What do you use for surge protection?

This is my installation of the Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C Surge Protector.

Here's the shore power cord storage compartment-



The outlet on the left is where you plug the shore cord into when not hooked up to external power. This allows the coach to be powered by the generator. Next to that are connections for cable tv & telephone - installed by the previous owner.

Here's the EMS-HW30C mostly installed with it's cover off. In order to orient the unit with the output on the left & the input on the right (the shore cord) I mounted it upside down-



Then I plugged it in to household power and got 120 volt, 60 hz & no error messages-





I installed the cover right-side up (it will install either way) so that I could read the error codes . I installed the remote display above the surge suppressor as I thought it would be best to have the display in the compartment so I could read it when hooking up power. I also secured the main cable with a steel/rubber adel clamp-



In the last image you can see that I have the cord stowed & plugged into the receptacle. Now the surge suppressor reads & protects the generator output.

I originally bought the PI 50 amp portable for our Carriage Cameo 5ver back in 2009. Recently purchased a 2014 Navion that requires 30 amp service. So I purchased a couple of pigtail plug adapters and the PI 50 amp portable works just fine off the 30 amp service.

My selections:

1. Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C 30 Amp Hardwired EMS with Remote Display,
Part NumberEMS-HW30C. 5 mode protection
This feature provides full surge protection L-N, L-N, L-G, L-L and N-G. Total Joule rating is 3,580, 88,000A surge current. Response time of <1 nano second.
Price $217.50

2. EMS-PT30C 30 Amp Portable EMS
Part NumberEMS-PT30C 3 mode protection
This feature provides full surge protection L-N, L-G, and N-G. Total Joule rating is 1790, 44,000A surge current. Response time of <1 nano second.
Price $227.50

Strange that the portable has half the protection but $10.00 more.

I'm gonna go with the hardwired and try my luck with the install.

smkettner wrote:

synergy_58 wrote:
Okay, so as I understand this whole thing, with my limited knowledge of electrical terminology and hands-on, instead of wiring the EMS unit (30A for me too) at the end of the main power cord, like i see most people are doing in the few illustrations on-line, I need to find the transfer switch (no idea where its at or what it looks like) and then hard wire the EMS between the switch and the generator. Will I be able to determine the current flow easily? between the switch and genny I mean?
and so doing it this way, I leave the transfer switch unprotected, meaning that this switch could become damaged. How vulnerable is this switch to things like low current, spikes in current, or the nuteral condition, things that the EMS protects against?

are there any illustrations that you know of which shows the installation process for this procedure, between the switch and genny, on-line? This would help me out a lot.

Thanks!

You do not want to install between the generator and switch. Protection goes just before the breaker panel.


Cord----> Transfer switch ----> Surge protector ----> Breaker panel
Generator----^

If your RV uses the cord to plug into the generator then you have no switch because you are the switch.

Easiest IMO is remove the main romex from the breaker panel (hot,neutral&ground). Connect this romex to the Surge protector input. Get a new piece of romex (proper size) and connect the output of the protector to the breaker panel where the oem wire was removed. This will allow you to remove the protector and restore the RV back to original configuration if you decide to sell and take the protector with you.

The transfer switch is more likely to create an issue than to be harmed by something else. Better to be protected from the switch than worry about protecting the switch.

Yes the remote display will show voltage and amperes flowing into the RV.

Ok, you're correct in saying that I have no switch. I have to plug the generator in and unplug it when I'm on shore power.

So then, I should install the protector right at the main breaker box, okay. I'll check all this out.
I can easily see why some (many) people go with portable protectors, but I don't want to worry about pluging in the protector everytime I connect to shore power.

Thanks for the input!

synergy_58 wrote:
Okay, so as I understand this whole thing, with my limited knowledge of electrical terminology and hands-on, instead of wiring the EMS unit (30A for me too) at the end of the main power cord, like i see most people are doing in the few illustrations on-line, I need to find the transfer switch (no idea where its at or what it looks like) and then hard wire the EMS between the switch and the generator. Will I be able to determine the current flow easily? between the switch and genny I mean?
and so doing it this way, I leave the transfer switch unprotected, meaning that this switch could become damaged. How vulnerable is this switch to things like low current, spikes in current, or the nuteral condition, things that the EMS protects against?

are there any illustrations that you know of which shows the installation process for this procedure, between the switch and genny, on-line? This would help me out a lot.

Thanks!

You do not want to install between the generator and switch. Protection goes just before the breaker panel.


Cord----> Transfer switch ----> Surge protector ----> Breaker panel
Generator----^

If your RV uses the cord to plug into the generator then you have no switch because you are the switch.

Easiest IMO is remove the main romex from the breaker panel (hot,neutral&ground). Connect this romex to the Surge protector input. Get a new piece of romex (proper size) and connect the output of the protector to the breaker panel where the oem wire was removed. This will allow you to remove the protector and restore the RV back to original configuration if you decide to sell and take the protector with you.

The transfer switch is more likely to create an issue than to be harmed by something else. Better to be protected from the switch than worry about protecting the switch.

Yes the remote display will show voltage and amperes flowing into the RV.

sljkansas wrote:
I have the P I 50amp EMS portable unit. It has saved my but several times over the 5 years I have had it. Voltage dropped to 104 VAC one night just before we went to bed. A few minutes later voltage dropped to 76 VAC. (power company was having a problem. Power was restored about 3 hour later. It was in the heat of the summer, and I had both AC units running, Without the EMS I most likely been replacing both AC units.

I did have to send My PI back to the manufacture once because it stopped working. They repaired it and shipped it back at no cost to me.

PI has a life time warranty, Surge guard has 1 year. I also have the PI cheater box, and haven't had a problem with it.

PI cheater box?

Crabbypatty wrote:
I have been rving for 10 years, through blackouts etc never a problem. Am I lucky? Why spend 2-$400+ pesos when you can buy a "whole house" Intermatic surge suppressor from your home center for half that. Why would an Intermatic Surge Suppressor like the one I added to my home panel work any different than these expensive rv ones? Now with a new TT and Im starting to install "toys" I was going to wire up an Intermatic. Thoughts??

Is it just spike protection? Or does it verify polarity and monitor ground connection and voltage? Will it not connect power when you plug your 30a RV into 240v?

If it does all that for half price... go for it.

cochise49 wrote:
Progressive Industries 50 amp portable. Replaced the TRC model I left on top of the pedestal in Las Vegas. Bought the portable because, wasn't sure how long we would keep the rig. 2 years later, bought a new rig. When I forget this one or it fails, I'll have one hardwired as this is our last RV. Don't know which brand is better because, thankfully, no problems with either. Had a surge before using protection. All covered by insurance or warranty but problems kept reoccurring many years later. Three Transfer switches, Fridge, microwave,GFCIs.......

I can see that, with a portable unit, should one change RV's, the protector could go with you, from RV to RV.
I absolutley love my Navion, I might find a newer, nicer Navion one day, but not likely. IDK, the hard-wired units seem to look easy to install and this would free me up from the worry of someone stealing the protable off the pole, or me leaving it behind, which is a big concern for me.

Insurance will cover damage? What kind of insurance is this, if you don't mind?
I'm so new to this RV scene really. I've had a few TT's, a class B, pop-up, a TC and a modified Sprinter van. But, this Navion is sooooo nice, and I want to take good care of it and enjoy it for years. I need to know more about this and that, and insurance for repairs seems reasonable, I guess.

Thanks!

I use a 30amp portable that I picked up at the LD factory. It helped once in the two years I have owned it. I was setting up at a campground in FL or GA and it did not like the power at the post (gave a low voltage alarm). I moved to another site and told the camp site. (yes I did mention the problem at the first site).

smkettner wrote:

This is the one I've got. I would get the same if buying again today.