Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Day 75 - Tucson, AZ

Enough procrastinating. I ordered the Progressive Industries EMS (surge protector plus more) back in July. I’ve been carrying it around in one of the storage bays for the last couple of months. It’s well past the time to install it. This is the compartment where the electric spool for the 50 amp cable is located. To install the EMS, I had to remove the spool, cut the cable, and install the EMS between the spool and the automatic transfer switch which is the black box near the top of the next picture. I was a little wary of installing it today as Bridget has the car in Los Angeles. In case I needed something, I couldn't just run out and pick it up. There were no issues.

The 6 AWG wires were very stiff and the 14” thick rubber cover made it very difficult to work in the limited space. The weather here in Tucson was perfect for this sort of project as it was 58°F with scattered high clouds when I started. The install took about two hours and it was all of 62°F by the time I was finished. I wanted to install this when I knew that we wouldn’t need the A/C or other power hungry device. Also, it had to be an RV park that didn’t care if I worked on the RV. For now, I simply mounted the remote display next to the EMS as I’m not sure of a suitable route to an inside wall. But that’s another project. The EMS works (I’ll call that a win!). When shore power is detected, the power is tested for voltage (too high or low), frequency, and proper grounding. If all of these check out, power is allowed to pass into the coach.

The EMS I installed in the 5th wheel disconnected power several times. The first time was when it detected an improperly wired shore power outlet and another time for low voltage. These devices can save you a lot of $ in burned-out electronics.

Another task completed today was washing the outside of the coach. It was nice and shiny when I picked it up in GA but that was quite a few miles ago. Washing your RV is not generally allowed but here at the Fairgrounds, it’s not prohibited. But it’s not specifically allowed either. But, the two RVs next to me were being washed so I jumped in as well. I did half of it yesterday and the remaining half today. Since the windshield was just worked on, I didn't wash the front. But Bridget did that on Sunday while in Casa Grande. The dirt was most notable on the shiny aluminum wheels. They look shiny again.

Since it’s been 24 hours since the windshield repair, I stored and redeployed the leveling jacks and the slides. This RV park was already pretty level but the leveling jacks make it more stable. Important since my clothes were pretty dirty from installing the EMS. They are now in the washer. 

2 comments:

  1. That's a lot of surface area to wash ain't it? I hope the windshield repair holds up.

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    1. It certainly is. There is someone here who is getting his 5th wheel ready for storage. He’s been cleaning, caulking, polishing and waxing for three days so far. He thinks maybe one more day.

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