Hard mounted Surge Protector

[piper guy]

OK, bear with me as this is my first rig, so there will undoubtedly be some dumb questions. But ....... I want to do it right.

I want to add a hard mounted surge / polarity protector to the coach. Helped a friend do one on a big Class A Pusher and it was very easy and straightforward (I'm reasonably handy, put myself through school as a foreign car mechanic). Just would like to know if anyone has done their own install and how much of a PITA it was. Local dealer is quoting me $350 labor plus the protector itself which seems awfully high to me. Am I missing something ?

Also, what brands / models are preferred by those of you that travel a lot ?

As always, thanks in advance for the info !!

 

[Happy Camper-THOR]

I was looking to do the same thing. Camping World quoted me $189.00 install. The 50 amp hard wire protector you can get on sale for around $250 to $280. Normally run in the low $300's.

 

[jlandon13399]

I too am concerned about the quality of power at some camp grounds. I noticed that there are portable surge protectors for sale. Since we have to manually plug-in our rigs why not use the portable ones? To those of you who know about these things is there any major advantage to hard wired vs portable?

 

[5th_Time-REDW]

I haven't done it yet, but I did work in that location while splicing into the generator output to install a 50Aoutlet to powermy house. If you can bend like a snake, you can wiggle your way up inside the battery compartment to splice-in the hardwired surge before the transfer switch.

Other than the fact that external unitsare yet another thing to lug andplug-in whenever you set up,they are out in the weather andexpensive enough to attract attentionwhen you are away for the day.Also, some hard-wired units have a remote to monitor your input if you are interested in doing that.

This will bemy next install, as soon as my Redwood gets above 32 degrees again...I'll be installingthe Progressive Industries EMSHW50C hardwired unit.Edited by: 5th_Time

 

[dave and ginny]

I've got one in a box waiting to be installed myself. Ian (tall pines) out of Canada had posted some pictures on installing the one he did. I don't think it's going to be a big deal but if you have a generator there are special instructions or the generator won't run. Some folks aren't sure of themselves around electricity so that's where the installers come in.

 

[RollsRoyce]

Go to you tube progressive industries Ems HW 50 C and use the video posted by tall pines of our RW group...he also installed the remote unit...I purchased mine some time ago and Airlift 5000 air bags...HAVEN'T INSTALLED EITHER FOR LACK OF TIME OR NOSY NEIGHBOR WHO CALLS THE COPS EVEN WHEN I CHANGE OIL
I have an FB and bought 7 ft of wire you might want to get a good measure for how much you need I could only find the correct wire in black but I put some white tape in several places on mine to mark the difference...I will install mine in more open area so I can see the read out since I didn't get the remote.
Edited by: RollsRoyce

 

[mhs4771]

Bought the Progressive Industry unit at the Rally in Daytona in Nov. Finally got around last month to install it. Mounted the EMS on the back wall of the Battery compartment. I purchased a 4' length of cable (from Home Depot) and wired it intothe outputside of the unit, Pulled the power plug to the rig and proceeded to pull the power cable (from the plug on the rear of the rig) out of the Transfer Switch and moved it to the input side of the EMS, then wired in my pigtail from the EMS back into the Transfer Switch. To avoid any hassle with the Genny the EMS is between the park power and the transfer switch. It can go on the output of the transfer switch, but some EMS units require bonding the Ground and Neutral of the Genny before the EMS will pass Genny power. I have the remote display and mounted it inside the rig on the panel next to the tank level LEDs, Water Heater, Slide and Awning switches. The portable work, but as mentioned another thing to hookup, tear down and haul around, plus need to be secured so they don't grow legs and walk away.

 

[Kevin & Tammy]

Had a Progressive installed in our rig by the dealer before I took delivery. Installed, the total price was just over $500. I had to get used the 2 1/2 minute delay when I hook up to shore power or start the generator to allow the surge protector to do it's job, but am used to it now and can rest easy with the added protection.

 

[RollsRoyce]

Mhs4771

I'm really looking forward to meeting y'all someday...from watching your posts it seems as though you 2 have got it going on

 

[5th_Time-REDW]

Kevin & Tammy: the manual said there are two delays settable - 2.5 mins & 15 seconds. The default is 15 seconds, so check out if you or dealer could move your jumper back to the 15 second default.

 

[mhs4771]

Only use the 15 second delay if the ACs have a built in delay on the compressor. I don't know if ours do or not, so I stayed with the long delay. Better wait a little longer than take the chance of buring out an AC compressor. Plus with all the electronics in these things, plus our Sat receivers and computersif there is a problem with the power, I'd rather wait for it to stabilize. I've seen power dip low then recover and shoot high, which on the short delay would be just about the time the EMS was resetting it's self.

 

[5th_Time-REDW]

Right.., but contrast this with the way it comes from the factory with no surge and 0 delay. A/Cs seem to survive.

 

[dave and ginny]

Mhs4771

I'm really looking forward to meeting y'all someday...from watching your posts it seems as though you 2 have got it going on

X2

 

[mhs4771]

We'll have to see what this summer brings. We and some friends were making plans this past fall for after the NYS Samboree to head up into New England, Nova Scotia, PEI, then back across Ontario for the Ontario Samboree. And that all would happen during the weekend of the tentative RW Rally. Now the one couple we tend to travel with have had a change of plans. He was to retire this May, but the Government (he's a Federal Mine Inspector) have offer him a nice buy out if he waits till the end of the year to retire. So we don't know if our plans are still a go, or since he'll still be working the plans may be put on hold. If that don't happen, we'll head to Indiana instead after the NYS Samboree to meet up with all the RW owners.

 

[Amishco]

I do not mind the delay of 2.5 minutes knowing that I am fully protected, I had CW install mine during pickup process. they were going to charge me $150.00 install but that was dropped. Happy they installed, I figured if I burn't something up installing it then I would have to pay, if they did then it would be covered by them.