Hardwired surge protector

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HoosierB
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Hardwired surge protector

Post by HoosierB »

Has anyone installed this hardwired surge protector? I've been looking at reviews and YT videos for this unit:
Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C Hardwired 30 Amp Surge and Electrical Protector
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UC6RSA/_e ... XA2M&psc=1

Seems pricey, but I do like that it's virtually theft proof.
"Wanda" – '01 Chinook Concourse XL V10
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Blue~Go
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by Blue~Go »

You may get a more specific reply, but my buddy with the Class C (who now has a trailer instead) had a hard wired Progressive Industries Surge Protector and had nothing bad to say about it. I think they are generally well thought of (FWIW). The one he had used screw compression terminals, and he had one fail catastrophically (charred, melted, etc. very likely because it had loosened) But that's an issue with any compression terminal/solid wire combination in a moving vehicle, so I'd recommend checking those regularly if you use them (same with the brown box ones).

He went to some trouble to have it monitor the power from both the generator and shore power, but I don't know if there is any "real" reason to have it on the generator line. If I were getting one, I'd look into that a bit more.

When he went to a trailer he was a bit crunched for time and at the same time was in an RV park that was having major AC power issues (voltage spikes, etc.). Hence he quickly ordered one of the portable Progressive Industries units (you plug it into the power post where it hangs like a shower caddy, and then you plug your shore cord into it). This one does show you, right in front of your face, what the situation is as you plug in; but the built in one has a monitor (and it does its job regardless of whether you can see it).

Maybe someone with more direct experience will give some better info, but I figured I'd at least give my "direct second-hand" experience.
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chin_k
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by chin_k »

Can't you put one after the auto-transfer switch, so that it will protect both cases when the power is from generator and from the shore power? Or the ATS needs the protection too? Maybe the ATS will mess up the surge protector when it switches?
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
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HoosierB
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by HoosierB »

chin_k wrote:Maybe the ATS will mess up the surge protector when it switches?
While it has been done, the consensus on this particular unit seems to be for protecting/monitoring the shore power connection only. Not sure why...
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BobW9
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by BobW9 »

I have the Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C in my 2000 Concourse, installed Jan of 2014. I installed it under the kitchen sink, just after the shore power line comes in. I did it before the ATS, mostly because it was an easy deal to just cut the cable as it comes in and splice it, whereas it would have been more work after the ATS. I figure it is the shore power which is going to be incorrectly wired, or fluctuating wildly because of a storm or something. I don't use the generator very much, it is smooth, and if it dies because I forgot the fuel tank is near 1/4, it just stops with no current issues.

The surge protector has saved me a few times, by cutting out or refusing to work initially when the shore connection at a state park had issues. It was really bad one night during an ice storm in Texas in March 2014, power going up and down and spiking as substations went wild (eventually lost power for the next 24 hours). I figure that night alone saved me the cost of buying the EMS-HW30C.

By the way, the Texas Park Rangers were really cool at this park - there were only a handful of people, spread out around the campground, and the rangers were driving their 4x4's with chains around all night and the next day, checking on people, even with 2 inches hard ice on everything. Couldn't even walk 50 feet to the bathhouse that I could see out my window, without practically skating.

I highly recommend it based on my experience over the past 4 years.

Bob
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HoosierB
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by HoosierB »

Thanks Bob! As both of our Concourses are similar (mine is a 2001) any photos and details of your installation would be most helpful since I am somewhat "electrical challenged".
BTW: where did you mount the remote monitor?
"Wanda" – '01 Chinook Concourse XL V10
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Blue~Go
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by Blue~Go »

I tend to agree, and I thought installing it to monitor the generator line sounded unnecessary (but I haven't researched it).

Bob will probably tell you more, but on my '99 the shore power cord is "hardwired" (which I would change, personally). BTW, this is with the dedicated, separate "electrical door with mousehole" on my era Chinook; not sure you have same. Anyway, so the shore power cord comes in, and then literally runs right straight out the back of the shower power storage "box" and along the floor and then into the back of the brown box. There is lots of empty space on top of that shore power box where you could mount a surge protector (I put my shore charger there, and there is still MORE room available). So you basically just make an interruption in the incoming shore power line and fill that interruption with the surge protector (unless Bob contradicts this).

If you have the all-in-one side box of the later years (with detachable shore cord), then I bet the wire coming off the back of the inlet will be pretty much the same as what I have, and again you would make a break in that and "fill" the break with the surge protector. Since it has a remote, I don't think you need super easy visual access to the unit itself.

I posted some photos that may be helpful in a recent thread.... I think it was the one about the "mouse hole."

You will have to curse the Chinook cabinets that make access to that area in the corner difficult. When I was sizing it up, I removed the two swing doors under the sink and contorted myself in that way. To actually install the (charger, in my case), I had the cabinets removed. Ah, so much easier. But not necessary, I don't think.

Now I'll watch to see how Bob actually did it :)
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BobW9
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by BobW9 »

Here's a couple of pictures under my sink. The first shows the far-away view. I removed all the walls and dividers under there my first winter and never replaced them (I keep under the sink clear in the winter so I can aim a fan/heater under there, to get warmer air flowing behind the shower to keep the pipes from freezing).

Like BG's 1999 Concourse, mine had the shore power cable attached, and you just pulled it out from the outside when you wanted it, and the stuffed it back in through the slot when you were leaving, and it would 'self-roll' under the sink, behind the thin walls/dividers. But as you might be able to see in the photo, my pipes under the sink were pulled away from the wall and slanted - that was before I got it, when it was probably cold and the cable was stiff, or it wrapped around a pipe a bit. Seeing that the first time I opened those dividers made me decide to cut the cable and replace it with an outlet on the outside that I now just plug the free-cable into (same cable, just cut it and added a plug on the end).

Bob
Surge-Protector-under-sink_1_small_rotated.jpeg
Surge-Protector-under-sink_2_small.jpeg
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HoosierB
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by HoosierB »

Thanks!!!...to Blue~Go and Bob for the great pic references and details!
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BobW9
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Re: Hardwired surge protector

Post by BobW9 »

Oh, and I mounted the remote monitor under the kitchen counter, just above the hot water heater button. It fit very nicely there, just a surface mount, nothing fancy.

Bob
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