It is a good idea for your RV to have some sort of shore power test and protection device, an Energy Management System (EMS). A device that checks to see if a pedestal is wired correctly, that power frequency and voltage are within reasonable bounds so devices in your RV aren’t damaged. I chose a particular brand of EMS and have installed three of them in different RV’s in the family. I chose the same model – a built-in model as I didn’t want to mess with one that hangs off a power pedestal (and has to be locked to keep it from being stolen). Also with the built-in model, the display can be remotely mounted, inside the RV.
In our travels, these EMS units have warned us several times against miswired power pedestals. They have also cut power when campground power was too low to be running air conditioners and the like. And when they are operating, the display gives us the comfort of knowing our power condition and load we are placing on then shore connection. Great, right?
As with so many products today – they work until they don’t and then EVERYTHING comes down to customer service.
And customer service with this particular company just plain sucks. [Company name withheld temporarily]
When I first installed my unit – it would freak out when I plugged in my generator. I contacted tech support and they refused to diagnose “because I was using a generator”. Not because I was using some crappy generator that didn’t supply a decent power waveform, but simply because I was using a generator. I knew this generator supplied a clean power waveform – but I pulled out my oscilloscope and checked – yes, very clean sine wave. So they must not trust their product to operate or self-diagnose if power isn’t perfect. Wait – did I just say that? An EMS needs to operate under the most severe conditions – at least enough to refuse to connect power and indicate an error condition.
What was worse with mine was the unit was NOT acting in a reasonable manner. The relay was buzzing, indicating the control board was in some sort of loop, unable to come to a stable state.
So, no help from tech support. I checked EVERYTHING. What I found was the shore power connector on the side of my RV did not have the RV side wires fully screwed down. Thanks, Forest River. The screw was touching, but not making a good connection. I tightened everything properly, put it all back together and the EMS was perfectly happy running on the generator. We used this EMS for several months worth of camping. I installed the same EMS in another RV that put about 6 months camping on it – both happy customers. Then I traded in my RV for another – and installed yet a third EMS that I’ve put a couple of months on as well – still a happy camper, one bad experience with tech support notwithstanding.
So, why am I bitching? The second unit failed. While boondocking in the middle of no-where. While using the generator. I’m sure you can see what is coming. The owner called tech support only to be told – “Generator? Nope, call us back when you get on real power.”
That was going to be days in coming. Via a terrible cell phone connection, I talked them through some tests and a procedure to bypass power around the EMS so they could continue to use the generator.
Days later when they were finally able to get to a campground with power, they called tech support again – meter in hand to diagnose the problem. The tech asked them to check power on the box incoming side – then outgoing and verified – nope, the box isn’t passing power. Then tech had them check the ohm reading on the relay energizing coil. Just over 2 ohms – sounds to me like the energizing coil is good. No questions about the status of the LED on the control board. The tech asked if the display was showing anything – and was told no – so he knew it was dead. The LED is off, indicating the control board has no power. The display is dead, indicating the control board isn’t operating. So the tech’s conclusion – “you need a new relay”. Now, these people are on the move. They spend only a few days in any location, so they will have to arrange for the item to be shipped to some fixed address they can access. When it gets there, they will have to install the relay themselves. And when the EMS doesn’t work – this stupid dance will start all over again. I don’t know the warranty state on that unit, they’ll probably be charged for the relay they don’t need. They managed to convince customer service to send them both a control board and a relay.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this unit uses some twisted logic of a circuit that uses the energizing coil as part of the power supply to the control board. I can’t imagine why someone would do that, or why a tech would ignore a dead board and jump to the conclusion that the relay is bad. It just makes NO SENSE, though if I’m wrong – wouldn’t it be great if tech support would actually explain?
But the story doesn’t end there. I wrote Tech Support myself to try to explain the situation – and all they could do was write me back and tell me to go to their web page and file a warranty claim. That’s it. No interaction. No telling me I was right or wrong. No telling me to mind my own business – just go file a claim. It is almost as if noone read my mail and some robot was bouncing me. I get it a little. Tech support people have to deal with all kinds of customers – some who clearly think they know more than tech support. I sometimes have to request that first line support people escalate an issue to someone at a higher level so they can take me seriously. And I know, I’m not always right. But I do believe when I buy a product, I have a right to have a conversation with someone who actually reads what I write or listens to what I say and not a droid that just fires back stupid canned messages. I’m not the kind of person that has to be told – “make sure your PC is turned on”. I’m an electrical engineer for god’s sake.
No matter how this episode turns out – I will NEVER buy their products again. Nor will I rest until I convince at least TEN other people NOT to buy their products.
Oh, and they replaced the control board and the EMS magically came to life. No new relay needed.