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14-50 in a condo complex

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Hi,

I live in a condo complex where each unit has its own circuit breaker and meter. When I look in the electrical room, I see a switch sticking out of a box with the number "60" on it. I assume this means I have a 60 amp breaker. If I want to install a Tesla wall charger or a 14-50 plug, do I need an electrician to add anything beyond this 60 amp switch? As you can tell, I don't really understand how home circuits work, but I assume some of that 60amps still needs to power my house. And if the Tesla charger takes 60amps, then wouldn't there be no power left to run my home electricity?

Sorry for the newb question, just want to make sure an electrician doesn't rip me off.
 
Yea, if there is any other loads on the breaker panel it would not be a good idea.
But how do I know if it's a 60amp connection? What's weird is there are four boxes for four individual units next to each other. All of them have a switch sticking out, but two of them have a "90" on the switch, and two of them (including mine) has a "60." Since all of these boxes are fed by a main line to the condo, shouldn't I be able to pull 90 amps, as well?

Or does that switch with a number on it just reflect a specific circuit breaker in the box and has nothing to do with the amp rating?
 
And if the Tesla charger takes 60amps, then wouldn't there be no power left to run my home electricity?

That is correct, if you have 60 Amps of power to your condo, you cannot charge a Tesla at 60 amps and use any other electrical power.

You may not be able to charge a Tesla without upgrading your service to 100 or 200 amps, and even that depends on whether your condo complex has the ability to grant you such an upgrade. BTW, I assume you have a garage or private driveway where it is appropriate to install an outlet.

You can install a lesser outlet like a 6-20 or 6-15 which only uses 15-20 amps, but you will need to keep track of your power usage in order to make that work. Legally, you will probably be required to install an electrical device which monitors load and shuts off power to your Tesla when you are using too much power.
 
20200707_110016.jpg
Can you post a photo or two of what you have? That will make it easier for people to see and provide some advice...

Here you go. Mine is unit 3 and it has a breaker with the number "60" on it. I also posted a photo of the breakers on the next box over, and two out of 3 say "90." I found that to be odd.

The other photos are: my unit's meter, as well as the master power box and its insides. It looks like there are spots for additional circuits, and in reading the sheet of paper inside the box, it 20200707_110016.jpg seems to reference 125amps, but I'm not sure if that's referencing the incoming power or just the max that particular box can hold.

Would love some feedback.
 

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The 90A ones must be 2 bedroom apartments and yours has less rooms? 60A is not a lot of power but if your apartment is small and your apartment is old, 60A might be enough. But yeah... I don't think you can charge your car unless you talk to your building people.

That main breaker is weird, I think the paper is old and wrong because I see 210 amps worth of breakers
 
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The 90A ones must be 2 bedroom apartments and yours has less rooms? 60A is not a lot of power but if your apartment is small and your apartment is old, 60A might be enough. But yeah... I don't think you can charge your car unless you talk to your building people.

That main breaker is weird, I think the paper is old and wrong because I see 210 amps worth of breakers

My apartment is a 2br and about the same size as everyone else's. If their box can take 90 amps, is there any reason why mine can't? It's all coming out of the same master box, which I assume is 100amps, but maybe I'm reading the information inside the box incorrectly.

How do I find out the number amps I need to keep the electrical in my unit from shorting? I'm guessing I barely use anything between the hours of 2a and 8a, so maybe I could get a DCC switch?

But to start, I'm not clear whether I'm limited to 60amps in the first place.
 
Sounds like you need to talk to an electrician that can follow some of the circuits better.

Is the condo association on board? They may be able to suggest an electrician.

A 6-15 or 6-20 would go a long way if you have a modest commute.
 
Sounds like you need to talk to an electrician that can follow some of the circuits better.

Is the condo association on board? They may be able to suggest an electrician.

A 6-15 or 6-20 would go a long way if you have a modest commute.

I haven't told the board because they always say "no." But I live in CA, and as I understand it, they have no choice in the matter. I can install without their interference.
 
I haven't told the board because they always say "no." But I live in CA, and as I understand it, they have no choice in the matter. I can install without their interference.

I suspect you still have to tell them, and possibly use an approved electrician. They might not be able to tell you that you CAN'T install it, but they need to be informed. You also would be responsible for any upgrades to the main breaker if you need more power...
 
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I suspect you still have to tell them, and possibly use an approved electrician. They might not be able to tell you that you CAN'T install it, but they need to be informed. You also would be responsible for any upgrades to the main breaker if you need more power...

I'm still not clear on why I'd need to upgrade anything. If the main breaker is able to power 15 units, plus a condo security system, plus garage lights, then it seems that it should be able to supply an EV charger. And I guess I don't understand why my unit's box can't just have an additional circuit added rather than going from the main box. If that main box can power it, why can't I just route extra power to my panel?
 
Boards have to be weary of things like first person advantage. So just because there is enough power for 1-2 charge stations, they need to be careful about setting a precedent that wouldn’t apply to others.

That’s why I mention a lesser 240v option as a possibility. It’s less than a oven or clothes dryer.

Was asking about the board because they likely have a preferred electrician. Buy them lunch and figure out options and trade offs.
 
I'm still not clear on why I'd need to upgrade anything. If the main breaker is able to power 15 units, plus a condo security system, plus garage lights, then it seems that it should be able to supply an EV charger. And I guess I don't understand why my unit's box can't just have an additional circuit added rather than going from the main box. If that main box can power it, why can't I just route extra power to my panel?

I’m not saying you would have to, but you might need to depending on the incoming power. I’m just saying be ready for even if they can’t “stop you” there might be more you have to take on then just install a new breaker.

Talk to the board and ask them if they have a preferred electrician. There might be someone already very familiar with the layout and capacity of your building. Otherwise it’s probably worth having someone come out and give you an estimate about the work. If you get push back from the board you might want to politely point out the California law (and be ready to provide them the documentation) but even still they might need to come up with a plan on how capacity is allocated to the whole group of residences and not just “first come first served.”
 
Sounds like that 60amp breaker is specifically for your entire unit. Do you have a separate breaker box for your unit itself? That panel may be in your unit (I dunno how condos work but I assume that's the case). That would give us an idea of how much load is on your unit.

But based on what we see it sounds like you may need one of these devices:

DCC Electric – Simplifying Electric Vehicle Charging In Condos

Here's some TMC threads on this:
I live in a condo. The main breaker is only 70A. Now what?
How to Install EV Home Charging in a Condo with DCC-9 - Tesla Motors Club

This allows you to install a higher power charger than what one would normally be allowed to install as if it detects a high power usage it will cut power to the charger.

As for how much power you could allocate to your charger the spec sheet says for a 60A service you can only allocate 30A to the charger. and thus would need to get the corresponding model. So you will either need to stick in a 14-30 outlet or hardwire a HPWC and set the limits accordingly.
 
Sounds like that 60amp breaker is specifically for your entire unit. Do you have a separate breaker box for your unit itself? That panel may be in your unit (I dunno how condos work but I assume that's the case). That would give us an idea of how much load is on your unit.

But based on what we see it sounds like you may need one of these devices:

DCC Electric – Simplifying Electric Vehicle Charging In Condos

Here's some TMC threads on this:
I live in a condo. The main breaker is only 70A. Now what?
How to Install EV Home Charging in a Condo with DCC-9 - Tesla Motors Club

This allows you to install a higher power charger than what one would normally be allowed to install as if it detects a high power usage it will cut power to the charger.

As for how much power you could allocate to your charger the spec sheet says for a 60A service you can only allocate 30A to the charger. and thus would need to get the corresponding model. So you will either need to stick in a 14-30 outlet or hardwire a HPWC and set the limits accordingly.

I do have a panel in my individual unit, but it doesn't say how many amps are in it. There are a number of breakers in it.

How many miles per hour can a LR model 3 charge on a 14-30? And can I use the plug in Tesla home charger on this instead of hard wiring. I'm not sure if the 14-30 plug and 14-50 plug have the same number of prongs.
 
I do have a panel in my individual unit, but it doesn't say how many amps are in it. There are a number of breakers in it.

How many miles per hour can a LR model 3 charge on a 14-30? And can I use the plug in Tesla home charger on this instead of hard wiring. I'm not sure if the 14-30 plug and 14-50 plug have the same number of prongs.

The pin out of all the different NEMA outlets are different to make sure the outlets are only used by appropriate devices.

You can buy the proper adapter for the portable charger (UMC) to work with most outlets.

you can also hardwire the wall connector and set the switches (or programming for gen3) to the circuit type/size. Some have wired a plug onto the WC and set switches as appropriate for the plug. Others have noted that it may not be considered as UIL listed used in this configuration.
 
The pin out of all the different NEMA outlets are different to make sure the outlets are only used by appropriate devices.

You can buy the proper adapter for the portable charger (UMC) to work with most outlets.

you can also hardwire the wall connector and set the switches (or programming for gen3) to the circuit type/size. Some have wired a plug onto the WC and set switches as appropriate for the plug. Others have noted that it may not be considered as UIL listed used in this configuration.

But why would you need a hardwire when there is a Tesla branded charger that fits into the 14-50 plug (and I assume can be adapted for a 14-30?

Tesla launches new Wall Connector with NEMA 14-50 plug - Electrek

Also, is there any advantage of having one of these Tesla wall chargers VS the just plugging directly into a 14-30 or 14-50?
 
FYI, I sent photos of my electrical room to an electrician. He said that I only have 60amps to my unit and there's no way any plug can be added because there are only 10 amps left after powering my house. I have no clue how he decided there were only 10 amps left, but maybe that's standard?

He also said that the only individual unit device in the electrical room (near my car) is a breaker and a meter. There's no panel to add onto in that room, other than the master HOA panel. He said my sub panel is in my unit.

He said my only choice is to either add a dedicated line with a time meter for 4k or tap into the master HOA box.

It's strange to me that there's no way to tap into my individual unit's electricity from the electrical room, but I guess that's the case. My HOA is super cheap. I doubt they'd let me add on to their communal panel.