool plug, its only a problem if the tool shorts out. I do not recommend it but........

The campgrounds we go to you can not move sites as they are booked, but yes they do have maintenance people. Often though the maintenance person is also the office, owner etc. So can you move depends on the campground.


The newer campers have more electronics so more to potentially damage...... Never heard of these things (EMS / Surge protectors) when we camped in our trailers 30 years ago.

Just don't ask if we have one.............

[youroo]

We "Test the Power" Before we Pull/Back into a site,if bad we call the office,if they can't fix the issue or provide a site with good power,we get a refund and go to another park! You can't just go to another site or Rob power from the next site! Your call! Youroo!!

[Dp26]

Not being fed enough volts is the main problem, usually at older sites which added 50amp service, or sites, without getting more supply from the utility company. If I can move, I do. If not, and I need the power, I use gen after giving management the option of a refund. Any place with low volts goes on my list to not visit again. It is an issue primarily in the summer when A.C. is a must for human and animal comfort. With the utmost respect, having a spouse going through menopause symptoms requires the ability to heat and cool immediately to their taste.

Recently stayed at a place where the management was aware, and said the cost of a transformer upgrade was not acceptable to him. His permanent residents do not complain, and he has enough overnights amd permanents to make a living. They give out a paper asking all to use as little power as possible! While I was not happy, there was no BS excuse, just honest description of their decision. I won't return, even though it is a convenient distance along a common route we take.

[Edmund]

Originally Posted by youroo

We "Test the Power" Before we Pull/Back into a site,if bad we call the office,if they can't fix the issue or provide a site with good power,we get a refund and go to another park! You can't just go to another site or Rob power from the next site! Your call! Youroo!!

As with the above we test every time before we go into a site. We full-timed for 18 years and now travel @5 months/year. We find one or two boxes with reversed polarity or poor ground/year. Have had a couple of people who were showing us to the site get their feelings hurt that I would even think there was a problem. Too bad. Also had one who said there was nothing wrong until I asked him about the burning electrical smell. On opening the box it was a mess. Always check!!!

[360true]

Recently, we stopped at a private campground near the GA / FL line, right off I95. I, as always, plugged in my EMS before doing anything else. It errored with high voltage on Line 0 and zero on line two. I returned to the office and with the manager, we tried each row in the campground - all with the same result.

He seemed very confused, but graciously refunded my night's rent and pointed me down the road to another campground. Hope that he called an electrician that is experienced in RV pedestals the next day.

[bwodom]

We volunteered at a public park this spring. The posts were old, and we noticed some flickering. Maintenance said there was nothing wrong with the post. Their solution was to switch my box out with one from another site...which was also old, but tested good.

Later the flickering got worse---couldn't run anything without flickering or breaker flipping. We replaced battery just in case. Still flickering. When we hooked up to leave, I pulled the plug at the pole and the prongs were obviously burned! By the time we got home and had the tech check it out, we had to get another end put on our plug-in and the converter replaced.

We bought the EMS unit on the spot and now have a way to check things out on our own without relying on what the maintenance guys tell us!

[SailorSam20500]

Originally Posted by Wheels Down

My EMS just wont work in some CG's. Mostly due to low power received to unit. I have to switch to bypass mode and walk away wondering why did I buy this thing.

Have you considered getting an Autoformer? Cheaper than replacing fried electronics.

[gectisme]

Have run into 2 places now that had issues the EMS detected. The first place they sent a maintenance guy out and said he doesn't see any issue. I plugged the EMS in again and it still had the error. He replaced the receptacle and it was good. The second place, we told the manager and waited but they didn't show up right away so I tried the 50 amp receptacle and it checked fine so we used that. Since then whenever there is a 50 amp service with the 30 amp, I use the 50 amp instead of the 30 amp. It seems like the 50 amp receptacles get used less than the 30 amp and seem to be tighter fits. That has been the last 5-8 places we have camped at.

[TitanMike]

I've been in campground/parks where the 30 amp receptacle is so worn out and abused there was actual smoke stains on the box.

If I don't need the A/C I'll just put on the 30/15 adapter and plug into the regular outlet (campgrounds like this often don't have 50 amp service). I can run the microwave and charge batteries before moving on. The cost of the stay often is a give-away. Campgrounds that often cater to the overnight stay rather than the destination type campground.

[Macrosill]

In the years I have had my EMS I only had an issue once, this past June. 1st trip of the season, also first trip in 2 years due to back surgery last year. Kids were excited and so were wifey and I to be honest.

The issue was high voltage. It was an overcast kind of rainy day with not many visitors in the park. The voltage was only 2 volts over the threshold on the EMS. My only options were to bypass the EMS or go home. I bypassed the unit and the next day when it was hot and more visitors were there the voltage was right where it should be, 118-122.