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14-50 outlet on a 120V circuit?

Discussion in 'Model 3: Battery & Charging' started by dgb62, Jan 6, 2021.

  1. dgb62

    dgb62 Member

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    I saw a mention on a fb forum about a guy who has a 14-50 outlet on a 120V/20A circuit. He says he gets around 12-15 m/hr charge. My situation is that I live in a condo where I may not be able to upgrade my garage to 220V. If I change my standard outlet to a 14-50 will that allow for faster charging? I'm not sure what the amps on the line are. If I could get that additional charge it is probably all I would need. Just curious if anyone here has done this or heard of it? (I'm electrically dumb, fwiw).
     
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  2. 355rockit

    355rockit Member

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    A NEMA 14-50 outlet is connected to a 50Amp circuit . Adding a 14-50 outlet to a 15 or 20Amp circuit doesn't make much sense since you can get an adapter for the UMC to plug into the correct 110V outlet. You cannot charge at a higher amperage than what your outlet provides.
     
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  3. Vines

    Vines Active Member

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    If there is anything reasonable to this story it is possible to convert a dedicated 120V 20A outlet into a 240V supply, by repurposing the neutral to be the second phase conductor of the 240V circuit.

    However that is certainly not safe or code compliant for a NEMA 14-50 outlet.
     
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  4. jjrandorin

    jjrandorin Moderator, Model 3, Tesla Energy Forums

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    Just changing the outlet does not change anything about the wiring to the outlet, nor the breaker that the outlet is on, nor the other outlets / devices that are likely on that circuit. I am going to guess you didnt read what you think you read, because just changing the outlet does nothing to increase charging speed.

    TL ; DR .. no that will not help you, in addition to being against electrical code and unsafe.
     
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  5. MorrisonHiker

    MorrisonHiker S 100D 2021.4.11

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    You can use a device such as the Quick 220 to connect two out of phase 120V outlets. A better solution would be to have an electrician install a proper outlet as using the Quick 220 would most likely involve running extension cords to other rooms in the house to find the out of phase outlets.
     
  6. paulk

    paulk Member

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    It is simple to convert a standard 120v-20a outlet (NEMA 5-20) into a 240v-20a outlet (NEMA 6-20) by changing around the wires at the breaker. keep in mind it will affect everything on that circuit, so if youve got anything else on that circuit you'll start a fire.

    a 6-20 outlet will give you exactly double the wattage for charging. if theres just the one outlet on that circuit, pull the breaker and replace it with a double pole 20a. put the black wire on one side and the white wire (with a piece of electrical tape on the end as a flag) into the other pole. at the outlet side do the same, putting tape on the white wire and putting in a 6-20 outlet. the ground wire isnt affected.
     
  7. jjrandorin

    jjrandorin Moderator, Model 3, Tesla Energy Forums

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    The OP said "Im electrically dumb fwiw", so they should not be doing anything at all themselves inside their electrical panel. They should hire an electrician to give them options based on their specific setup.

    They are asking, basically, "can I go down to home depot / lowes / local hardware store, ask them for a 14-50 outlet, take it home and install it, and get faster charging?" The answer to that is "no, you cant just buy a 14-50 outlet and install it and get faster charging without changing a few other things that you likely dont know how to change".

    A 14-50 outlet by itself doesnt get this OP anything, which appears to be the question they are asking.
     
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  8. paulk

    paulk Member

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    I wholeheartedly agree. If you don't have experience wiring a circuit breaker you shouldn't do any of what i told you. i learned this stuff as an electrician's apprentice, not reading forum posts or watching youtube.

    that said, it would be very reasonable to ask an actual electrician to wire a 6-20 outlet to existing wiring, but not possible to wire up a 14-50 to existing wiring (without doing something very dangerous/stupid).


     
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  9. dgb62

    dgb62 Member

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    Exactly right--that is the answer I was looking for.
     
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  10. Mishakim

    Mishakim Member

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    All the other replies telling you why this is bad/dangerous/impossible are right, but none explained what would specifically be wrong if you did this. A 14-50 outlet has four conductors, two for 120V out of phase, one neutral, and one ground. A 120V/20A circuit has only three conductors, one 120V, one neutral, one ground. So simply connecting the 14-50 to the 120V/20A wiring will give you 120V to ground on one of the Line conductors, and nothing on the other. So you'll still only be getting 120V/20A, exactly the same as if you used the correct connector. But someone can plug in an appliance that pulls more than 20A. It will either fail because there's no power on one of the Line connectors, or it will trip the circuit breaker by pulling too much current.
     
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  11. pjensen

    pjensen Member

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    I just plug my car into a standard garage socket. It does 12 amps at 120 volts - which is 6 miles per hour. This is more than enough if your daily commute is less than 30 miles.

    I plug in at 6pm and leave at 9am. That gives 15 hours of charging - around 90 miles of range. In winter, plan on 35% less.

    This is a great solution (for me). It doesn't stress the household wiring and it costs nothing (to install). I only charge every third or fourth day. Crazy simple...
     
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  12. DaveRZ

    DaveRZ Member

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    So to sum up:

    - if your condo allows you to modify the wiring AND
    - if your garage outlet is on a circuit all by itself AND
    - if your breaker panel has room for a double-pole breaker AND
    - you're willing to repurpose that outlet as a 240v outlet only (no more plugging in regular stuff) AND
    - you hire a properly trained electrician AND
    - he/she installs the correct outlet (6-15 or 6-20) AND
    - you own/buy the correct adapter for your UMC (mobile charger).

    then yes, you can get roughly double your current charging speed. Whether that a worthwhile pursuit is up to you and your charging needs.
     
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  13. Kevy Baby

    Kevy Baby Dis-Member

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    Mobile CONNECTOR. The charger is located in the car

    Otherwise, great summary
     
  14. DaveRZ

    DaveRZ Member

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    Fully agree, and made the decision to use the word 'charger' to make it easy on any new folks just learning. After all, I'd bet 99% of the public refers to that wall-wart they charge their phone with as a "charger". Best to not confuse people with stuff like "can I borrow your A/C to D/C phone power supply?". ;)
     
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