Community Forums

Sky_Boss · 04-05-2014, 02:05 PM

I've seen a couple older threads on this but wanted to toss it out again.

2 key features we are looking for in any AGS are:

Auto start & stop based on battery level along with quiet time programming if needed.

Auto start & stop based on loss of shore power and temperature range. This is to protect our dogs if we are gone.

These to features could also be useful in the limited boon docking we do.

The ONAN EC-30W AGS and pigtail come in at about $625 with unit & pigtail. It is very pricey compared to putting a more sophisticated, hard wired Magnum Energy AGS-N system ($270 range) together but is easy to install by the owner. It meets our goals. The biggest, concern besides price, is that it has a solid wireless connection between the display and control units.

The ME AGS-N would directly integrate with my ME-RC remote control and inverter. It would also require running some wires to the AGS-N from both the battery bay (unless I mount it near the inverter and use the battery leads there) and generator so there are some long wires to install and also snaking the temperature sensor into the coach. While I am comfortable with the schematic design I am not as comfortable actually running the wiring and sensors. The most logical location for that AGS seems to be in the coach thus making wiring more difficult and having it done professionally more expensive even to the point of costing more in the long run.

I know to some of you folks I may sound like such wuss about the more complex installation. Yep...I can be that way because I don't want to screw something up and have even more money tossed at it to fix my screw up.

So, if you have installed the ME version and have some tips to help me see it isn't too bad...I'm listening.

If you have the EC-30W tell me how well it has worked for you.

THANKS!

2 Stroker · 04-05-2014, 04:05 PM

Don
I am in the same boat. I just installed the Magnum 2812 and Samsung 197 BUT last year I installed the Magnum combiner that works great. My chassis battery is at one end and my house batteries at the other plus my combiner is new.
So I think I may go the way of the EC30W
Here is one for $561.00
EC 30W Cummins-Onan Wireless RV Generator Remote kit
Here is another
http://www.randkproducts.com/product...roducts_id=573
Install
Cummins Onan Energy Command EC-30W – How to Install
2 stroker

Sky_Boss · 04-08-2014, 08:34 AM

I pulled the trigger on the EC-30W. Finding one at a good price AND in stock was tough. The 2 suppliers linked previously were slightly better prices (FORGET PPL if you google to find sellers! WAY more expensive!)

Finally I found one but that site was not very clear on the Y harness it sold ($74)was applicable since it didn't provide info on the Onan part number. I bought the EC-30W there for $529 including shipping

www.rvpartscountry.com ec-30w

I got the Y harness at RV Upgrades for $72 including shipping. They provided the proper Onan part number.

http://www.rvupgradestore.com y-harness

Unfortunately, RV Upgrades didn't have the EC-30W itself. I generally find them the best prices for nearly everything. It may have saved me a few bucks in price and/or shipping but I didn't want to wait until MAY just to get in line to get one from the other suppliers listed earlier or that I found.

2 Stroker · 04-08-2014, 09:16 PM

Good to hear you have things on the way, Christmas in April

2 stroker

Sky_Boss · 04-08-2014, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2 Stroker

Good to hear you have things on the way, Christmas in April

2 stroker

Well, in May. LOL I am leaving the Rio Grande Valley on Friday and cruising towards "home" at Champaign, IL. Parts are shipped to my father in law and I won't see them until May 8th. I should have it installed before I take my coach to have the genny given a major service. That is gonna hurt the wallet!

2 Stroker · 04-09-2014, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky_Boss

Well, in May. LOL I am leaving the Rio Grande Valley on Friday and cruising towards "home" at Champaign, IL. Parts are shipped to my father in law and I won't see them until May 8th. I should have it installed before I take my coach to have the genny given a major service. That is gonna hurt the wallet!

Sweet, well my wallet is MT. Now I'm up to about $15k in 15 months. Just got it home today from Cat, had the valves adj. that was another $400 then changed the oil and filter before it started to rain now looking at getting the windows resealed over in Bend this summer about 10 of them suckers. This thing thinks I'm made out of money.

2 stroker

bokobird · 04-09-2014, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky_Boss

Finally I found one but that site was not very clear on the Y harness it sold ($74)was applicable since it didn't provide info on the Onan part number. I bought the EC-30W there for $529 including shipping

www.rvpartscountry.com ec-30w

I got the Y harness at RV Upgrades for $72 including shipping. They provided the proper Onan part number.

Thanks for the link Don, that was a good price. I ordered one as well and you can get the harness from them, it's their part number 559838. It's a few more dollars than the other link you got it from but I like one order, one shipping cost, etc. I called and spoke to someone on the phone who wound up taking my order, should have it in the next couple of days.

mdc99 · 04-09-2014, 08:16 AM

Hope I don't hurt any feelings but my local cummins dealer (Cummins Power South - Tampa) sells the ec-30w for $499 and the diesel harness for $60. Join the Cummins Power Club ($20.per/yr) and I believe you would get 10% off those prices and all future parts. By the way I do have a gas harness for sale cheap.

deputydog · 04-09-2014, 08:27 AM

I put the EC-30W on my Onan 7000 Marquis (gas) 2 or 3 years ago - got it at the Tampa RV show.

It does exactly what it is suppose to do and the wireless link has never been a problem for me but my control unit is mounted in the bedroom within about 6 feet of the transmitter box which is in the generator bay. Outside the coach I can carry it at least 40 to 50 feet away and it still communicates.

The only issue I originally had with it was that when using in temperature mode it uses it's own thermometer vs the coaches thermostat so the settings can be somewhat different depending on how close to each other they are mounted and whether one is on an exterior wall with sun exposure.

Also and more of an issue was that because of the above the coach thermostat needs to be set a bit LOWER (assuming air conditioning) than the EC-30W to be sure that it is the a/c comes on when the generator is running, otherwise it might never get hot enough to turn on the a/c yet the generator would be running. Mine would be calling for the a/c to come on when the gen-set started and would promptly kill the genset with all the load before it warmed up. I solved that my a Progressive Conditioner that you can set a 3 minute delay before it puts load to the generator. That works perfect and allows a good warm up for the genset.

With enough monkeying around you could set the a/c thermostat slightly HIGHER than the EC-30W so that the generator started, the coach continued to get warmer and then the house thermostat called for a/c but the 3 minute delay works good for me and I wanted the Progressive anyway.

The one thing I don't like about it, but don't know of any solution to it is that when using the temperature mode, as soon as the temperature is reached it shuts down the genset. I would prefer a "cool down" delay that was settable since the windings with both a/c's on could be pretty warm and would probably last longer with a cool down. Again with enough monkeying around you could probably get the settings to work around that.

The battery mode is great as is the "quiet time".

Sky_Boss · 05-20-2014, 08:21 PM

Well...installed the EC-30W and did my first battery level test run. I got some mixed results.

Actually, there is a problem with getting the generator to start before my Magnum Energy inverter kicks off. The problem seems to revolve with how the EC-30W measures battery voltage as opposed to the ME.

At first the ME & EC voltage reading are pretty close but after 5 hours the ME reads battery voltage about .2-.3 volts lower than the EC. So...the ME gets down to about 12V and appears to give up the ghost and shuts the inverter down while the EC shows about 12.3V. That is not the worst thing to happen but then I lose my TVs, micro wave, and all the "good stuff".

The highest I can set the EC to autostart the generator based on battery voltage is 12.1V. I will test it again soon to see if it does the same.

OTOH...the autostart based on temp works pretty well. To be honest, that is the main reason we got it was to protect our dogs if we are away. Because of the location of the remote control I am planning to set the cold temp at 90*. I needed to locate it on the front cabinet because that was the only convenient NON-inverted power outlet we had. Even with the windshield covers in place that area gets 5-10* warmer than further back in the coach. That means when the coach gets to about 80-85* and no shore power is available the generator will start. Of course, that means we have to make sure the AC is turned on. As long as shore power is present, the thermostat will have total control.

We could also use the temp start while boon docking during the summer. In that case I would need to set the remote temp down to something more comfortable if we needed air conditioning. HOWEVER...that has a potential problem. If the temps gets down below the autostart limit it will instantly shut the generator down. There will be no cool down period for the generator. Also, instead of the AC thermostat doing the shut down, the AC units will be shut down by removal of power and I am not sure what to make of that.

So...it isn't a perfect answer compared to the hard wired unit from Magnum Energy. It was easy to install but doesn't talk to the ME inverter and thus the problem with voltage readings.

Time will tell.

brunsje · 05-21-2014, 09:17 AM

I also had the idea to use the latest and greatest AGS. After talking to some pretty savvy RV'ers, I came to the conclusion they are not reliable enough for my dogs.

My solution:

1. If it is not too hot (depends on many factors), I run one or two Fantastic Fans and leave some windows cracked open. Then the Gen starts on battery depletion.

2. If it is soooo hot that fans don't provide enough cooling, I simply run the GEN continuously.

Cheers, JohnnyB

**pasdad1** · 05-21-2014, 09:26 AM

For your dogs safety, also consider getting a device which calls or texts your cell phone if the temperature gets too high (or too low).

I use a verizon home connect box connected to a sensaphone 400. You can even call in if curious and the sensaphone will give you a report of temperature and power status in a computer generated voice.

Sky_Boss · 05-21-2014, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pasdad1

For your dogs safety, also consider getting a device which calls or texts your cell phone if the temperature gets too high (or too low).

I use a verizon home connect box connected to a sensaphone 400. You can even call in if curious and the sensaphone will give you a report of temperature and power status in a computer generated voice.

I use lacrosse temp monitors connected to the internet via a Verizon 4g router protected by an UPS.

bokobird · 06-15-2014, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bokobird

Thanks for the link Don, that was a good price. I ordered one as well and you can get the harness from them, it's their part number 559838. It's a few more dollars than the other link you got it from but I like one order, one shipping cost, etc. I called and spoke to someone on the phone who wound up taking my order, should have it in the next couple of days.

Had some time and got around to installing these parts. They worked like a charm so now I have a means to auto start the genset when temperature in the coach isn't compatible with the birdies

It was an easy install as shown in the videos I've watched. Just need to crawl under the coach to attach the one wire to the positive side of the generator B+ line (mine needed a 1/2 inch wrench). Rest was just wire tires to keep things clean and following the simple instructions for the remaining setup of the remote.