Trying to decide on an EMS

[sailorsam20500]

I have and am happy with a Progessive 30 amp hardwire unit.

With that said, at the International Rally a couple years back, Mike Sokol gave a seminar on EMS units. He recommended the Southwire units over the competition because the SW techs had patented a type of protection that no other company offered. I'm very fuzzy on details but somehow they were protecting from a fault that occurred downstream of the unit. Mike didn't believe it could be done but SW proved it in a lab.

 

[reidfo]

I have a good quality surge protector and I believe that is all that is needed. Specifically, one that displays the status of and at the power post, i.e. open neutral, open ground, reversed line and neutral, etc. I have my voltage and current monitoring system that is easily visible inside our TT.

As to surviving a direct lightning strike to the power post or your RV, you will know it occurred as there will be only a pile of ashes on your RV site. A surge protector or EMS won't make any difference other than add a bit to the fire.

Many power surges are the result of nearby lightning strikes inducing voltage on the primary side of the power line. The power company has protection for this event but sometimes the protection devices are some distance from the power distribution point. Nominal power distribution primary voltages are 7.2kV single phase and 12.5kV three phase. The picture is a typical power distribution system with surge protection.

If one doesn't understand electricity or lightning, then buy an EMS so you will feel good about it. Expect to spend $250 to $500.

Bob

I would argue that if you don't understand electricity or lightning you absolutely have to have an EMS. And if you do understand those things, you'll know why they're important. As you alluded to, a surge caused by a lightning strike can happen anywhere. If it is between you and a power company suppression system, what's going to even try to protect you otherwise?

Not a panacea, but it helps, and as I mentioned earlier, just sitting in my house I've had multiple appliances die due to distant lightning. I see it as cheap insurance. Not a fix-all, but good insurance. Mostly these things are protecting RVers against miswired pedestals, and that's every bit as valuable.

 

[sailorsam20500]

I have a good quality surge protector and I believe that is all that is needed. Specifically, one that displays the status of and at the power post, i.e. open neutral, open ground, reversed line and neutral, etc. I have my voltage and current monitoring system that is easily visible inside our TT.

As to surviving a direct lightning strike to the power post or your RV, you will know it occurred as there will be only a pile of ashes on your RV site. A surge protector or EMS won't make any difference other than add a bit to the fire.

Many power surges are the result of nearby lightning strikes inducing voltage on the primary side of the power line. The power company has protection for this event but sometimes the protection devices are some distance from the power distribution point. Nominal power distribution primary voltages are 7.2kV single phase and 12.5kV three phase. The picture is a typical power distribution system with surge protection.

If one doesn't understand electricity or lightning, then buy an EMS so you will feel good about it. Expect to spend $250 to $500.

Bob

I checked in to a nice park in San Antonio. I was happy to see what was obviously a brand new power post. My EMS did not connect my trailer - the post was incorrectly wired and was delivering 220 volts on the 30 amp plug. As it turns out, it was also delivering 220 volts on one leg of the 50 amp plug. A surge suppressor would not have caught this issue.
I was at an older park up in Ontario during a heat spell. Service there was delivering a max of 104 volts on the 30 amp service. Low voltage is not good for AC units and some other electronics. A surge suppressor would not have caught this issue.
I've been in several parks with incorrect wiring of ground and neutral wiring. Surge suppressors don't protects from those either.
Price of my EMS is a fraction of what I would have spent without it. You've obviously had better luck than I have.

 

[glen1971]

FWIW, we have had a 30 amp Surge guard hardwired in, with the display, for close to 10 years. It has been the first "upgrade" we've done on our last 2 trailers. It's tripped a few times on undervoltage.

We opted to go hardwired because it's a bit tougher to steal it, I know I won't forget it when rigging out, and the display is visible from ground level, so when I bring out our steps I can see what is going on.

 

[Electra glide]

I have the hard wired Progressive Industries.

 

[Boomerweps]

The exposed EMS connections rain exposure can be minimized with a split 2 liter plastic soda bottle. Cut the bottom off. The 1L bottles work great for 15-20AMP connectors.

 

[Mookie58]

We have the 30A Watchdog EMS unit for our TT. I fabricated a cover for the face of it from a 1/16" piece of black plastic that is held on by Velcro tabs. It cuts the light from the unit down so that it's barely noticeable at night. I like that I can monitor the amperage draw from my phone and that it does it's diagnostics of the campsite post before I plug the trailer into it. I also like that if the surge protection circuit is blown I can replace it with a new module instead of scraping the whole EMS unit. I certainly feel better about plugging into a campground power pole with the Watchdog in place.


I was also concerned about having the exposed/unprotected plugs in case of rain, but the first trip we used this on an unexpected rain storm hit during the night and nothing tripped from the unprotected plugs on the ground. And this storm dumped A LOT of rain.

 

[Rockwood2318G]

Power watchdog hands down is the absolute best in my opinion. I've owned 4 travel trailers including a tent trailer and each unit has had either the portable or hardwired version. These units are amazing. If you're like me and like to keep an eye on the power this is what you want. Also, in the event your surge protector blows (because that's what they're designed to do to protect your trailer in the event of a surge) you can actually replace the surge module instead of buying a whole new unit like you would if you had a progressive industries brand surge protector (I could be wrong but last I checked you can't replace the modules in the progressive industries brand). Hope this helps!

 

[blufrog1]

ems

We have the progressive 50p and have had it shut off our power for both surges during lightning storms and low voltage episodes in the park. In each instance our equipment as protected while nearby unprotected rigs had electronics damaged. The other thing I love is being able to look out the window and see how many amps we are using.

 

[Fineline]

I have a progressive, however this is my second one. The first filled up with water. No, it wasn’t laying down in a puddle. They were very good about it and replaced it for free. I have since made a rain hood out of waterproof fabric and just wrapped it around and gorilla taped it to the cord. A makeshift tent. So far so good. It rains in Washington.

 

[Rockwood Travelers]

We have a Southwire 30A with the remote monitor. The reason we bought the Southwire is it had some added protection that most of the others do not have. This will be the 3rd season for our EMS and so far so good.

I would stress that when you purchase your EMS that you get a high quality cable to lock it securely to the electrical post. These EMS units are not inexpensive and there are folks trolling around looking for easy pickin's!

 

[Theb2b]

The Bulldog is my choice but I'm prejudice as that is what I have. Mine is hardwired and has tripped twice both times due to nearby lighting strike. I have it mounted in a false cabinet front so it is easy to check, open a door. In addition if see white light leaking out around the edges of the door life is good. (Red is bad!)

 

[Tailwindpilot]

X4 for the hardwired version. No need to plug in "extra things", just plug in your power cord. I have a Progressive 30A unit. It has a display inside the trailer showing amperage draw, voltage and any error codes. While I do not have a generator, it also has a switch to disable the unit if you do not want to use it for whatever reason.

The feature on all units that I think is most valuable is the low/high voltage monitor with shut down if it exceeds certain parameters. Low voltage monitoring in particular is important to protect your air conditioner. Low voltage will damage your units. I am less worried about the surge protection.

Glad you are planning on using an EMS. It will discover incorrectly wired pedestals in addition to over and under voltages.

 

[Alde]

EMS

Have progressive hard wired unit.recommed one with remote panel.had saved us from high power low power.storm surge. Multiple times. Protects from almost everything. After surge they sent us new surge module asap. Great service. Nothing to get wet. Always installed.easy to wire in. Been using since 2017. One summer in NY it tripped 20/30 times on low voltage.havent been back to that park.

 

[NMWildcat]

We bought an EMS after one of the first marketing blitzes aimed at RVers. Used it for a few years. Gave it away when I tired of the many unnecessary power interruptions.
Been perfectly happy w/o one for many years of traveling across the US. I usually check the pole outlet before plugging in with my tester.

 

[Dirthawg]

We bought an EMS after one of the first marketing blitzes aimed at RVers. Used it for a few years. Gave it away when I tired of the many unnecessary power interruptions.
Been perfectly happy w/o one for many years of traveling across the US. I usually check the pole outlet before plugging in with my tester.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that feels these devices are unnecessary.

If I plug my camper into a power pedestal at a camp site and it fries everything inside my camper It will ruin my weekend for sure but my insurance company will make me whole again eventually, that's what comprehensive insurance is for.

Of course it is good practice to bring a multi meter along and check the pedestal prior to connecting the power cord.

 

[NewToTheForce]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that feels these devices are unnecessary.

If I plug my camper into a power pedestal at a camp site and it fries everything inside my camper It will ruin my weekend for sure but my insurance company will make me whole again eventually, that's what comprehensive insurance is for.

Of course it is good practice to bring a multi meter along and check the pedestal prior to connecting the power cord.

Which is the issue. The chances of this ruining a day or two is bad enough, but completely putting your electrical system out of commission, ruining weeks of a trip, and then having it down for an unknown period getting it sorted at the shop. No thanks, I'll plug one in and let it do it's thing.

 

[Dirthawg]

Which is the issue. The chances of this ruining a day or two is bad enough, but completely putting your electrical system out of commission, ruining weeks of a trip, and then having it down for an unknown period getting it sorted at the shop. No thanks, I'll plug one in and let it do it's thing.

To each his own, I've been RV camping for more than 7 years and have never needed one.

I would be more concerned about my dog surviving inside the camper on a 100 degree day if the device cut power to the camper and there was no A/C while I was away. I'll pay to replace the A/C before I come back to camp to a dead dog.

 

[RobbieH]

My Progressive 50a unit got fried, sounded like a chainsaw. I sent them a copy of the receipt and explained the problem, they shipped me a new one no questions asked. They simply asked me to cut the cord off the failed one. That's customer service.

When it got fried we were fulltiming in our Class A Monaco. Many 5ers next to us got fried, estimates in the $10k range. We were fine.

 

[NewToTheForce]

To each his own, I've been RV camping for more than 7 years and have never needed one.

I would be more concerned about my dog surviving inside the camper on a 100 degree day if the device cut power to the camper and there was no A/C while I was away. I'll pay to replace the A/C before I come back to camp to a dead dog.

I don't disagree that these types of events are rare, just don't want to be one of the unlucky ones.