A very good reason Not to scrimp on surge protectors.

[ACZL]

This past w/e we went to a new to us CG that said they had a 50 A site. Mind you, was told this was a older CG as well. Once on site, hooked up power via PI 50A EMS, went inside, turned on fridge and rear A/C. few seconds later, poof, nothing. Waited a minute, tried again, same thing. WTH? Go out to EMS box and lo-n-behold it's saying low voltage on 1 leg. Again, WTH? Have CG come check the outlet and their little radar says the same thing (low 100 volts). Just below it is a elect meter (ton of seasonals so more so for them), removes the meter, checks wires, same thing. Goes to main panel down by office and reports back that has same reading as well. Calls his electric buddy who says to call utility company cuz the problem lies w/ them/transformer. So needless to say we were able to run the BR A/C at least, micro at times. Oh, fridge even tripped the power on that leg alone. So we had both the fridge and water heater on gas.

All I can say is, "WHEW" and Thank God we had the PI EMS other wise it could have been very ugly for us. It DID it's job!!

[ford_truck_guy]

time2roll wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
My own choice is to always be able to "patch board" around electrical items. It has saved my bacon a few times.

Put four wire nuts in your toolbox and the bypass is easy.

I just installed the Hughes hardwire kit....

Its a 50 amp receptacle/outlet that the shore cord get wired to... then the Hughes just plugs into that 50 amp outlet.... the kit game with a pigtail that gets direct wired into my transfer switch..

the other end gets plugged into the Hughes... SO..... if the Hughes fails, just unplug it, and plug the pigtail directly into the installed 50 amp receptacle . . .

[time2roll]

pianotuna wrote:
My own choice is to always be able to "patch board" around electrical items. It has saved my bacon a few times.

Put four wire nuts in your toolbox and the bypass is easy.

[pianotuna]

Hardwired

One more thing to fail that would be a trip ender (unless there is a way to wire around the unit)

Portable allows you to risk the unit rather than risk the RV

It would be better to test under load before plugging in the RV.

I know it is easy to get lazy about checking such things.

Unless you can DIY extra cost to have an electrician do the install.

If the unit fails under warranty--another charge to remove it unless one can DIY

That said, I think if I were going to get one I'd go with the Hughes.

My own choice is to always be able to "patch board" around electrical items. It has saved my bacon a few times.

[time2roll]

Hardwire will protect any fault in the cord, transfer switch, any adapters or related connections.
One less thing to forget.
One less hassle setting up.
No worry about wet weather.
Not going to walk away.

BTW I keep my voltage booster inside also.

[fj12ryder]

FWIW, I owned 2 SurgeGuard portable 50 amp EMS units. Both failed, one rather spectacularly, due to water intrusion. They have redesigned the unit so it may be more water resistant, and now it resembles the PI unit. I didn't want to try my luck again and went with the PI EMS-PT50X, and it has proven to be a good unit. YMMV.

[pianotuna]

Acdii wrote:
Hardwired are better for several reasons,

And those reasons are?

[way2roll]

Acdii wrote:
Hardwired are better for several reasons, but if you don't have access to the wiring in order to install one, or have an electrician who can wire one, then the pedestal mount is the way to go. I had one in my last trailer, a 30 amp Surge Guard, and it worked perfectly. Since I can't access the wiring in my new trailer, or I should say, there isn't room for one in my new trailer where the panel is located, I opted for the pedestal mounted version of the watchdog.

PI was a good name when they were American made, but has been sold to another company that makes them in Mexico now and quality has slipped a bit. The Hughes Watchdog was rated tops last year, and they aren't as expensive as the PI and Surge Guard models, which BTW come from the same company now.


way2roll, there are different types of protection, so read them carefully. You won't get full protection with the $150 model, it will just alert you when you plug in if the wiring is bad and protect from surges, but if the line voltage drops or spikes, your trailer can still be damaged. The one you want is the one with Electrical Management System, AKA EMS. Those run between $240 for hardwired to well over $350 for pedestal mount. I just bought a pedestal mount Watchdog for $239 from Tweety's RV.

Thanks for the clarification. I was reading the PI reviews on Amazon and some were awful. From malfunctioning, burning up the contacts on the power cord, horrible warranty service etc.

[Acdii]

Hardwired are better for several reasons, but if you don't have access to the wiring in order to install one, or have an electrician who can wire one, then the pedestal mount is the way to go. I had one in my last trailer, a 30 amp Surge Guard, and it worked perfectly. Since I can't access the wiring in my new trailer, or I should say, there isn't room for one in my new trailer where the panel is located, I opted for the pedestal mounted version of the watchdog.

PI was a good name when they were American made, but has been sold to another company that makes them in Mexico now and quality has slipped a bit. The Hughes Watchdog was rated tops last year, and they aren't as expensive as the PI and Surge Guard models, which BTW come from the same company now.


way2roll, there are different types of protection, so read them carefully. You won't get full protection with the $150 model, it will just alert you when you plug in if the wiring is bad and protect from surges, but if the line voltage drops or spikes, your trailer can still be damaged. The one you want is the one with Electrical Management System, AKA EMS. Those run between $240 for hardwired to well over $350 for pedestal mount. I just bought a pedestal mount Watchdog for $239 from Tweety's RV.

[pianotuna]

way2roll wrote:
Looks like there are about a half a dozen flavors of 50A surge protectors from PI and Hughes ranging from $150 to $300. I do not speak electrical. What's the difference? I'd like to get one for our new FW - it's 50A but I don't want to spend $300 when I can spend $150.

Some do surge only--which is not really useful.

Some do energy management and do a disconnect if the voltage becomes too low (103.5 volts iirc, which is too low for my comfort zone).

If you believe that the device is needed--buy the top of the line.

[pianotuna]

obie311 wrote:
I thought about their auto former but we can run a long time without shore power or use the hybrid inverter to boost voltage in load sharing mode.

The load support on Magnum does not do voltage support, unless the input amperage is dialed way down low. Magnum does not recommend this be done.

[way2roll]

Looks like there are about a half a dozen flavors of 50A surge protectors from PI and Hughes ranging from $150 to $300. I do not speak electrical. What's the difference? I'd like to get one for our new FW - it's 50A but I don't want to spend $300 when I can spend $150.

[obie311]

work2much wrote:
Went with the Hughes watchdog hardwired on our new 5th wheel. I liked the bluetooth monitor and alerts it sends if there is an issue. I thought about their auto former but we can run a long time without shore power or use the hybrid inverter to boost voltage in load sharing mode.


Click For Full-Size Image.


Click For Full-Size Image.

I'm in the market for one of these. I want to hardwire as you did. I thought the PI EMS50 was the most common choice but the Hughes looks good. Why did you choose it over the Progressive?

I was worried about an outboard autoformer being stolen from the pedestal when we were out day-tripping.

[Acdii]

Well, I don't know how safe it would be, but to splice it together you would need these

Splicers
and this

Heat shrink

Only reason I know this is because I had to repair the underground cable to my barn that got damaged repairing the water line. The above parts will seal the cables, and the splices need to be staggered far enough apart so they don't rub against each other. The downside is once shrunk it becomes very stiff.

[JHblack]

I have read almost all of the Threads regarding this original post. I have decided what style (Portable) and MAKE/MODEL to purchase for our new 5ver Toy Hauler. Seeing that it is a 50 AMP service and I am choosing to go with portable route as opposed to a direct wire, for security reasons, Has anyone here ever "correctly spliced" a portable Surge Protector into your their 50A cord and make it all one piece?

Without dealing with the manufacturers "lawyer Answer" would this cause any unwanted electrical concerns?

I've even considered that it may void a warranty.

Serious Thoughts Please.

Thank you in advance