Electrical management system

[phxchica]

Total newbie here with a 2016 Jayco Greyhawk. We intend to do a lot of cross country travel staying at various campgrounds. Do I need an EMS?. Wanting to be able to use this motor home a lot for the next 20 years!

[Paul_D_]

Another Vote for Progressive Industries. I ordered a 30 amp hardwired model and experienced a MINOR annoyance sound issue, asked a few qts on another thread here and the folks told me to contact Tech Service. Spoke to Anthony, he sent me a new part in less than 3 days, issue solved. Can't say enough about their customer service. No waiting on hold, no run around, just great service.

[SoundGuy]

tnrv'er wrote:
Thanks for the education fellas. We just ordered the Progressive PT30C

You're welcome 🙂 and I'm sure you'll be quite impressed with your new Progressive EMS-PT30C. :B

[tnrv_er]

Thanks for the education fellas. We just ordered the Progressive PT30C

[SoundGuy]

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Have to agree with Bumpy,an EMS is really good and cheap insurance, if you factor in loosing some of your electronics on your RV.

Progressive Industries is the best on the market,American made and a Lifetime Warranty.

ljr wrote:
The warranty is fantastic! I have two and both have been repaired or replaced several times. Always promptly and without question. They are very suseptible to moisture. That would be a show stopper without the great warranty service.

The portable Progressive Industries EMS units are really well sealed but certainly not infallible if exposed to the elements over the long term and that's where that lifetime warranty really helps. Obviously this isn't an issue with the hard wire models which are intended to be installed inside the rig somewhere. However, the hard wire versions offer another advantage rarely mentioned in these discussions - they're field serviceable, meaning that if it fails you don't have to mail it in for repair. Rather, just call Progressive and they'll mail you out by USPS the repair part that you can install yourself. This is a particular advantage for those of us who don't live in the US as it means we don't have to deal with all the attendant cross border shipping issues.

The portable versions are certainly the most convenient to use but for me the hard wire version was the better choice. :B

[ljr]

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Have to agree with Bumpy,an EMS is really good and cheap insurance, if you factor in loosing some of your electronics on your RV.

Progressive Industries is the best on the market,American made and a Lifetime Warranty.

The warranty is fantastic! I have two and both have been repaired or replaced several times. Always promptly and without question. They are very suseptible to moisture. That would be a show stopper without the great warranty service.

[Bumpyroad]

well I emailed the co and asked about this, why, when. I assume that they either added it to the unit to make it better/more competitive or deleted it to make it cheaper?
will post if/when I hear back.
bumpy

[RBPerry]

Thanks for this tread, and those of you that posted, this is a issue I hadn't even considered. I'm ordering the EMS-Pt50C.

[SoundGuy]

Bumpyroad wrote:
my key hole is in the center where yours says "voltage". other than that looks exactly the same.
bumpy

Interesting, as both mine and yours are earlier versions which were later supplanted by the #34730-001 which had the LCD display on the front panel, which in turn has now been replaced by the current #34830 with additional features. My #34730 certainly never had any key bypass, nor do any of the current models, so I can only guess yours was perhaps the earliest version and that this key switch as you described it was dropped long ago.

[Bumpyroad]

SoundGuy wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
Well I have sitting in front of me my Surge Guard RV Power Monitor TRC technology research corp, clearwater, florida Model 34730 that has a key switch on it with ON and Bypass settings.
perhaps they offered a different one in Canada?

Well here's a pic of my TRC #34730 and I sure don't see any key switch nor do I remember there being one - sold the unit last year so I can't check now.

my key hole is in the center where yours says "voltage". other than that looks exactly the same.
bumpy

[SoundGuy]

Bumpyroad wrote:
Well I have sitting in front of me my Surge Guard RV Power Monitor TRC technology research corp, clearwater, florida Model 34730 that has a key switch on it with ON and Bypass settings.
perhaps they offered a different one in Canada?

Well here's a pic of my TRC #34730 and I sure don't see any key switch nor do I remember there being one - sold the unit last year so I can't check now.

[Bumpyroad]

oops

[Bumpyroad]

SoundGuy wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
my 30 amp plug in surge guard has a key to bypass it leaving the surge protection intact. no need to unplug it.

SoundGuy wrote:
Specifically which make & model? Surge Guard is a TRC brand name product and I owned the earliest version #34730 portable 30 amp version and it sure didn't offer any way to bypass it, nor I think did the later #34730-001 which replaced it, nor as far as I can tell does the current #34830. Which Surge Guard are you referring to? :h

Bumpyroad wrote:
will check the next time that I have access. mine is about 15? years old. came with a key to bypass it.
but if the current ones don't have it, the exact identity is sort of a moot point isn't it?

"Moot" to me for sure. 😉 If yours is indeed a Surge Guard then it's a TRC product and AFAIK no current models offer a "bypass" function ... perhaps originally they did, but I doubt it. If it's not a TRC then it's not a Surge Guard nor is it a Progressive Industries as none of their products that do feature a bypass function are key controlled. Either way, I know of no current surge protector / EMS devices that offer a key controlled bypass so as it relates to the OP asking for recommendations as to which currently available EMS to choose whether your 15 yr old "surge guard" has a key controlled bypass is irrelevant.

Well I have sitting in front of me my Surge Guard RV Power Monitor TRC technology research corp, clearwater, florida Model 34730 that has a key switch on it with ON and Bypass settings.
perhaps they offered a different one in Canada?
bumpy

[SoundGuy]

In reference to myredracer's post my bet is most folks don't realize just how often park campsite power is in fact problematic, either because the system is being excessively loaded down from heavy use and isn't capable of producing a nominal source voltage of 120 vac or because of surges & spikes in the power system feeding the park system, or even because a given campsite power post has been mis-wired by the same park handyman who also cleans the washrooms. :E We typically will experience 3 or 4 events each season for one reason or another, this being an example when incoming park voltage dropped significantly, was out for several hours, but as can be seen on my EMS monitor panel was still in error when power did come back on but the EMS prevented it from getting to our camper until the fault was corrected. Error PE2 means "open ground" which is not good. 😄 It still amazes me that so many will drop $20K, $30K, $40K, and more on a new rig but balk at investing a few hundred in an EMS that can go a long way toward protecting that rig's electronics which themselves can cost thousands $$$$ to replace. Go figure. :h

[myredracer]

An EMS often gets generically called a "surge suppressor". Progressive Industries calls them an EMS and Surge Guard a surge suppressor. While they (EMS) do have surge suppression, they are much more than that and cover low & high voltage, open ground or neutral, reverse polarity, accidental 240 volt connection and more.

If you are planning to do a lot of travel and will be visiting many CGs, sooner or later you encounter low voltage, esp. in the summer with many AC units running in a CG. Low voltage can damage AC units at levels under 105 volts and you want to avoid that from happening at all costs.

The PI EMS units are the better ones. Besides having better technical features (IMO), they are made in the US and have a lifetime warranty. Be aware that SurgeGuard has a new hardwire and portable 30 amp model and the old ones #3520 (hardwire) and #34730 (portable) are discontinued but still readily available. If set on a Surge Guard unit, don't overpay for the old model.

If you do get around to a lot of different CGs, you may also want to consider getting a Hughes autoformer to boost low voltage up to a useable level. Installing a voltmeter inside is always a good idea, either plug-in or hardwired, so you can keep an eye on the voltage.

I hardwired our PI EMS under a dinette seat beside the converter panel. I much prefer it always being there and working away on it's own without having to haul it out to the pedestal every time. Easy to remove if ever needed. Our EMS shut us down on low voltage and open neutral at a Thousand Trails last season.