Surge protector

[thiggins]

I guess I'll have to ask what they are doing on the new 21's. I really find the remote display very useful when hooking up. It gives us data on WHY we need to ask for a different site before settling in .

http://www.progressiveindustries.net...ed-comparisons

Since you don't get the remote display with the LCHW, and I don't see a little switch on the LCHW, I think another difference between the LCHW and the HW is the ability to bypass the unit completely. Not that I ever do that, but you seem to lose that ability with the LCHW.

[thoer]

Unless it has changed since May, the display on new 21's is mounted near the front of the driver side dinette seat. It has a bypass switch on it.

[thiggins]

Originally Posted by thoer

Unless it has changed since May, the display on new 21's is mounted near the front of the driver side dinette seat. It has a bypass switch on it.

So it is NOT the LCHW unit without the remote display? It sounds like the HW unit with the remote display that includes the bypass switch.

Does anyone have a picture ?

[rbryan4]

I'm pretty sure they still install the one with the remote.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by thiggins

Since you don't get the remote display with the LCHW, and I don't see a little switch on the LCHW, I think another difference between the LCHW and the HW is the ability to bypass the unit completely. Not that I ever do that, but you seem to lose that ability with the LCHW.

Originally Posted by thiggins

So it is NOT the LCHW unit without the remote display? It sounds like the HW unit with the remote display that includes the bypass switch.

Does anyone have a picture ?

Tim: Again, sorry for the confusion. It can't hurt to double-check, but it appears that ETI is still using the unit with the remote display. You are correct in that the LCHW30 unit does not have a bypass built in and you would have to wire in a separate bypass switch that they sell, but that is a moot point because the HW30C unit has the remote display with the bypass switch integrated. In the link below I installed one myself and you can see a close up picture of the remote display unit.

Also, if you are not familiar, the bypass is useful if you ever use a generator that does not have a bonded neutral (which is the case for the popular Honda EU2000i and most small inverter generators). The EMS will hold out power to the trailer. You have to either bypass the EMS (which maintains only surge protection) or if you want to maintain full protection of the EMS while on a generator then you need to use a neutral bonding plug in one of the unused gen outlets. Interestingly though, these were never available on the Progressive Industries website and they are out of stock at Amazon and Walmart. I know some people have made their own.

www.amazon.com/Progressive-Industries-GEN-PLUG-Generator-Plug/dp/B01BYSFQSW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

www.escapeforum.org/forums/f7/power-line-monitor-9912.html#post190082

[thiggins]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Tim: Again, sorry for the confusion. It can't hurt to double-check, but it appears that ETI is still using the unit with the remote display. You are correct in that the LCHW30 unit does not have a bypass built in and you would have to wire in a separate bypass switch that they sell, but that is a moot point because the HW30C unit has the remote display with the bypass switch integrated. In the link below I installed one myself and you can see a close up picture of the remote display unit.

Also, if you are not familiar, the bypass is useful if you ever use a generator that does not have a bonded neutral (which is the case for the popular Honda EU2000i and most small inverter generators). The EMS will hold out power to the trailer. You have to either bypass the EMS (which maintains only surge protection) or if you want to maintain full protection of the EMS while on a generator then you need to use a neutral bonding plug in one of the unused gen outlets. Interestingly though, these were never available on the Progressive Industries website and they are out of stock at Amazon and Walmart. I know some people have made their own.

www.amazon.com/Progressive-Industries-GEN-PLUG-Generator-Plug/dp/B01BYSFQSW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

www.escapeforum.org/forums/f7/power-line-monitor-9912.html#post190082

Yeah, we currently have the HW30C unit in our Casita, I installed one years ago. I had to build my own generator-to-camper adapter so I could use the HW30C with our Honda EU2000.
I didn't like the idea of disabling the HW30C while on generator power.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by thoer

Unless it has changed since May, the display on new 21's is mounted near the front of the driver side dinette seat. It has a bypass switch on it.

The same for a 21 delivered in mid August, 2017...

[padlin]

Originally Posted by thiggins

Since you don't get the remote display with the LCHW, and I don't see a little switch on the LCHW, I think another difference between the LCHW and the HW is the ability to bypass the unit completely. Not that I ever do that, but you seem to lose that ability with the LCHW.

Went to TN for the Eclipse this August, all campgrounds booked solid, but I had reservations for a waterfront site so I didn't care. A couple hours after arriving and hooking up to city power the low voltage alarm came on and shut down the power. Reset it and it happened again an hour or 2 later. Checked with the host and neighbor, it was the whole park, not just us. This was 1/2 way up a mt in the Smokies at a forest service campground.
It was up in the 90's all week with humidity at least that high, and no breeze. I, bypassed the EMS and ran the A/C. 10 days this way, no damage done.
Hope the next eclipse is in Canada. I'll never head to TN or GA in August again.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by padlin

Hope the next eclipse is in Canada. I'll never head to TN or GA in August again.

Texas.. in April 2024. And we're all going to Robert's

[thiggins]

I bought a gadget that can fix that issue IF the voltage isn't too low. One of those Hughes Autoformers. It's a variac transformer that will boost low voltages. I've already had the benefit of using it in a campground we could not run our AC at prior. The new version includes surge protection, but I found the previous one that did not include surge protection at a much lower price. I didn't need the surge part since we already have the HW30C.

I thing running AC units at too low a voltage is very hard on them.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Texas.. in April 2024. And we're all going to Robert's

Got a feeling he'll have a big honker 70Kw generator, we should all be fine.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by padlin

Went to TN for the Eclipse this August, all campgrounds booked solid, but I had reservations for a waterfront site so I didn't care. A couple hours after arriving and hooking up to city power the low voltage alarm came on and shut down the power. Reset it and it happened again an hour or 2 later. Checked with the host and neighbor, it was the whole park, not just us. This was 1/2 way up a mt in the Smokies at a forest service campground.
It was up in the 90's all week with humidity at least that high, and no breeze. I, bypassed the EMS and ran the A/C. 10 days this way, no damage done.

This is interesting. The EMS shuts down below 104V and Dometic and others (like my Fujitsu mini-split) say minimum 103.5V. When you bypassed you lost the real-time voltage display, but not sure if the EMS still displayed the voltage when in the normal mode, but locked out on low voltage. Wondering if you had any idea how much below 104V it was?

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by padlin

Hope the next eclipse is in Canada. I'll never head to TN or GA in August again.

You may be able to stay home, Bob! The path in ‘24 passes right through New England. So, home in your backyard or only a short drive away!

[padlin]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

This is interesting. The EMS shuts down below 104V and Dometic and others (like my Fujitsu mini-split) say minimum 103.5V. When you bypassed you lost the real-time voltage display, but not sure if the EMS still displayed the voltage when in the normal mode, but locked out on low voltage. Wondering if you had any idea how much below 104V it was?

No, all I saw was the error code. I can tell you that in bypass, the incoming was not low enough that I had the A/C shutdown, and it was on pretty much round the clock.

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

You may be able to stay home, Bob! The path in ‘24 passes right through New England. So, home in your backyard or only a short drive away!

Hmm, watching it in the ADK's would be awful nice. Chances are that it'd still be snowed or iced in on April 8th. That does however sound like a great time of year to visit San Antonio. Wonder how the bass fishing is in Arkansas in April.

[thiggins]

OK, I asked Escape directly about the surge protector, and got my reply back from Tina at Escape today. It's all good. ( They are so nice...) :

What Progressive Industries surge protector will we get? Progressive EMS HW30C


Does it have the remote display with the “bypass” button ? Remote Display Continuously scrolls the AC power information, including voltage, current, frequency, error codes and previous errors. Each reading is displayed for two (2) seconds.Bypass This switch is located on the remote panel, and allows the user to bypass the computer circuit in the EMS in the event of computer failure, this allowing AC power into the RV. This does not disable the surge protection portion of the EMS; however, all other features are disabled.

Where do you put the remote display ? The remote display is on the D/S bench seat by the fridge.

[rbryan4]

Yeah, it's been that model for a number of years.

....oh the havoc a little photo can start....lol

[dfandrews]

I moved the location of the remote readout so I could see it just by poking my head in the door. Usually, the only time I pay attention to it is right after we've plugged in at a new campsite.
The wiring to it is basically phone cord, with an RJ12 connector at the remote. ETI bundles the extra length of cord, so there's plenty of wire length for the move (to the end of the dinette bench seat). I added a 120V AC receptacle on a new 20 Amp circuit to cover the old holes. We'll use the new circuit for a plug in electric heater.
The tan button above the remote is a felt button on a screw, to act as a door stop for the adjacent cabinet door under the sink. The chrome things are coach straps for tethering stuff (E.G.: ice chest) under the table while we are on the road.

[rbryan4]

I like it Don. And you gained an outlet to boot!

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

I like it Don. And you gained an outlet to boot!

Robert,
Yup! We had debated about a permanent electric heater installation, but (especially in a 17) there are limited places to install a permanent one. On our last trip, where we were stuck in a campground for 14 days (while our Tow was repaired following a deer hit), we had the opportunity to think about and talk about lots of things. This was a solution to two issues. It was easy to do, and cost the small price of a breaker, cut-in box and receptacle. (My son contributed about 4 feet of 12 ga. Romex).

[Jake930]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Robert,
Yup! We had debated about a permanent electric heater installation, but (especially in a 17) there are limited places to install a permanent one. On our last trip, where we were stuck in a campground for 14 days (while our Tow was repaired following a deer hit), we had the opportunity to think about and talk about lots of things. This was a solution to two issues. It was easy to do, and cost the small price of a breaker, cut-in box and receptacle. (My son contributed about 4 feet of 12 ga. Romex).

You got pictures of you installation? Would like to see them.