Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C Installed!

I installed the Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C in my Sundance yesterday. Man I forgot what a pain working in tight spaces with #6-3 cable was. That stuff needs a lot of persuasion. Otherwise, the install went well. I installed it inline in the existing line without the need to use any additional cable. I mounted the remote display in the small cabinet where the other switches are. Routing the wire to the remote display was a bit of a challenge, but mission accomlished. When my friend and I finished the install we plugged the camper back in to the power and the unit functioned as designed. My friend made the comment when we were done "You know an eletrical project or repair has gone well when you power everything back up and you don't let any smoke out!" Overall a very nice product. My only recommendation to Progressive industries would be to make the box a little longer to give you some more room to work with that stiff wire.

Or a design that allows you to connect to external terminals with a removeable cover. BTDT.

billyjoeraybob said:

I installed the Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C in my Sundance yesterday. Man I forgot what a pain working in tight spaces with #6-3 cable was. That stuff needs a lot of persuasion. Otherwise, the install went well. I installed it inline in the existing line without the need to use any additional cable. I mounted the remote display in the small cabinet where the other switches are. Routing the wire to the remote display was a bit of a challenge, but mission accomlished. When my friend and I finished the install we plugged the camper back in to the power and the unit functioned as designed. My friend made the comment when we were done "You know an eletrical project or repair has gone well when you power everything back up and you don't let any smoke out!" Overall a very nice product. My only recommendation to Progressive industries would be to make the box a little longer to give you some more room to work with that stiff wire.

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i totally agree , as an electrician with 45 years of experience i think it is made pretty short... surprised they got a UL label. need to make sure you strip it to the right length and get all the stands in the lug, than torque it good and tight.

Ditto on the connections. Installed mine in 26 degree weather two years ago. Now where is that slap forehead with palm icon?

JohnDar said:

Or a design that allows you to connect to external terminals with a removeable cover. BTDT.

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Yep that was another thought I had as well that would probably be even better

I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to putting mine inline. I've done some electrical work but really hate that tough gauge wire. I put a 50 amp plug box in my driveway off the breaker panel in my shop. 100 amp service into the shop and with everything in the shop running it was drawing 20 amps. Now I need to protect my new Big Horn and not sure I've got the knowledge or guts to do that inline. My only fear is putting that big boy on the pedestal outside is exposing it to theft. Anyone got any advice on where to begin with my new 3875 FB Big Horn putting that inline??? not sure i'm up to the challenge.

It's not a hard job, use a piece of 6/4 SO cable, it's very easy to work with and makes the job real easy, just follow the instructions.

teasac69 said:

I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to putting mine inline. I've done some electrical work but really hate that tough gauge wire. I put a 50 amp plug box in my driveway off the breaker panel in my shop. 100 amp service into the shop and with everything in the shop running it was drawing 20 amps. Now I need to protect my new Big Horn and not sure I've got the knowledge or guts to do that inline. My only fear is putting that big boy on the pedestal outside is exposing it to theft. Anyone got any advice on where to begin with my new 3875 FB Big Horn putting that inline??? not sure i'm up to the challenge.

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If you've wired your shop and installed a 50A plug, installing the suppressor is not that difficult. With the rig unhooked from shore power, remove the breaker panel from the wall mount. Remove the red, black, white and green wires that come from the shore power plug from the panel 50A breaker set, neutral buss and ground. These become the connections for the Input side of the suppressor. The instructions for the device are pretty clear on who goes where. Using the same four colors of #6 stranded wire, connect them to the Output side of the suppressor. Connect these wires to the breaker, neutral and ground connections you originally removed.

Use long enough wiring so that you can mount the box where it's not under a plumbing connection. This would be a good time to relocate your converter to a safer spot.

Yes, the wire is stiff and the work space inside the suppressor is tight, but it's doable. I found it easier to pre-bend the ends of the wires going into the box to conform with how they would sit once attached before inserting them into it.

Or you can pay $$ to have an electrician do it.

Go for it! Unplug from shore power and tackle it. The install is very straight forward. It is not a hard job, just the stiff wire can be a little aggravating. I added a 50 amp RV service at my house recently also using #6 wire. It was just as aggravating, It's the nature of the beast. The Progressive HW50-C is an awesome product. It protected us from several low voltage situations over the past year.

teasac69 said:

I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to putting mine inline. I've done some electrical work but really hate that tough gauge wire. I put a 50 amp plug box in my driveway off the breaker panel in my shop. 100 amp service into the shop and with everything in the shop running it was drawing 20 amps. Now I need to protect my new Big Horn and not sure I've got the knowledge or guts to do that inline. My only fear is putting that big boy on the pedestal outside is exposing it to theft. Anyone got any advice on where to begin with my new 3875 FB Big Horn putting that inline??? not sure i'm up to the challenge.

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Do you already have one of the outside, plug-into-the-pedestal versions of the unit? Or do you have the inside version that is meant to be hard-wired in? Makes a difference if you are contemplating hard-wiring the outside version inside the unit.

MCT said:

Do you already have one of the outside, plug-into-the-pedestal versions of the unit? Or do you have the inside version that is meant to be hard-wired in? Makes a difference if you are contemplating hard-wiring the outside version inside the unit.

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No, don't have either one yet, just trying to decide which one to use and therefore which one to buy. I'd rather have the unit in house for security but I'll have to read you guys great advice, snoop around my rig and see if I can locate everything and do the job. I'm pretty handy, just getting old and have a bad back and will pay the price for all that crawling and reaching around. I'm just too cheap to pay a real electrician to do the job. I have done a fair amount of wiring in 220v appliances, breaker panel in a shop, replacing electric motors, etc. I'm not too bad just don't want to fry my rig. thanks guys for the encouragement, I'm now leaning toward doing a DIY. Best place to buy the unit?? Tweedy's??

If I can do it, anyone can. One recommendation. Take a picture of how the current wiring is connected to your breaker wires. This is an easy reference for reconnecting the new wiring later.


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The instructions are very clear. If you have a generator or a gen prep, you have to decide if you want to install the EMS before or after the transfer switch. There are instructions for both methods.

teasac69 said:

No, don't have either one yet, just trying to decide which one to use and therefore which one to buy. I'd rather have the unit in house for security but I'll have to read you guys great advice, snoop around my rig and see if I can locate everything and do the job. I'm pretty handy, just getting old and have a bad back and will pay the price for all that crawling and reaching around. I'm just too cheap to pay a real electrician to do the job. I have done a fair amount of wiring in 220v appliances, breaker panel in a shop, replacing electric motors, etc. I'm not too bad just don't want to fry my rig. thanks guys for the encouragement, I'm now leaning toward doing a DIY. Best place to buy the unit?? Tweedy's??

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OK, that makes more sense. We ordered ours from Camping World. Amazon has the 50Amp version for $339 (if I'm signed on with my Prime account), though they show them through Tweetys for about the same price if you factor in shipping.

Ours was pretty straightforward to install. Our 120V breaker panel is very close to the floor in the middle of the coach. When I pulled it out, there was a nice spot immediately behind it away from plumbing and most everything else. I just set mine on the floor behind the panel and wired it up. I took the advice of someone else on here and bought a couple feet of appropriate wire in each applicable color, disconnected the wires from the circuit panel and hooked them into the EMS, then took my new wire and hooked it to the output side of the EMS and the input terminals on the circuit panel. Probably took all of about an hour.

Edited to add our blog post covering the installation (which wasn't a very thorough treatment, unfortunately): Click Here

You know, besides protecting all of my electrical stuff, I use the HWC-50 the most for living on a restricted supply of AC power. Many RV sites are still 30 amp, and by watching the HWC-50 amps readout you can keep from blowing that 30 amp breaker on the RV park pedestal. In fact, I just finished staying 2 1/2 weeks at my welders shop in the rig living on a 15 amp supply. I only tripped the breaker once.

wdk450 said:

You know, besides protecting all of my electrical stuff, I use the HWC-50 the most for living on a restricted supply of AC power. Many RV sites are still 30 amp, and by watching the HWC-50 amps readout you can keep from blowing that 30 amp breaker on the RV park pedestal. In fact, I just finished staying 2 1/2 weeks at my welders shop in the rig living on a 15 amp supply. I only tripped the breaker once.

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Great point! I use mine for this type of monitoring as well.

Earlier this week, I helped a friend install his unit in his Forest River Crusader 5th wheel. Really tight quarters in the basement makes one appreciate the drop-frame of the BigHorn and the general construction. Access to the wiring in the breaker panel wasn't a picnic, either. Looking at his Atwood water heater, it looks like it's gas only(?). And no Fantastic Fan in the kitchen, either. Just a plain vent that's too high to easily operate. That's another project I'll be helping him with.

He did take my advice and demand they replace the BlowMax tires with something else. I think he ended up with Carlyle's. Appearance wise, though, it is a nice looking rig.

I actually have never heard anyone say their EMS was stolen off the pedestal, but we have a lock on the connection to the 50amp power cable, just in case.


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