2nd EMS failure in 3 months

Wrascal · 07-20-2015, 07:05 PM

On Apr 2 I ordered a Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C power protector; I received it about 7-8 days later.

Soon after it was on its way back to Progressive Industries for repair. The returned work order (dated Apr 22) said there was water in the unit and the Line Freq. was low. I received it back in one week.

This evening I lost power and it came back to the EMS unit. One of the three male plugs had burned off. Now I need to find the original sales ticket, box it up and return it (on my $). I assume they'll treat me right - but this is not what I expected from all of the previous glowing reports.

Iraqvet05 · 07-20-2015, 07:12 PM

Where did you order the first unit from? It's a bit hard to believe a new unit would have water in it..maybe the shipper got careless with the package in transit. Progressive seems to have great customer service.

Wrascal · 07-20-2015, 07:25 PM

Purchased online from Tweety's, and it was fine on receipt. However during that first week of use we had torrential rainfall - that's what got inside it (maybe a bad seal). I can't explain the Low Freq. error code but assume it was related to the water damage.

I also can't explain how/why this plug burned out but at least it was simple to find and remedy (plug the camper back in -naked- and hope for the best). After tomorrow I won't need power for awhile so am not risking too much beyond this overnighter.

RedHorse1 · 07-20-2015, 08:48 PM

If they repaired your original unit and returned it to you I would suspect the burned plug prong is related to the first failure and was missed during the repair. I used a 30a pole mount for 1.5 yr with no problems and have had a 50A for a little over a year with no issues.

gcloss · 07-21-2015, 04:32 AM

A burned prong on the plug is usually the result of corrosion on the receptacle. This would cause a bad connection resulting in excessive current draw, overheating then failure.

edatlanta · 07-21-2015, 04:45 AM

I know Progressive is very responsive with customer service and will make this right. I full time and I'm so paranoid about shore power issues I have a spare PT50C that I will put into service when/if my primary one has to go back for service. I simply WILL NOT plug anywhere/anytime without the PT50C inline.

I have seen way too many problems and the damage caused by shore power issues including high voltage, over 132v, at my home base site which is in a residential area. It was a bad power company transformer.

Wrascal · 07-21-2015, 02:34 PM

I suspected the receiving female portion was likely a culprit but at the same time would have expected the EMS unit to sense any high resistance and shut down before burning off this blade.

If my suspicions were correct then the short answer is ... it didn't sense this problem nor shut down.

Additional known info, as it was a hot day all campers were heavily drawing AirCond power. I periodically watched - the display showed camp power of 106-108 Volts while I'm drawing 15A-16 Amps.

What is the "low voltage point" at which it would have shut down?

Camping Couple · 07-21-2015, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrascal

I suspected the receiving female portion was likely a culprit but at the same time would have expected the EMS unit to sense any high resistance and shut down before burning off this blade.

If my suspicions were correct then the short answer is ... it didn't sense this problem nor shut down.

Additional known info, as it was a hot day all campers were heavily drawing AirCond power. I periodically watched - the display showed camp power of 106-108 Volts while I'm drawing 15A-16 Amps.

What is the "low voltage point" at which it would have shut down?

I believe the shutoff point is 102 or 103 volts.

edatlanta · 07-23-2015, 04:46 AM

I'm going from memory here, but I'm pretty sure the voltage shut off range is 108-132. I know my PT50C has shut me off with this range has been exceeded several times, both high and low.

Wrascal · 07-31-2015, 01:13 PM

Well I received it back last evening and I assume it's again working proper. The work order claims they again replaced the six case screws but I noticed one of them had surface rust on it, very similar to one that I had when sending the unit out.

Conclusion: twice now they (PI) took care of me and other than return postage its' been FREE.

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