14-50 outlet, electrician installed 20 Amp Double-Pole Type QP Circuit Breaker...

[beatle]

There are too many things that don't line up. You could make the case that he picked up the wrong receptacle accidentally - sometimes people toss things back in the wrong bins at home stores. The 14-30 and 14-50 do look pretty similar, and you can run a 14-30 on 10 gauge wire.

Maybe the same case with the breaker? Since the run is short, I would just replace it all and go with the right wire, breaker, and receptacle.

 

[Dhomls]

Honestly i did t question much i just realized the breaker popped. So will see w him tomorrow why he installed what he installed.

 

[boaterva]

Hes been an electrician for 45 years
I probably didnt explain it correctly to him, as i had no clue what needed to be done
I get it now, so will have him do it that way.
You saying 14-50 would never have that breaker?

Short answer; yes, NO 14-50 anywhere would have that breaker. It’s illegal. It’s in the name. The 50 means it handles/needs a 50 amp breaker. Any electrician would know that.

I assume you don’t need permits in your location. Because this would fail totally.

 

[JPoldo]

Let's assume OP wants maximum charge rate for UMC with NEMA 14-50 adapter. The older UMC limited maximum current to 40A but last year Tesla derated it to 32. Disappointing. As others opined, OP should buy #6 THHN wire (short run), 3/4" or larger conduit, and a 50A GFCI breaker to power 14-50 receptacle. This is how mine is wired and it works great. Last year, the NEC required a GFCI on non-permanent circuits such as removable UMC. Other threads discuss this topic in detail.

 

[MN-MS100D]

Very unsafe installation. No one with any knowledge makes a mistake that big. If he told you he had 45 years experience, it was 45 x 1 year's experience. Please update to 50 amp circuit if you want max charging.

 

[Rocky_H]

This is just pathetically bad. Like, this guy just blindly groped around in a box of breakers and used the first one he got hold of?

You wanted a 50A rated circuit. Period. That means something:
1. 50A rated outlet (you have that)
2. 50A rated wire (wrong)
3. 50A rated breaker (wrong)

I might have said what @ucmndd was going with, to change it to a lower rated 30A circuit to use the existing wiring, but since you said it's very close and a short run, just get Mister "Doesn't Know What He's Doing" to come back and fix this screw-up.

 

[Dmagyar]

Hes been an electrician for 45 years
I probably didnt explain it correctly to him, as i had no clue what needed to be done
I get it now, so will have him do it that way.
You saying 14-50 would never have that breaker?

If that’s true, he didn’t learn much during that 45 year period, unless like you say you didn’t explain what you wanted clearly...If you had explained you wanted to charge at the max of what a 14-50 receptacle was capable of, that’s the capacity you should've received, two way street...set a clear scope of work, deal with someone who’s actually an Electrician/Electrical Contractor, receive a finished product you’ll be happy with.

 

[Dmagyar]

That suggests your friend used #10 THHN wire, which is good for a max circuit ampacity of 35 amps.

The whole thing is a veritable “WTF” in terms of what your “electrician” friend was thinking, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there. Your two options are:

1) Replace the 20A breaker with a 30A and replace the 14-50 outlet with a 14-30.

2) Replace the 20A breaker with a 50A breaker and replace the wire with #6 THHN to support the ampacity. Additionally, the receipt seems to indicate 1/2” EMT conduit was used, which will also need to be replaced with minimum 3/4” to meet fill requirements for #6 wire.

Do not leave it as-is. Frankly given all of the other head-scratching thoughts this install raises, I wouldn’t use it AT ALL until you find someone that knows what they’re doing to fix it.

Until you know what size wire, I think it unwise to suggest a plan of action, other than leaving it alone till the situation is adequately and accurately diagnosed. Just sayin.

 

[Dhomls]

Well just got it all done and its all fixed. 50 breaker and 6 wire and new conduit
He explained why he did it but that was basically my fault not explaining what the car needs. He was under impression that i just changed connectors and wanted different outlet, which makes sense, and he didnt know what power the car draws And went off based on what i told him. As soon as i explained to him based on this thread, hes like well yeah this is wrong for that application rightaway, yea. So he said he made a mistake and if i made it more clear to him he would make it rightaway as noted by this thread.
So in reality, i didnt really explain to him correctly, hes like if your car draws that much this is not gonna work obviously.
But its all done now and charging at 32/32 with 23mi/hr so im happy
Was a quick 30 min fix as outlet is right under breaker box

 

[Dmagyar]

There’s a good example of how not to do an 14-50 install on YouTube...the lectwician cuts out Sheetrock, then routes the romex, then drills a few holes into the side of the panel, where each conductor goes through a different hole without a connector into the panel. It’s as bad on the receptacle side where he can’t fit the conductors into the single gang cut in box, so they stay outside the box, just hilarious, until you realize many people don’t know the difference between that and how it’s supposed to be installed. As that and the guy in the isle at Home Depot are the defacto experts on all these DIY installs...tragic use of an otherwise useful medium. Imho

 

[Rocky_H]

He explained why he did it but that was basically my fault not explaining what the car needs. He was under impression that i just changed connectors and wanted different outlet, which makes sense, and he didnt know what power the car draws

I think this is looking through the wrong end of the telescope. People sometimes try explaining too much and details start getting wrong or confusing people, and it makes things messed up. For electrical installation, people should keep it simple. You know that you have a plug for a 14-50 outlet. You should request from an electrician to install a legitimate 14-50 outlet. Period. Or if it's a 14-30 outlet, then you request a 14-30 outlet. NEC specifies all of the details then of how to do it properly. Then people won't be trying to make assumptions and guesses about what someone used to have or the car is probably going to draw less than XX amount or any other nonsense.

 

[ucmndd]

Until you know what size wire, I think it unwise to suggest a plan of action, other than leaving it alone till the situation is adequately and accurately diagnosed. Just sayin.

I can only assume that the receipt is correct in identifying it as #10 THHN, but agree in this particular case I'm not sure assuming anything is a safe path.

 

[Decibelle]

Glad it all worked out at the end. This is why this forum is so good.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Next time, maybe just give them a copy of Tesla's 14-50 installation guide? https://www.tesla.com/sites/default.../NEMA_14-50_installation_guide_NA_US_2017.pdf

 

[JPoldo]

OP parts list shows an $8.88 receptacle rated for few insertions and removals. Other threads discuss this in detail. Therefore, OP must leave UMC plugged in most of the time to avoid overheating and potential fire. Tesla also recommends leaving UMC plugged in all the time. If that's a problem, buy a second UMC to leave in the vehicle.

Pleased to hear install was corrected for safety and OP is satisfied with charge rate.

 

[iRia]

I’m surprised this wasn’t caught by the inspector of your local AHJ (city or town). You did get a permit and inspection, right?

 

[boaterva]

I’m surprised this wasn’t caught by the inspector of your local AHJ (city or town). You did get a permit and inspection, right?

Yeah, as I mentioned, I wonder if they need permits. Because this is/was a complete cluster. No way is this guy an electrician. One would never have done the original install as stated no matter the ‘requirements’. A 14-50 needs a 50 amp breaker. Period.

 

[Rocky_H]

A 14-50 needs a 50 amp breaker. Period.

Well, no, that's not quite accurate. NEC does have the allowance for doing it as a 40A rated breaker and wire with the 14-50 outlet type if the device to be plugged in fits that rating, which the Tesla UMC does, since it is maximum 32A draw, so the 40A circuit could be appropriate and allowed. But yeah, I do recommend installing them as 50A, because there isn't a chance of a "gotcha" for anyone later if the house is sold or whatever.

 

[boaterva]

Well, no, that's not quite accurate. NEC does have the allowance for doing it as a 40A rated breaker and wire with the 14-50 outlet type if the device to be plugged in fits that rating, which the Tesla UMC does, since it is maximum 32A draw, so the 40A circuit could be appropriate and allowed. But yeah, I do recommend installing them as 50A, because there isn't a chance of a "gotcha" for anyone later if the house is sold or whatever.

Not sure this is accurate. Maybe if you prominently label it as 40 amp max. Because as you say future users would expect it to have a 50 amp max. A normal 14-50 should be still a 50 amp.installation.

Never heard of an outlet not being able to draw the max allowed from it. Especially when it’s only a few feet from the panel.

 

[nwdiver]

Maybe if you prominently label it as 40 amp max.

The max load on a 40A breaker is 32A. 80%.