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Old 08-02-2018, 07:26 PM   #1
KJMB01
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Angry Why does EMS trip when A/C starts

Scenario

Trailer = 2018 Cougar RES311. Wired for 50amp. But only one A/C unit.
EMS = Progressive Industries PT50 (new)
Cable at trailer = 50AMP

Campgroung pedestal= 30AMP

Dogbone 30Male to 50Female at pedestal and plug in EMS, connect trailer cable to EMS

Water heater on electric
Fridge in electric

Issue

Everything is fine until A/C kicks in or hair dryer starts. When AC kicks in, EMS trips and shuts down. Says low voltage line 2.

Most of the campgrounds we have available only have , 30AMP service. Our previous trailer had no issues whatsoever with Progressive PT30, hot water tank and AC. Only difference was that trailer had 30 AMP cable.

How can we use 30AMP pedestal service with our new trailer?
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:35 PM   #2
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Run things on LP to reduce the load.
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:36 PM   #3
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What size is the AC would be my first thought. If it has run on 30A before, was it the same campground, same dogbone etc? Are you getting some sort of loss at the 50A to 30A connection? If you kick the WH to LP what happens?

You have to realize that there is no, NO comparison between a 50A trailer and a 30A trailer. Your previous trailer (30A) may or may not have been able to pull 30A. Your 50A trailer can pull 100A. Depending on what you are trying to run you could very easily pull too much power from a 30A plug with a 50A trailer. What the dogbone does is effectively split a 30A service and run it to ALL the devices that would normally require 50A. If you aren't paying attention you will blow the breaker continually.
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:43 PM   #4
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Does the ems give an error code? When my ems shuts down the power then comes back up it has a "previous error" and code number. That would tell you what the problem was.
Sounds like low voltage maybe? Depending on the campground wiring, too much drain you can see a temporary voltage drop and the ems will shut it down. Try it again with switching some things to lp? Can you watch the voltage with a voltmeter while you turn on some of your systems?
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:44 PM   #5
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Maybe try the 30A EMS instead of the 50?
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:49 PM   #6
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didn't finish my thought .... I always use the my 30A when connected with a 30 to 50 dog-bone, I just always thought that if I used the 50A it would not protect correctly with only 30A available.
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:56 PM   #7
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Oh I see now, you said the system said low voltage. I missed that the first time around. I would wonder about the campground's power. I had a similar issue on our first time out. AC wouldn't work, microwave wouldn't heat. Turned out the campground had some really bad wiring, too much load throughout the park and the voltage dropped when I tried to do anything. It wasn't the trailer, as I've not had those problems since.
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:59 PM   #8
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Turn fridge & water heater to LP (gas). You don't need a 30 amp ems, the 50 as you're using it should work just fine & is proving it does work. When on 30 amp service you'll have to budget big amp draw items like the microwave, hair dryer when the ac tries to start.
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Old 08-02-2018, 08:04 PM   #9
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Thanks everybody for the responses so far. I just want to make sure I interpret correctly.

With the trailer setup for 50 AMP, I will need to look for 50 AMP service pedestal to run everything electric? I was hoping to not use LP, as I have to pay for it.
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Old 08-02-2018, 09:02 PM   #10
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I had the same problem, same scenario today with my hardwired Progressive EMS. Got an error 6 and was reading 107 volts on circuit 2 .

Was micky waving some taters while the AC was on. After it reset I tried to duplicate the problem (without the taters, just some water ) and the voltage was at 115 on both phases. It may have been the perfect storm with all of the appliances running at once, or a weak voltage supply.
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Old 08-03-2018, 04:20 AM   #11
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Water heater pulls a lot on electric, I think mine is in the neighborhood of 12 amps. Fridge isn't as bad, but add in a microwave and AC and I'll trip my 30 amp service easily.
We just installed the EMS before this last trip, and over the weekend my wife was looking at the display and asked, "what do I need that number to be?". It was reading 42 amps! So I quickly switched the water heater over to gas while she finished cooking with the electric appliances.
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Old 08-03-2018, 04:34 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jefster View Post
Water heater pulls a lot on electric, I think mine is in the neighborhood of 12 amps. Fridge isn't as bad, but add in a microwave and AC and I'll trip my 30 amp service easily.
We just installed the EMS before this last trip, and over the weekend my wife was looking at the display and asked, "what do I need that number to be?". It was reading 42 amps! So I quickly switched the water heater over to gas while she finished cooking with the electric appliances.


Depending on model, fridges can have dual elements drawing 2500 Watts.
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Old 08-03-2018, 05:45 AM   #13
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It's a matter of balancing/managing your amperage load. We have 30 amp service and 15k air cond. When setting up I turn on the ac, let fridge auto to ac as it's already cool sono initial cool down there. HW on propane until it heats up then if voltage is good change over to electric or both if I'm going to take a shower. If DW uses microwave she knows to turn air con to fan only. She didn't remember until I installed the EMS. Before that she would just look at me and say "what happened" when everything shut off. With the EMS causing a 2 minute delay before restoring power she's more careful. I guess waiting 2 min ina hot camper gives one time to think.
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Old 08-03-2018, 08:43 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KJMB01 View Post
Thanks everybody for the responses so far. I just want to make sure I interpret correctly.

With the trailer setup for 50 AMP, I will need to look for 50 AMP service pedestal to run everything electric? I was hoping to not use LP, as I have to pay for it.
Yes, if you want to be able run EVERYTHING off electric you'll have to connect to a 50 amp service or run some things on LP to conserve.
Your fridge & water heater are very economical on LP, probably run both for a month+ on a 20# bottle.
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Old 08-03-2018, 10:13 AM   #15
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With everything on electric as stated above and possibly the voltage at the pedestal at the low end of acceptable (what does the EMS show for voltage before turning on the AC?), the AC's start up current is too much. Might actually work without the EMS but then you risk damaging your AC because of low voltage.

It is possible that something like the MicroAir Easy Start would reduce AC startup current enough for it to work but no guarantee.
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Old 08-12-2018, 08:05 AM   #16
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When comparing to your old 30A trailer, your new 50A trailer probably has a larger hot water tank, larger air conditioner and maybe a larger fridge. Ultimately, if you are drawing too much you’ll have to run something on LP.
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Old 08-12-2018, 08:33 AM   #17
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I agree with the other posters that you’re drawing too much current running the AC and the water heater simultaneously on a 30A service. I tried that once and my EMS was saying 27A.

In the heat of summer with everyone’s AC running at full blast, I got tried of seeing voltage drop low enough for the EMS to shut down power, so I bought a Hughes Autoformer to boost the voltage and I manage the amp draw by using propane to heat the water.
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Old 08-12-2018, 12:33 PM   #18
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Balancing the load is the Answer as stated.
Just to help clarify 50Amp service means there are two wires feeding your RV with 50 amps each. Note: your 50 amp plug is four prongs. They are Common, Ground and Leg 1 and Leg 2. Each leg has 50 amps of current. So in reality your can use almost 90 amps of power if you properly balance the load. Your power panel comes into play there. This is a future discussion.

Now 30 amps is three prongs. They are common, ground and Leg 1. The dog bone adaptor takes leg 1 (on the 30 amp side) and shares it wild leg 2 on the 50 amp socket. This means actually you have only 30 amps of power to use. You have to monitor your use closely. You can run only ONE 15amp power source at a time (AC, hair dryer, microwave, etc). If your converter (battery charger) and water heater (on electric) are both working hard you have to watch it close.

Since you have the EMS hopefully it have the voltage and current draw readings you can monitor these issues.

The low voltage protected your RV from a “brown out” which could hurt motors etc. When there is too much current draw and the power source is “old - for lack of better words” the heavy current draw by many RV can drop the voltage below the 104 volts level and tripping your EMS. It is doing what you bought it for.

I hope this helps explain what happened. Most important the EMS saved your RV and is doing its job. I Recommend EMS to every RVer I talk too.

Safe travels
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Old 08-12-2018, 01:52 PM   #19
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We have 50A service on our Montana. When we have a 30A pedestal, we have yet to have a problem, running 1 A/C, fridge on electric, water heater on electric. The "low voltage" error signal you got says the campground is the problem. If you had adequate power, and you tried to draw more than 30 amps, breaker in the RV would trip.
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