Community Forums

Steve Ownby · 07-06-2017, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donnandon

This is probably a rare occurrence but our EMS tripped on high voltage 135v, after being on our site for a few months. Notified the park but they said they had no control over it. It drifted back down so we were ok for a few days, then tripped again. The park owner called the local electric supplier who sent out a tech. He checked the supply and said he had to check somewhere else. When he came back, he said he went to the substation that supplies the whole neighborhood, not just the RV park, and found whatever controls the output voltage was stuck at the high limit! They fixed the substation, and all was good again. So I am glad we had our EMS.

I've had high voltage situations almost as often as low voltage. It seems to occur at older parks with electrical infrastructure built for 15-30 amp RVs at the sites. It appears that the power company modifies the transformer feeding their system to allow the max voltage of up in the low 130s. In this situation, on hot summer days, when all the A/Cs are running full blast, the voltage is fine. When the sun goes down & the A/C compressors start cycling off, the voltage starts creeping up. At some point in the late evening, as people go to bed & electric consumption falls to a low point, the voltage hits that magic 132-133 and the EMS cuts power.

I've had the above happen on a number of occasions. With low voltage, you can boost with a Hughes but it's a bit harder with high voltage.

Anybody have any solution to high input voltage?

MSHappyCampers · 07-06-2017, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

While theft of an EMS hung on a pedestal may be rare, it's a 100% loss if it happens to you. While I might leave a chair out, I'd not leave an expensive item like an EMS unsecured.

My thinking exactly! Why take the chance?

CampDaven · 07-06-2017, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

My thinking exactly! Why take the chance?

I agree, Joe, but also assume they would first hoark my easy swipe stuff like my Weber, Coleman, propane tanks, satellite dish, etc.
Hasn't ever happened, so......

travelboy · 07-09-2017, 10:04 PM

I didn't consider the need for a surge protector until I experienced intermittent electrical service from an outlet. Go with Progressive Industries with a lifetime warranty.

RV-Writer · 07-09-2017, 10:37 PM

Ok - it is hot here in mountain home Idaho. During the day I am getting low voltage and shutdowns on my PI portable ems. Evenings and mornings all is good. So it HAS to be so much AC usage causing the issue. 2 questions:
1) how does low voltage ACTUALLY impact electronics?
2) is there anything I can do but shut off my AC until evening.

I know people say low voltage can harm ac's but HOW? What is the physics of that? Does it hurt MORE than the constant shut downs and restarts when the EMS cuts power?

Every time this happens I rush inside and kill my AC so I can restart it as gracefully as I can. No one ekse in the park has damage from low voltage AND their rigs are cool from constant AC running. This sucks because "I" am suffering while everyone else using no EMS is able to cool off.

Thanks
Jim

BFlinn181 · 07-09-2017, 11:16 PM

To do the same amount of 'work,' when voltage goes down, amperage must go up. This can cause electronic circuits to fail to work properly. The increased amperage can cause some components to overheat and fail.

In motors, especially hard working ones like in A/C compressors, to overheat their windings and damage the motor. Trying to start on low voltage puts a strain on the starting capacitors and the motor might stall, creating heat enough to melt the insulation on the windings.

NRR · 07-10-2017, 04:52 PM

Per Hughes site “An Autoformer running at full output (50amps) will use 1 amp, but will cause appliances to cycle more often and run cooler. This will use less total power from the park.”

Their spec is the device will add or subtract up to 10V depending on the input voltage from the pedestal. So if the input is 105V your rig sees 115V. That makes air conditioners very happy. They run cooler and longer. The Progressive devices will let your AC units try to chug along if the pedestal voltage is 105V. Not a good thing for them. The lower the voltage goes the more amps the AC unit draws to provide the work it has to do. Those extra amps heat up the windings on the motor causing lots of heat related failures in the AC unit.

The box has the same important indicators as the Progressive units with the exception, maybe, of amperage usage on the newest Progressive units. Also comparing 30A to 30A units Progressive has 1790J spike protection (think lightening) and the Hughes has 4800J.

The Hughes device has two draw backs. They weigh more and they cost more. Like $109 more. Worth every penny in my mind. When I get enough pennies I am going Hughes.

ThePowells · 07-10-2017, 08:07 PM

Progressive has 1790J spike protection (think lightening) and the Hughes has 4800J.

Jigawatts dude, what is it in jigawatts??

Canarado · 07-13-2017, 09:57 AM

A local campground had a transformer malfunction that put power into the common wire, in which, melted the Tv cable and telephone companies lines coming into the park. The fire dept attended to the reports of some trailers having electrical fires in them. No reports of injuries. I think I'm going to get a surge protector!

BFlinn181 · 07-13-2017, 10:41 AM

The warranty of the Hughes Autoformer reads:

The Hughes Autoformer (HA) product shall be free of manufacturing defect for a period of two years from date of purchase.

A surge protector does sacrifice itself when absorbing a surge. Unless you could prove it was a manufacturing defect that happened in the first 24 months, you'd be on the hook for repairs. I'd rather have the Progressive Industries EMS for surge, maybe add the Hughes if it would work with the PI EMS. Right now I'm using the PI EMS and if power was cut off because of low voltage, I'd start the generator.

96Bounder1st · 07-13-2017, 10:29 PM

Finally installed my PI EMS and interesting to watch the display, which I left in the power bay. As we are finally getting away from our permanent site and doing some travelling I feel a lot more at ease that I am prepared for TSTH.

A friend manages a regional park and they had the gophers chew thru the power wires and cause 220 to 6 sites and those people had damage to their trailers. Act of nature or wildlife as the case me be.
Terry

ThePowells · 07-13-2017, 11:45 PM

A friend manages a regional park and they had the gophers chew thru the power wires and cause 220 to 6 sites and those people had damage to their trailers. Act of nature or wildlife as the case me be.

I hope the gophers turned into a circuit breaker...

Parrott_head · 07-16-2017, 07:23 PM

This weekend we had a case where our Progressive device clued us into some issues.

When I plugged in L2 was at 128 vac, L1 was at 110.

However when we ran both AC's L1 would dip low and the Progressive device would shut us down. Since it logs the faults even after it restores power I could figure out what was up. L1 had dropped even lower under load.

We solved the issue by turning of the front bedroom AC and not running the electric water heater. This allowed all other appliances to keep on running.

Without the Progressive device our AC would have continued to run but at lower voltage, due to the lower voltage it would have pulled greater amperage. This could cause harm to the compressor.

baraff · 07-18-2017, 07:11 AM

A few years ago my wife needed heart surgery. We went to Cleveland Clinic where I stayed in the motorhome in the parking lot for three weeks. At that time they had electric hookups. The problem was, due to pending construction they had wired the electric pedestals in with the parking lot light circuit. This meant that the voltage fluctuations were extreme; at night you couldn't even watch TV or run the air or microwave. I ended up using the generator most nights (it was summer and HOT).
Without my Progressive surge and voltage protector I know I would have fried something due to the low power. At times the voltage would drop to the low limit point and the Progressive would automatically shut down the power.
Well worth the cost for piece of mind.