I think our EMS just saved our electrical sytem.

10Ranger · 07-27-2018, 05:28 PM

The power to our 5th wheel went off sometime during the night last night. A long story short after reporting it to the owner in the morning we traced the problem to the under ground supply lead coming to our pedestal. We dug it up and found a rodent had chewed through the insulation and burned the wires off. At this campground we have only 30amp service but there are two hot leads and a neutral wire plus the normal ground as if at one time there may have been 50 amp service to the pedestal. Finally after about 6 hours when the owner spliced in the new wire he reversed the polarity. His meter showed we had power to the pedestal but my power did not come on. I checked my EMS and it showed reversed polarity. Not sure what would have happened had that reached our electrical system in the trailer but I bet it would not have been good. Now I feel that the $300 spent for the EMS was pretty cheap.

Wiscampsin · 07-27-2018, 05:58 PM

As EMS owners we all hope we never need the protection it offers but are darn glad we spent the $ when it does its job. Glad things worked out for you and your camper.

Duckogram · 07-27-2018, 06:00 PM

Yeah those pesky EMS saving your fridge, microwave, TV, Stereo, converter and A/C circuit boards can be a pain.
I had that happen last year at Holiday Park in Traverse City. I just broke out the 50-30 dog bone and was back in business. Reported the bad 30 to the office and they said the electrician had just fixed a bad outlet there. A bit later the electrician showed up so I told him the same thing you said. He was quick to correct me by stating that 120v AC does not have polarity, it has Neutral and Load. So I said excuse me, some bonehead electrician reversed the Neutral and Load on the 30A outlet. Then I turned off my A/C and the 50A breaker and started my genset to get the A/C back on. Told him to let me know when the electrician says it is fixed. Then I’ll test it before I plug in. He did not talk to me after that.

nomad297 · 07-28-2018, 06:24 AM

Yesterday afternoon lightning struck very close to my camper. I was inside, so I’m not exactly sure where or what it struck, but my 120 volt power went out. All of the utilities are buried at this campground, so I’m not sure why the power would have gone out. About three minutes later, my power came back on, which I found odd (and great). After speaking with about seven neighbors, only one of them experienced the exact same thing as me — she was the only person besides me who has an EMS. Only this one neighbor and I had our power shut off for about three minutes, then come back on. All of the others didn’t lose power. All I can think of is our SurgeGuards did what they are supposed to do. There must have been a power surge that shut down our EMS units, thus protecting our RVs. I don’t know if my other neighbors will discover problems with electronics later, but none seemed to think there was any immediate damage. I don’t know if I dodged a bullet or not, but I feel good knowing (thinking) that me EMS is doing what it is supposed to do.

Bruce

tugboat369 · 07-28-2018, 08:14 AM

I saw a lightning ground strike a few years ago and a few campers lost a lot of things one RV caught fire the one had a dog bone surge protector that literally blew apart but had no damage to his RV after seeing that I will never have a internal surge protector.

nomad297 · 07-28-2018, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tugboat369

I saw a lightning ground strike a few years ago and a few campers lost a lot of things one RV caught fire the one had a dog bone surge protector that literally blew apart but had no damage to his RV after seeing that I will never have a internal surge protector.

I never thought of that potential hazard, but it is real.

Bruce

10Ranger · 07-28-2018, 09:00 AM

nomad297. I've had similar experiences at least twice with close lightning strikes. While caretaking at a ranch in Texas our power went out a couple of times for a few minutes during lightning storms. Our friends staying next to us, plugged in on the same circuit, never lost theirs. As far as I know there wasn't any damage to there appliances but it's still nice to know that our surge protector was there doing it's job. At the time we had just the surge protector but we upgraded to the EMS when we traded from a TT to a 5er. I'd be interested to hear other stories of how EMS units have worked, or not, for other people.

tugboat369. That's an interesting story about the surge protector that blew apart. I never gave it much thought about internal EMS units. Glad I have an external one!

Reverse_snowbird · 07-28-2018, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10Ranger

While caretaking at a ranch in Texas our power went out a couple of times for a few minutes during lightning storms. Our friends staying next to us, plugged in on the same circuit, never lost theirs.

tugboat369. That's an interesting story about the surge protector that blew apart. I never gave it much thought about internal EMS units. Glad I have an external one!

Your EMS might have shut down due to low voltage. Ours frequently shuts down due to low voltage (there's usually a code that tells you why it's shut down). That's bad for appliances.
The primary reason we use a portable EMS and in the past surge protector is so we can test the pole before we hook up (or back our trailer in). However, you've now given us another reason to keep the portable EMS.
We've had to change campsites many times due to reverse polarity and open ground. Surprisingly, it's usually private campgrounds... who hate EMS units that find the problems.

Larry-NC · 07-28-2018, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10Ranger

His meter showed we had power to the pedestal but my power did not come on. I checked my EMS and it showed reversed polarity. Not sure what would have happened had that reached our electrical system in the trailer but I bet it would not have been good. Now I feel that the $300 spent for the EMS was pretty cheap.

Actually, reverse polarity is benign and would not have damaged anything and everything would have worked fine. It's good to have the warning because of some pretty obscure things that could happen.

Here's the only one I can think of right now. A "reverse polarity" condition occurs when the black (hot) and white (neutral) wires are reversed at an outlet. The green (ground) wire is correctly connected.

Suppose you were changing a 120vac light bulb and you touched the threaded shell of the bulb while unscrewing it, at the same time steadying the grounded metal fixture with the other hand. You would get a shock.

Usually the shell part of the socket is connected to neutral (same potential as the grounded fixture), but in this case it is hot (120vac) without the benefit of a switch. So even if the light switch (and circuit breaker) were off you could get a shock.

Larry

10Ranger · 07-28-2018, 12:57 PM

Thanks Larry-NC. I knew that reverse polarity is not a big deal with normal household wiring. I wasn't sure with all the electronics used in inverters, converters, etc. in todays RVs if it could cause some issues. I remember the days when houses did not have polarized or even grounded outlets. (I guess I'm dating myself!) But I'm still happy that I have an EMS. It's worth the price for the peace of mind.

gastan · 07-28-2018, 02:44 PM

Just checked progressive's website and see they sell what seem to be two different products.

Surge protector or EMS. What is the difference between them? Since the EMS costs 2 or 3 times the surge protector I assume it somehow does more.

Reverse_snowbird · 07-28-2018, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gastan

Surge protector or EMS. What is the difference between them? Since the EMS costs 2 or 3 times the surge protector I assume it somehow does more.

Here's a comparison of the Progressive Surge Protectors and EMS
Rv Surge Protection | United States | Progressive Industries, Inc. | Portable & Hardwired Comparisons

BandJCarm · 07-28-2018, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gastan

Just checked progressive's website and see they sell what seem to be two different products.

Surge protector or EMS. What is the difference between them? Since the EMS costs 2 or 3 times the surge protector I assume it somehow does more.

A surge protector somewhat protects from electrical surges.

An EMS definitely protects from surges, low voltage, improper/missing ground, reverse polarity, sunspots, acne, and the heartbreak of psoriasis.

Wiscampsin · 07-28-2018, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gastan

Just checked progressive's website and see they sell what seem to be two different products.

Surge protector or EMS. What is the difference between them? Since the EMS costs 2 or 3 times the surge protector I assume it somehow does more.

If you're going to spend the money on a surge protector spend the extra $ and get an EMS. As stated in above post it gives you much more protection. Well maybe not 'sunspots, acne, and the heartbreak of psoriasis'.

Iwannacamp · 07-28-2018, 07:50 PM

I have said this before. On our maiden voyage we stayed at 4 different campgrounds. 2 had bad pedestals. One 50 anp connector sizzled when I plugged up and one didn't work. I was a nervous wreck till we got home and I installed my HW EMS.

pmsherman · 07-29-2018, 10:22 AM

I've used a surge protector with my 2011 Georgetown since we purchased it. In addition, I always check any outlet I'm plugging into with a meter before I connect up. This protects me from anything except a neutral line that becomes disconnected after I'm hooked up to the 50A outlet.

I'll be replacing the surge protector with a full EMS after I finish rewiring the AC outlets in the rig to be powered from the PSW inverter I just installed. I can't use an EMS without an automatic, immediate transfer to an alternate power source because I'm running medical equipment (not a CPAP) that doesn't like having power fail while I'm sleeping. Unfortunately, there's also a number of reasons why I can't switch over to the generator at night if shore power fails.

Phil

Reverse_snowbird · 07-29-2018, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmsherman

I'll be replacing the surge protector with a full EMS after I finish rewiring the AC outlets in the rig to be powered from the PSW inverter I just installed. I can't use an EMS without an automatic, immediate transfer to an alternate power source because I'm running medical equipment (not a CPAP) that doesn't like having power fail while I'm sleeping. Unfortunately, there's also a number of reasons why I can't switch over to the generator at night if shore power fails.

Phil

I admit my ignorance in advance but have you considered an autoformer instead of an EMS? Some of them come with built in surge, reverse polarity, open ground. An EMS is going to shut off power when you've got low voltage. We don't have an autoformer because it's not cost effective for us and we already have the EMS.

satdog01 · 07-30-2018, 07:54 AM

Pulled into cg for overnight stop in AL. Was drizzling rain, almost did not install EMS. Glad I did! Electrical work was done during the day, ground lead was not hooked up. CG manager stated weather might have shut down work. Never know what happened a few hours prior. Never leave home without the ems, always carry an extension cord, was able to move ems and pull power from empty site next to our pull through.

modemem · 07-30-2018, 08:24 AM

I installed the hard wired Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C and now have greater peace of mind and one less item to hook-up and un-hook. Well worth the extra dollars.

dbledan · 07-30-2018, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmsherman

I've used a surge protector with my 2011 Georgetown since we purchased it. In addition, I always check any outlet I'm plugging into with a meter before I connect up. This protects me from anything except a neutral line that becomes disconnected after I'm hooked up to the 50A outlet.

I'll be replacing the surge protector with a full EMS after I finish rewiring the AC outlets in the rig to be powered from the PSW inverter I just installed. I can't use an EMS without an automatic, immediate transfer to an alternate power source because I'm running medical equipment (not a CPAP) that doesn't like having power fail while I'm sleeping. Unfortunately, there's also a number of reasons why I can't switch over to the generator at night if shore power fails.

Phil

Not related to EMS but autoformer may solve your issue but if not another idea. I use this because campground power is not reliable and don't have an inverter to wire to. I use it like a ups plugging into it and keeping it charged while I have power. As a bonus I can also tent camp without power for a day or so without worry as my device powers a cooling fan and small pump. I started this because several times I would wake up to things reset and no longer running. You could also just use a UPS designed for a PC but I find them much more bulky.

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