Maybe someone (Mike) cans explain what happened to me. We arrived at a campground and connected our 50 amp service to the pedestal. Everything worked as expected. We left the campground for a few hours to visit friends. Upon arriving back at the campground we discovered that we now had no power. There were no error codes on the Prosessive EMS. I used a multi meter to test the pedestal (I’ve read Mike’s book “No Shock Zone”) which appeared normal. I then plugged in the Progressive EMS and tested the voltage which also was normal. I plugged in the power cord but the ATS would not transfer power to the motorhome. Perhaps a stupid move but I plugged directly into the pedestal and the ATS now works and we had power. Spent the rest of the weekend connected directly to the pedestal with no issues. The only thing that I could see had changed was we had a new neighbor at the campground that was another class A in the site that was empty when we first arrived. When we arrived home I plugged in the EMS and then the ATS connected to power. I am still using the same EMS and never encountered this issue again. What may have happened?
This is a great primer for the Southwire ATS. IT is not an inclusive document on all ATS. I have an old style open frame contactor style ATS that actually uses 4 separate contactors to do the switching, so while this is great for the Southwire ATS, you should state that this document is for this particular ATS, not an inclusive guide to all ATS.
Mike as usual, spot on! What I do question is “ More complex ATS systems can start your generator if shore power fails”. I do know this to be true for many systems related to those that are supplying power to critical loads such as computer systems that also use an uninterrupted power supply or UPS. However in a RV the generator would start every time we disconnected it to move to the next destination. Maybe there are other motorhomes beside my Tiffin 40IP bus that have a selector switch to enable this function.
I have seen this automatic generator start function added by pet owners who worry that campground power might go off. Without power their dogs can die from high temperatures in the RV if the air conditioning fails.
Maybe someone (Mike) cans explain what happened to me. We arrived at a campground and connected our 50 amp service to the pedestal. Everything worked as expected. We left the campground for a few hours to visit friends. Upon arriving back at the campground we discovered that we now had no power. There were no error codes on the Prosessive EMS. I used a multi meter to test the pedestal (I’ve read Mike’s book “No Shock Zone”) which appeared normal. I then plugged in the Progressive EMS and tested the voltage which also was normal. I plugged in the power cord but the ATS would not transfer power to the motorhome. Perhaps a stupid move but I plugged directly into the pedestal and the ATS now works and we had power. Spent the rest of the weekend connected directly to the pedestal with no issues. The only thing that I could see had changed was we had a new neighbor at the campground that was another class A in the site that was empty when we first arrived. When we arrived home I plugged in the EMS and then the ATS connected to power. I am still using the same EMS and never encountered this issue again. What may have happened?
An interesting mystery. Let me think on it a bit…
This is a great primer for the Southwire ATS. IT is not an inclusive document on all ATS. I have an old style open frame contactor style ATS that actually uses 4 separate contactors to do the switching, so while this is great for the Southwire ATS, you should state that this document is for this particular ATS, not an inclusive guide to all ATS.
Mike as usual, spot on! What I do question is “ More complex ATS systems can start your generator if shore power fails”. I do know this to be true for many systems related to those that are supplying power to critical loads such as computer systems that also use an uninterrupted power supply or UPS. However in a RV the generator would start every time we disconnected it to move to the next destination. Maybe there are other motorhomes beside my Tiffin 40IP bus that have a selector switch to enable this function.
I have seen this automatic generator start function added by pet owners who worry that campground power might go off. Without power their dogs can die from high temperatures in the RV if the air conditioning fails.