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6-50 to 14-50 Adapter?

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On the trip we’re on, two of the folks we stayed with had 240v receptacles conveniently placed for charging. But they were 3-prong 6-50 receptacles, while all we have for 240v is the Tesla 14-50 adapter. No big deal, since we planned our trip around Superchargers anyway. Still, for next time, I thought about getting the 6-50 adapter from Tesla. But I don’t see any reason this adapter, found on Amazon, wouldn’t accomplish the same thing for about 1/3 the cost, still using my 14-50 adapter. Am I missing something? I‘ve been advised it may compromise the temperature sensing of Tesla adapters and add contact points, but it seems no worse, and maybe not as bad as, the extension cords many use without issue. Thanks in advance.

52299033056_2fa80127c6.jpg


As an aside, I’m surprised that the listing says nothing about the 14-50 side of the adapter not having a neutral, since the 6-50 receptacle doesn’t. Not relevant nor necessary for charging, but very well might be for other applications such as RV’s where it could lead to a shock hazard.
 
On the trip we’re on, two of the folks we stayed with had 240v receptacles conveniently placed for charging. But they were 3-prong 6-50 receptacles, while all we have for 240v is the Tesla 14-50 adapter. No big deal, since we planned our trip around Superchargers anyway. Still, for next time, I thought about getting the 6-50 adapter from Tesla. But I don’t see any reason this adapter, found on Amazon, wouldn’t accomplish the same thing for about 1/3 the cost, still using my 14-50 adapter. Am I missing something? I‘ve been advised it may compromise the temperature sensing of Tesla adapters and add contact points, but it seems no worse, and maybe not as bad as, the extension cords many use without issue. Thanks in advance.

52299033056_2fa80127c6.jpg


As an aside, I’m surprised that the listing says nothing about the 14-50 side of the adapter not having a neutral, since the 6-50 receptacle doesn’t. Not relevant nor necessary for charging, but very well might be for other applications such as RV’s where it could lead to a shock hazard.

You might have issues with the EVSE faulting on the testing depending on what pins aren't connected.

I had issues in the past with adapters charging at my mother's in-laws, we use her dry outlet as our power source when we visit

The setup I uses was:
10-30p to l14-30r adapter -> generator extension cord -> l14-30p to 14-30r adapter -> tesla mobile with the 14-30 end.
The l14-30p to 14-30r adapter was missing the neutral or ground, and thus I couldn't use it to charge.
When I replaced the l14-30p to 14-30r adapter with an l14-30p to 10-30r adapter in the same setup, I used the tesla mobile connect with a 10-30 end and charged without issue.


I don't know that your adapter will end up with a valid ground pin, you might order, take your multimeter out and see if the ground/neutral pin ends up on the neutral or on the ground pin. If it ends up on the ground pin I think that you will be in luck, if it does not I would suggest sending it back as it won't do what you are expecting it to do.
 
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Interesting take. Thanks.

As a data point, at our TN home I use an L14-30 receptacle that was piggybacked on an existing one wired for our hangar door, with no neutral wire hooked up. I labeled it as such, and using a non-Tesla adapter (Tesla doesn’t make an L14-30 adapter) it’s worked perfectly with both our Tesla M3 and our prior Honda Clarity.

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We just have to remember not to operate the hangar door while charging.

I assume the adapter I linked to has the 2 hots and the ground wired from the 6-50 receptacle to the respective slots on the 14-50 - and nothing to the neutral slot on the 14-50. As you said, easy enough to to verify with a multimeter when I get it. For 12 bucks or so it’s probably worth a gamble. Once I have it I‘ll probably be guaranteed never again to be in a position to need it!

Edited to add: Just found this answer to a question about the item:

Question:
What does the neutral line do? Is it unconnected, or does it go to ground?
Answer:
Using my ohmmeter, I see the neutral connector is not connected. It is NOT connected to ground.
By John waites on March 28, 2021

As such, I think it should work, as the Tesla EVSE doesn’t look for a neutral anyway.
 
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But I don’t see any reason this adapter, found on Amazon, wouldn’t accomplish the same thing for about 1/3 the cost, still using my 14-50 adapter. Am I missing something?
Yes, that will work perfectly fine. And it's a straight adapter between two outlets of the same amp level, so I support that, as it's not going to overload a 30A outlet or something like that, and the Tesla adapter will still be providing the right amp limit signal.

You might have issues with the EVSE faulting on the testing depending on what pins aren't connected.
It shouldn't have any problem at all, because this one is simply passing straight through Hot1, Hot2, and ground. Nothing else is needed or used, because the 14-XX series and 6-XX series are simple like that. The times this can get squirrelly is between something like a 10-XX to something else. The 10-XX does not actually have a ground. It's doing a bit of trickery with having a Neutral but pretending and sometimes using it as if it's a ground. So adapting it to something else may be mapping that onto Neutral or onto ground or both, and it may be confusing how it's built. But 6-50 to 14-50 is straightforward.
 
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found on Amazon,

I strongly advice against this! There is a reason people recommend a commercial grade 14-50 outlet ($80) over the cheaper Leviton outlet ($12) - check out the forums. While a cheap outlet / adapter is suitable for use for things like welders, saws, or even RVs, IHMO they are not suitable for the extended power demands of an EV. I suggest you return the adapter to Amazon and buy a proper 6-50 adapter from Tesla. This is not a place to save a few dollars.
 
Yes, that will work perfectly fine. And it's a straight adapter between two outlets of the same amp level, so I support that, as it's not going to overload a 30A outlet or something like that, and the Tesla adapter will still be providing the right amp limit signal.
Question- is the neutral pin on the UMC 14-50 (Tesla) adapter just an open circuit, or is the UMC comparing it to earth ground?
 
I strongly advice against this…

Thanks for the concern. I think it was an odd coincidence that 2 different friends on the same trip had a 6-50 receptacle conveniently located that I couldn’t use*. It’s entirely possible I’ll never face the same situation again. In the off chance I do, I think the $12 adapter is very likely to work.

If disaster ensues, I’ll be sure to post about it here!


*In both cases we spent 2 nights anyway, so even at 120v had at least 80% charge before continuing our trip.
 
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Thanks for the concern. I think it was an odd coincidence that 2 different friends on the same trip had a 6-50 receptacle conveniently located that I couldn’t use*. It’s entirely possible I’ll never face the same situation again. In the off chance I do, I think the $12 adapter is very likely to work.

If disaster ensues, I’ll be sure to post about it here!


*In both cases we spent 2 nights anyway, so even at 120v had at least 80% charge before continuing our trip.
I would bet nearly every fab shop in the country has 6-50 outlets for single phase welders. A Tesla 6-50 UMC adaptor could be pretty precious off the beaten path.
 
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I strongly advice against this! There is a reason people recommend a commercial grade 14-50 outlet ($80) over the cheaper Leviton outlet ($12) - check out the forums.
The Leviton 6-50R and 14-50R outlets have a specific design flaw that appears to be absent from other 6-50R and 14-50R outlets (low or high cost). The design flaw is that the contacts in the plug holes are steel and contact only half of the plug blades, unlike the full size brass contacts in other outlets. The Leviton outlets are therefore marginal for 32A continuous loads (like EV charging), so the Tesla Mobile Connector plug head detects a high heat condition and reduces charging amperage during warmer weather.

If the 6-50P to 14-50R adapter has full size brass contacts in the plug holes of the 14-50R side, then it does not have the same design flaw that the Leviton outlets have.
 
Any update?

We’re back at our friend’s in Indiana.

Good news: It works! Yay!!

Weird news: It‘s charging at 32A indicated and about 33 mph - which is absolutely fine.

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Still, I thought that since we’re using Tesla’s 14-50 adapter, albeit through an adapter, it would communicate to the car it should be drawing 40A - 80% of 50A.

Any ideas why it might be throttling back to 32A as if it was on a 40A circuit. Like I said, no problem at all - just curious.
 
Still, I thought that since we’re using Tesla’s 14-50 adapter, albeit through an adapter, it would communicate to the car it should be drawing 40A - 80% of 50A.

Any ideas why it might be throttling back to 32A as if it was on a 40A circuit. Like I said, no problem at all - just curious.
The Tesla Mobile Connector only goes up to 32A, even when used with a 14-50 or 6-50 plug adapter (which are often found in 40A as well as 50A circuits).
 
The Tesla Mobile Connector only goes up to 32A, even when used with a 14-50 or 6-50 plug adapter (which are often found in 40A as well as 50A circuits).
If you're using a gen 2 mobile connector, they're limited to 32A
Aha!

I think I knew that, but those brain synapses must not have been firing properly for some reason!

Thanks for the quick responses regardless!