Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C help

SouthCo · 08-29-2014, 09:18 PM

So we are camping this weekend and it's the 5th time with our new trailer and we had a electrical problem at the pedestal as soon as we arrived and were setting up. Our PI EMS-PT30C is also new and has only been used 5 times an has always worked flawlessly.

I know the PI EMS has a time delay when u first plug in. I confirmed that but going on their website and reading the manual.

My question is, do u have to have the trailer plugged in to the PI EMS (ie a load) for that timed delay to start? Also how many amps should I see from the pedestal?

SouthCo · 08-29-2014, 09:21 PM

We got to the campground late so I couldn't really play around with it too much and I figured it was too late to call progressive industries tech line. Plan to do both tomorrow. And thanks for any help.

Kellys · 08-29-2014, 09:37 PM

I would think it would have to be plugged in. The time delay reffered to i beleive was design for the a/c compresser trying restart if there was electrical issue , so the elect. Prob you were having was it voltage to high or too low , was it polarity issue

SouthCo · 08-29-2014, 10:09 PM

I'm stuck with cellphone to type on and it takes to long.

. First site didn't get power. Tried resetting breaker and got hiss and spark. Only error code I got from from it was open ground. They sent out a maintenance guy who was honest and said he wasn't an electrician. They moved us to another site and since I didn't want to harm the trailer I plugged only the PI EMS in and it read no errors. Had good volts and hz. But only read 0 amps after 15 minutes. Well it was late and momma and the kids needed me to set up. I pulled the PI EMS out and plugged trailer directly in and we have been good for about 4hours. At the same time I used a dogbone adapter to take the 50amp service at the ped and take it down to 30amp and plugged the PI EMS in and after 30mins it still read 0amps. At the new site I never plugged the trailer into the PI EMS while it was plugged into the trailer.

SouthCo · 08-29-2014, 10:11 PM

I was rushing and it was an afterthought that maybe trailer needed to be plugged in for a load to get the PI EMS to start working. iDK. Was a long day at work. A long trip here. Just happy kids and wife are sleeping. About to do the same myself....

clubhouse · 08-29-2014, 10:49 PM

EMS will test circuit w/o trailer attached. Without trailer attached, there is no load, it will show Zero amps. Have a great trip.

robkelly · 08-30-2014, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clubhouse

EMS will test circuit w/o trailer attached. Without trailer attached, there is no load, it will show Zero amps. Have a great trip.

X2

edatlanta · 08-30-2014, 04:19 AM

It only checks the incoming power from the pedestal, it does not check your trailer. The 2 1/2 minute delay doesn't require the trailer to be attached. It will also only show amps that are being are being drawn by your trailer. If your trailer isn't plugged in no power is flowing to it and therefore zero amps are being drawn from the system.

Plug everything in and enjoy it. Sounds like it is working fine for you.

tnchuck100 · 08-30-2014, 04:29 AM

Yes, the timer runs even when the trailer is not plugged into it. As clubhouse has pointed out it will read 0 amps after the timer runs out and the trailer is not plugged in.

If you will notice when you first plug in the EMS a small red dot in the lower right corner of the display to indicate the unit is in the time delay cycle. When the time expires the dot will go off and you can hear an audible click when the relay applies power to the outlet.

SouthCo · 08-30-2014, 05:24 AM

Thanku all soo much. I'm up and running through the PI EMS. After the sparks and noise at the first site's ped I thought the PI was done. When the two maintenance guys brought me to the second site I plugged only the PI EMS in and just saw 0 amps. I was rushing cause it was late and they were over my shoulder. So I just plugged trailer directly in. So I guess I had my first camping issue and it wasn't so bad. I appreciate the quick help from all. Have a great Labor Day weekend.....

tnchuck100 · 08-30-2014, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthCo

Thanku all soo much. I'm up and running through the PI EMS. After the sparks and noise at the first site's ped I thought the PI was done. When the two maintenance guys brought me to the second site I plugged only the PI EMS in and just saw 0 amps. I was rushing cause it was late and they were over my shoulder. So I just plugged trailer directly in. So I guess I had my first camping issue and it wasn't so bad. I appreciate the quick help from all. Have a great Labor Day weekend.....

And all the while the EMS was doing exactly what it was designed to do.....protect you from a faulty pedestal.

You were fortunate the second pedestal was OK as you plugged in without the benefit of the EMS protection.

Cosmik Debris · 08-30-2014, 08:54 AM

I'll test the ped with the ems, no errors (e0) then hook up and good. I've even taken it to other sites to test for folks and leave them with the info.
Great device.

SouthCo · 08-30-2014, 03:10 PM

Yep it was worth every penny just for the piece of mind. Camping earlier this month we came back from the pool and I saw a "P" code for low voltage. So while we were gone it protected the A/C that was running. And with the info from earlier I know a little more about it. Again Thanku clubhouse, robkelly, edatlanta and tnchuck100 for the quick help.

Seann45 · 09-01-2014, 05:25 AM

Sounds like it did what is was supposed to do.. save your trailer...

Cosmik Debris · 09-01-2014, 06:51 AM

I'm camping in Red Lodge MT now and a couple nights ago a very active thunderstorm rolled through during the evening and into the night. One 14 month old Lance trailer lost radio, water heater and slide motors, maybe more as far as they know. Slide is stuck out and trailer had to be left here by owner for mechanic to come deal with. Shouda had a Progressive EMS.

RVer-Bill · 09-01-2014, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cosmik Debris

I'm camping in Red Lodge MT now and a couple nights ago a very active thunderstorm rolled through during the evening and into the night. One 14 month old Lance trailer lost radio, water heater and slide motors, maybe more as far as they know. Slide is stuck out and trailer had to be left here by owner for mechanic to come deal with. Shouda had a Progressive EMS.

So if only one camper had failures, I don't think that having an EMS would have necessarily prevented it. It could have just been a random failure that would have occurred without a thunderstorm. If several units had failures then I would definitely attribute it to the thunderstorm.

Several years ago the adjacent trailer to us had failures and everyone else was fine. Nobody had an EMS. If there had been a thunderstorm then somebody with an EMS would have automatically assumed that his failures were because he had no EMS.

tnchuck100 · 09-01-2014, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVer-Bill

So if only one camper had failures, I don't think that having an EMS would have necessarily prevented it. It could have just been a random failure that would have occurred without a thunderstorm.

I don't think Cosmik's description of 3 failures at once in a 14 month old unit would qualify as "random failure".

An EMS may or may not have made the difference. But without it the protection was absolutely zero.

RVer-Bill · 09-01-2014, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnchuck100

I don't think Cosmik's description of 3 failures at once in a 14 month old unit would qualify as "random failure".

An EMS may or may not have made the difference. But without it the protection was absolutely zero.

Everything lost was things that require 12V. It is very possible that only the converter was lost and that can be very random. The guy at the campground that I was at lost the converter, so his radio, frig and furnace wouldn't work. The 3 failures in the Lance were all related to 12V. Likely that only 1 thing failed.

tnchuck100 · 09-01-2014, 02:20 PM

Well, I did assume he was able to isolate the problems to the end devices. Might have been a bad assumption. I thought those system would work on the battery even with a toasted converter. He also did not say the lights did not work.

We are, Bill, both working with a short list of information.

RVer-Bill · 09-01-2014, 02:41 PM

True. I am considering getting the PI EMS-PT30C. I had an EMS many years ago when I had my class A Southwind. I don't remember what brand it was, but it was a large gray metal box. It failed after about 5 years and I replaced it with a SurgeGuard suppressor. I didn't use anything for many years and never had a problem. I plan to travel to more unknown to me campgrounds in the future, so I might send for one this week. How many people who swear by and EMS have one in their house? I've known people who have lost multiple electronics because of a lightning strike or high voltage. We had some houses several miles from me who lost electronics because a high voltage line fell on a lower voltage line during a severe storm.I just think that some failures are just random failures and not because an EMS was not used.

For instance:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...-rv-51103.html

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