It's been an unusual year, and my trek plans were interrupted. More on that on coming posts. With treks delayed I spent what available time I had planning and installing improvements. One of those was a Progressive Industries Energy Management System "EMS-HW30C." This post includes a video of the unit which I installed.
I chose this unit for these reasons, in no particular order:
- Ability to mount "inside" and protected from the weather.
- Remote indicator with ON-OFF (bypass) control. This I have mounted inside the rear coach of the RT where it can be readily observed day and night.
- The indicator displays line voltage, current (amperes) and frequency (Hertz).
- The indicator displays error codes, which provide indication of power conditions and also the internal condition of the EMS.
- Multi-mode surge protection and easy replacement of MOVs.
- Automatic power shutdown via contactor if AC voltage falls below 104 volts or rises above 132 volts, or if the RT is accidentally connected to 240 Volts.
- 15 second time delay on compressor start (adjustable). This avoids false trips.
- Ability to bypass (disable) all energy management via a switch on the remote indicator. Surge protection via Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) is always enabled.
- Lifetime warranty.
- Proudly manufactured in the U.S.A.
I also considered wiring the EMS before the generator or after. However, I decided for simplicity to install it in the main 120V power cable.
I decided to install in an outside storage compartment. That compartment is the location of the 30 ampere power cable. I also decided to install the EMS with twist-lock 30 ampere connectors. This allows easy removal when cleaning the RV, when the RV is stored for the winter, or if service od the EMS is necessary.
Here's a photo of the power cable modified with the twist-lock connectors. This is without the EMS in the compartment:
With the EMS in the compartment. Brick was temporary to be certain it wasn't standing in water:
Display
The following video was filmed on July 1, 2014, but uploaded today: