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Old 03-15-2019, 03:06 PM   #1
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Brand: DRV
Model: 38RSSA
State: Wisconsin
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THOR #3221
Power Question

Hey guys I have a question, last night the power to our refrigerator and outlets in the bedroom went out briefly and then came back on. This happened at least 5 or 6 times through out the night. These outlets are wired through the inverter, the two outlets in the bedroom were wired by DRV to power our C Paps along with the fridge.

When I looked at the EMS I have a "PE4" code that is showing. I'm confused because the EMS is also showing L-1 118 volts and L-2 119 volts and "E-0" is also showing in the read-out on both lines.

In the manual it says to re-set the EMS all that has to happen is for the power going into it to be shut down. I went out to the pedestal and flipped the 50 amp breaker off and then back on. I'm still getting the "PE-4" code though. Unfortunately I don't have a multi tester with me so I haven't checked the actual voltage at the pedestal.

Any suggestions or ideas? I would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thanks

Dan

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Old 03-15-2019, 03:38 PM   #2
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was your Inverter actually ON when this happened? The Inverter typically passes thru 120v power from the Shore when you are plugged in, but if the Inverter is ON, it would then pick up the power, even for just an instance, when the shore power is lost... meaning, you would not experience any power loss to the appliances and outlets.

I doubt your EMS has anything to do with this, it could simply be a temporary black-out or brown-out, park wide, or even utility wide.

This is why we always keep our Inverter ON, whether plugged in, the generator running, or not. The Inverter's power is the 'back up' power supply - instantly.
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Old 03-15-2019, 03:55 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dapperdan View Post
Hey guys I have a question, last night the power to our refrigerator and outlets in the bedroom went out briefly and then came back on. This happened at least 5 or 6 times through out the night. These outlets are wired through the inverter, the two outlets in the bedroom were wired by DRV to power our C Paps along with the fridge.

When I looked at the EMS I have a "PE4" code that is showing. I'm confused because the EMS is also showing L-1 118 volts and L-2 119 volts and "E-0" is also showing in the read-out on both lines.

In the manual it says to re-set the EMS all that has to happen is for the power going into it to be shut down. I went out to the pedestal and flipped the 50 amp breaker off and then back on. I'm still getting the "PE-4" code though. Unfortunately I don't have a multi tester with me so I haven't checked the actual voltage at the pedestal.



Dan

PE is prior error and if I remember correctly code 4 is low voltage for Progressive ind ems.

So the ems is telling you there was at some point low voltage and the ems will shut down power until the voltage get to the correct amount. It does this to prevent damage to your mh equipment

I have seen this myself at some campgrounds. THe voltage drops just for a couple seconds then come back up. Everything shuts down than comes back on
You need to look at the ems meter when its shuts down to see what it says for voltage. If I remember correctly it will shut things down at 104 volts.

SOunds like it working properly to me. Now if the voltage never dropped down then there could be a problem


Jerry
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Old 03-15-2019, 04:11 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfprice View Post
PE is prior error and if I remember correctly code 4 is low voltage for Progressive ind ems.

So the ems is telling you there was at some point low voltage and the ems will shut down power until the voltage get to the correct amount. It does this to prevent damage to your mh equipment

I have seen this myself at some campgrounds. THe voltage drops just for a couple seconds then come back up. Everything shuts down than comes back on
You need to look at the ems meter when its shuts down to see what it says for voltage. If I remember correctly it will shut things down at 104 volts.

SOunds like it working properly to me. Now if the voltage never dropped down then there could be a problem

Jerry
well said!
my Progressive works just like you described

E 0 means no current errors, but the PE 4 still displays to remind you that an error previously occurred

if you unplug, reset the module & plug in again...the PE 4 will not be shown until there is another error to display
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Old 03-15-2019, 04:35 PM   #5
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Thanks guys, we usually turn our inverter off when hooked to shore power, ours was OFF last night. I noticed the PE-4 code and looked it up, like you said it shows a previous low voltage. I went out to the pedestal this morning and shut the power down for about 30 seconds. Is there a re-set button I should've pushed too to re-set the EMS?

To me the puzzling thing is for a brief time the 3 three outlets (fridge & bedroom outlets) shut down for a very short time and then re-started all on their own. I happened to have the microwave light on and the TV at the time, neither of those even "flinched"! Why would just those three outlets drop off and NOT everything else 120 volts in the coach?

Our batteries are 5 years old IF that makes a difference. Oh, and this is happening on a '15 38 RSSA.

Dan
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Old 03-15-2019, 06:12 PM   #6
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The EMS will restore power to the RV once the park voltage returns to normal. So if the park voltage sagged to a low value and then later comes back up to normal, the EMS will restore the connection automatically. It shuts off to prevent any damage to electrical devices in the RV when the voltage is too low.

Not sure why some other lights didn't go out, if you had your inverter OFF.
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Old 03-15-2019, 07:47 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by dapperdan View Post
Thanks guys, we usually turn our inverter off when hooked to shore power, ours was OFF last night. I noticed the PE-4 code and looked it up, like you said it shows a previous low voltage. I went out to the pedestal this morning and shut the power down for about 30 seconds. Is there a re-set button I should've pushed too to re-set the EMS?

To me the puzzling thing is for a brief time the 3 three outlets (fridge & bedroom outlets) shut down for a very short time and then re-started all on their own. I happened to have the microwave light on and the TV at the time, neither of those even "flinched"! Why would just those three outlets drop off and NOT everything else 120 volts in the coach?

Our batteries are 5 years old IF that makes a difference. Oh, and this is happening on a '15 38 RSSA.

Dan

Dan,
You have 50 amp service so it sounds like only one leg dipped below the 104 volts so only that leg will lose power. The other will still work thats why micro and tv still worked

Jerry
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Old 03-15-2019, 08:16 PM   #8
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if your fridge and several other outlets are on the inverter, and your other outlets including the microwave are not, and if these two circuits are on different legs, or ‘sides’ of your 50 amp power panel, losing only half of your 50 amp service would allow some to work, and some not.
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Old 03-15-2019, 08:44 PM   #9
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no need for the invertor to be on if plugged into shore power or running on gen
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Old 03-15-2019, 08:57 PM   #10
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Jerry, Turner, Thanks guys for the explanation. One leg dropping in voltage and not the other makes sense to me. I had somebody from the campground check out the pedestal, he admitted there's a "good chance" the voltage dropped as this is an older park and "anything" is possible. The voltage at the time of the tech checking it was right where it should be on both legs. I got a hold of some dielectric grease and used some on the 50 amp outlet. So far during the day today we haven't had another issue.

When I flipped the breaker to grease the 50 amp outlet I waited at least 4 or 5 minutes before restoring the power and the error code dropped off just like you guys said it would.

Thanks again guys!

Dan
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Old 03-15-2019, 09:28 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfprice View Post
no need for the invertor to be on if plugged into shore power or running on gen

for many who own an RV with a 'simple' inline inverter, such as only for the fridge, this might well be the case... but for many motorhome owners with 'whole house' inverters, which carry ALL of the outlets, including the Fridge and the Microwave, leaving the Inverter in ON mode provides for continuous power, even when the park or campground power is lost, or your device drops the power due to low voltage, etc.... keeping everything running thru the Inverter.

This is especially nice when it happens and your Satellite RECEIVER does not lose power. Anyone with one knows that when it does lose power, it has to go thru the whole acquisition process all over again, taking 10 to 15 minutes or more... very frustrating when there is only a 'blink' in the loss of power, if you don't keep you Inverter in ON mode.

Remember, the Inverter being ON does not mean that is is Inverting, but it is simply continuing to pass-thru the Shore Or Generator power, standing READY, though, in the event it needs to pick up the slack for any loss of power, whether accidental('blink' in utility power or loss of park power all together), or intentional(unplugging from Shore power when ready to leave, or the Generator being shut off).

Those of us with whole house inverters probably never turn then 'off' - there's no real reason to other than during long-term storage. Even then, you can put the Inverter in 'Search Watts' mode where it will continue to allow the Inverter to power up when an appliance needs it, such as the Fridge's compressor, but staying in only 'ready' mode, otherwise. This is nice if you have Solar power, you can keep the House batteries trickle charged, but want the Inverter to power up when the Fridge needs it to remain cold, when you're not storing it for long-term, or going to be traveling in a few days - not having to remove everything from the fridge is very nice sometimes!
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Old 03-15-2019, 10:21 PM   #12
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My Progressive will not just drop one leg for low voltage. If it senses low voltage on either leg it drops both.

Bill
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Old 03-15-2019, 10:42 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by TurnerFam View Post
for many who own an RV with a 'simple' inline inverter, such as only for the fridge, this might well be the case... but for many motorhome owners with 'whole house' inverters, which carry ALL of the outlets, including the Fridge and the Microwave, leaving the Inverter in ON mode provides for continuous power, even when the park or campground power is lost, or your device drops the power due to low voltage, etc.... keeping everything running thru the Inverter.
Very true I upgraded my coach from a Xantrex Pro to a Xantrex true sine Freedom XI. The Pro only had an on/off switch; where as, the Freedom requires you program it for correct operation.. It has a 30 amp pass trough relay and will support two different 120 volt circuits. Normal operating mode is 1n1 or all ways on with power saver mode. Basically the only to turn it off in this mode is to remove shore power and then press off. It will come back on 20 second after shore power is restored.
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Old 03-23-2019, 06:12 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurnerFam View Post
Remember, the Inverter being ON does not mean that is is Inverting, but it is simply continuing to "pass-thru" the Shore Or Generator power, standing READY, though, in the event it needs to pick up the slack for any loss of power, whether accidental('blink' in utility power or loss of park power all together), or intentional(unplugging from Shore power when ready to leave, or the Generator being shut off).

We'd agree, other than a depleted battery bank I can't think of a reason to turn the inverter off? (Which it would do automatically)


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My Progressive will not just drop one leg for low voltage. If it senses low voltage on either leg it drops both.Bill
This has been our experience also.
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Old 03-30-2019, 07:10 PM   #15
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Fridge inverter power

On my 2019 hurricane 35m the inverter is always on when hooked to shore power. The inverter runs one outlet behind the bedroom tv, one outlet on bed, one outlet behind living room tv, one outlet for fridge, and one outlet by passenger seat. We lost power to all suddenly. Turns out under the bed their is a j box where the inverter output comes 8n and is spliced to those outlets. Somehow the wires under one of the wire caps was barely touching supplying the inverter power and disconnected. Found the issue and fix the connection and all is well. You might have had the same issue but only momentarily.
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Old 03-30-2019, 08:41 PM   #16
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Since leaving that park we haven't had one issue with the EMS. My guess is it was an issue within that park. We've stayed at 4 other parks since this happened on our way back to Wisconsin and so far NO issues.

Dan
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Old 03-31-2019, 06:36 PM   #17
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If. You are on 50 amp service, it sounds like one leg of the park service is having voltage problems. On 50 amp service all you have is two 120 volt legs and it sounds like one is giving a problem.
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Old 04-01-2019, 11:56 AM   #18
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Power problems

Just another thought - electrical problems can be tricky - my transfer switch was shorting out when this happened to me. Ended up needing a new switch.
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Old 04-01-2019, 03:39 PM   #19
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Dan,
When back home, would take time to locate transfer switch and check all terminals for tightness, with power off, of course. Never hurts to see if movement has loosened the wires, not an uncommon occurrence.
And I always kept the inverter on, even now with solar installed.
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Old 04-02-2019, 02:31 AM   #20
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Dan,
When back home, would take time to locate transfer switch and check all terminals for tightness, with power off, of course. Never hurts to see if movement has loosened the wires, not an uncommon occurrence.
And I always kept the inverter on, even now with solar installed.
Joe
Great idea Joe, thanks. I will give it a look see. We are back home, even though it hasn't happened since it can't hurt to check connections.

Dan
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