Hughes Smart Watchdog Electrical Management System

Post by **KYAvion** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:14 pm

Anyone have any experience with this Hughes unit? I was leaning toward the unit by Progressive Industries, but I like how this unit by Hughes has an easily replaceable board. The one thing I don’t like about it is that there is no simple bypass for the unit like there is with the Progressive Industries unit.

https://hughesautoformers.com/product/pwd50-epo-h/

Post by **KYAvion** » Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:16 pm

Anyone?

Salty · Post by **Salty** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 1:36 am

No experience with this one. Mine is from a different mfr.
Good vibrations:
4800 joules protection
quick initial turn on
Delay on restart

Hot n cold:
wifi. Great if your away, but dependent on a reliable network connection. Many campgrounds have wifi, some are of questionable reliability. Or leave a cell phone for a hot spot.

Bad Karma
front panel display is in code. This isn't a motherboard bios post failure.
Bluetooth? Really? If you're close enough for a bluetooth connection, why not have plain front panel indicator LEDs
Requires a smart phone to get detailed analytic info.

If I was doing cost analysis on my electric usage, this might be the tool. Then again, for that kind of analysis, there are better tools.
If you're analyzing for solar, say, to be certain your draw isn't too much or when to kick to an alternate power source, this might be useful. Then again, most solar charge controllers have a BT monitor as do most LiFePo4 batteries so this would be redundant in that event.

While I embrace technology myself, I look to the usefulness of the technology. For me, I wouldn't be logging into a surge protector frequently. If it fits your needs, then by all means.

Post by **KYAvion** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:26 am

I was thinking more for high and low voltage protection that people say can be an issue at many campgrounds. I’ve never experienced any troubles myself, but....

Frankly, I haven’t even been using a regular surge protector either. Which are you using currently?

RISK · Post by **RISK** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:53 am

While not a surge protector by any means, I use this to check voltage at the pedestal prior to plugging in then leave it plugged in inside to monitor voltage.

https://www.amazon.com/Hughes-Autoforme ... B0195J4T2Q

I also have 12v version that tells me the state of charge of the batteries that stays plugged in one of the 12v receptacles inside.

Ian

Salty · Post by **Salty** » Wed Jun 10, 2020 10:00 am

Currently using a southwire unit. No Logging, no BT, but then I wasn't looking for those functions.

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