Awesome! Glad it worked out. It sure is a pain getting those large wires into the right spots. You’re brave for doing it in the Tucson heat. Funny, looking back at the comments above I have something to add: just in the last two weeks we’ve been at two RV parks (Picacho Tucson KOA and Mesa Apache Trail KOA) where our Progressive cut off our power due to low voltage… the pedestal was putting out less than 104 volts. At Mesa we complained to the office and their suggestion was “just disconnect your power management device”!! Fortunately I could reply that it’s hardwired and can’t be disconnected, but that was definitely the wrong answer to a power problem.

Mike
Wanted to let you know that I got my Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C installed this weekend. I was motivated by your article to boost my protection. So based on your bravery and detailed exploits, I decided to install it my self. The only two times I questioned myself was when I cut my main power cable in two, thus cutting all power permanently and marking restoration totally dependent on me! The other was trying to get those large wires into the box and into the set screws. This whole thing was even more traumatic as it has been 90 here in Tucson this week and I just ensured we would not have any air conditioning unless I figured this out.

Your article and photos were great. I would not have done this and could not have installed it my self without your help and advice. Thanks!

Mike
No serious problem yet. Just heard stories of the damage that can happen, even with protected systems

Just thought I would share.

Enjoy reading your posts. Keep it up

Craig,

Luckily, in our almost three years on the road and 100+ campgrounds we’ve only had two times that I can recall where we got parked and found a problem with the power pedestal. The first time (NY State Park), we called the office and they immediately sent someone out who replaced the breaker. The second time (FL RV Park) they moved us to a different site.

A 50/100A tester is a great idea if you want to check out the power in advance. For us, we usually back in and immediately plug in the RV before dealing with leveling, slides, etc. so it wouldn’t save us much time/effort and would be one more thing to carry around in an already crowded toolbox :-)

Have you had a lot of issues with campground power? Maybe we’ve just been very lucky?

Thanks for sharing! I’m sure some folks will be interested in picking up (or building) one of these…

Mike

I just read through this article on power protection. As you are much more experienced than we are, I am sure you have already thought of this. One of the key problems with power it the pedestal at an RV park. My coach already has a power control system like you installed in yours as you explain in this article. But that still leaves you with the problem of backing into a site, plugging into a pedestal, only to find out the pedestal is not good. And what you and I have will prevent any power from getting to the coach, so you are dead in the water. Especially after you already went to the trouble of backing in and starting to get set up.

To help prevent that, and also to make sure I understand the quality of power I am getting out of the pedestal, I built a tester to test the 50amp power. I found this on line, http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/tester_50amp.htm and made my own. It was very simple. I am not an electrician and it still was pretty simple. With your experience it will be a breeze. I ordered the meters and plug from Amazon and the outlets, gang box, wire and plate cover at Lowe’s.

Now, when we get to our site, before I back in, I plug this unit in and make sure that everything is good with the pedestal. If it is not, I can go to the office and have then move me or address the issue. Plus, my tester will prove it to them.

P.S. keep up with the great articles and interesting blogs.

Travel safe,
Craig

Glad the install went smoothly!

Hope it goes smoothly! As mentioned, the biggest issue is wrangling those really stiff wires into the screw holes. Good luck,
Mike