10-30 or 14-30

[gr2020]

I'm planning to road trip down to my Mom's house in Tucson, AZ, and I'm trying to iron out how to charge while I'm there (nearest supercharger is ~50 miles away). She has an electric dryer just inside from the garage, so that's the obvious place to plug in, and I would just need to have the right adapter. Since I don't have either a 10-30 or 14-30 adapter, I'll need to buy one - just need to figure out which one.

I'm not sure if she has a 10-30 or a 14-30 outlet, though, and I'd rather not have her back there unplugging it to find out. Her house was built in 1995, and as far as I can tell that was right around the time where new houses started switching to 14-30's, so that seems inconclusive.

Is there any way to tell what kind of outlet is there, short of actually unplugging the dryer and looking at it?

 

[Derek Kessler]

You'll have to unplug. Or get adapters for both.

 

[TSLA_maybe]

10-30 and 14-30 are different configurations. 10-30 receptacle is for 3 prong plug and 14-30 has 4 prongs so you're Mom should be able to tell you which one by (unplugging) looking at it.

 

[boaterva]

To give you an example, my new construction in Northern Virginia has a 10-30 drier outlet and was built in 1997... So, it varies all over the place.

 

[gr2020]

Thanks all - I'll either have her unplug it and take a look, or else I'll get both.

 

[Tc911]

When are you going? I'd loan you my pair of dryer adapters...

 

[Tc911]

 

[gr2020]

When are you going? I'd loan you my pair of dryer adapters...

Oh! I'm not sure yet, but when I get things a bit more nailed down, I might just take you up on that - thanks!

 

[Tc911]

Cover shipping from San Jose and I'll send them to you. I've got a few others...

 

[miimura]

Please get the 14-30 adapter from Tesla. If you need to, you can make a 10-30 adapter from a Home Depot dryer cord and enclosed 14-30 socket. Many of the adapters pictured above use 14-50 sockets which don't indicate the circuit capacity to the UMC. You have to rely on setting the current limit correctly in the car and hope it stays there.

HDX 6 ft. 10/3 3-Wire Dryer Cord-HD#627-833 - The Home Depot
Leviton 30 Amp Single Surface Mounted Single Outlet, Black-R60-55054-000 - The Home Depot

 

[mattmass]

Please get the 14-30 adapter from Tesla.

Agreed. Knowing Tesla, it'll eventually disappear. And if it turns out it wasn't the one you needed, you can still use it as part of an adapter that doesn't require setting the current limit.

 

[gr2020]

Please get the 14-30 adapter from Tesla. If you need to, you can make a 10-30 adapter from a Home Depot dryer cord and enclosed 14-30 socket. Many of the adapters pictured above use 14-50 sockets which don't indicate the circuit capacity to the UMC. You have to rely on setting the current limit correctly in the car and hope it stays there.

HDX 6 ft. 10/3 3-Wire Dryer Cord-HD#627-833 - The Home Depot
Leviton 30 Amp Single Surface Mounted Single Outlet, Black-R60-55054-000 - The Home Depot

Makes sense, thanks. I remember seeing a wiring guide somewhere for making adapters like this (e.g. which wires go to which), but I can't find the link now. Anyone happen to have that link handy? Useful not only for me, but for anyone else who comes across this thread in the future...

Thanks!

 

[Tc911]

http://cosmacelf.net/Home Made Adapters.pdf

Tesla no longer sells the 10-30 adapter, so if that is what your mom has you either need to rely on a garage 120 volt outlet, or do like I did and make your own, and be VERY careful how you use them. I've used a number of mine over the last 2 1/2 years with zero issues...

 

[theheff]

One long 14-50 extension cord and a couple short 10-30 and 14-30 adapters is the way to go... that basically covers you for any L2 charging situation at any house/campsite that you visit. Just be sure to dial down the amps!

 

[tga]

I'm not sure if she has a 10-30 or a 14-30 outlet, though, and I'd rather not have her back there unplugging it to find out. Her house was built in 1995, and as far as I can tell that was right around the time where new houses started switching to 14-30's, so that seems inconclusive.

IIRC, NEC deprecated the NEMA 10 outlets in 1996, so your Mom's house probably has a 10-30 unless they adopted the new code early. I'd get a 14-30 adapter and the parts to build a 10-30P<->14-30R adapter as @miimura suggested. Return them unused and get your $40 back if your Mom has a 14-30.

I prefer to carry around a (custom made) 14-30 extension cord. It's lighter weight, and give fast enough charging for overnight. You can cut off the L-shaped neutral pin to plug into any 14-xx outlet. Using a 14-30 adapter keeps the charge rate at the lowest (safest) value.