Broke the ice

[jorhett]

To be fair, the cheap 14-50 outlets are likely just fine for their intended use, such as residential ovens. They are good for 5-10 plug/unplug cycles,

I'm just curious... by what qualifier do you come to this conclusion? Is this theory, or are you speaking from personal experience?

My own personal experience: every time someone has had an electrical failure I was looked into, it was a cheap wall socket that flamed out. It wasn't on plug in or removal, it was just failure of the components. Often in a plug behind household devices such that they didn't even know there was a plug there. Every time I pulled it, it was cheap quality. I've never pulled out a burned high-quality socket.

A friend of mine who's been a firefighter for 30 years and is now a fire investigator says that gas gets the news headlines, but cheap plugs sparking in the wall is 90% of the fires he's investigated.

Both of these are of course filtered by the obvious: nobody asks electricians or firemen to diagnose external devices (like say portable heater units) that burst into flame because they are obvious to everyone what happened. However I have repeatedly seen a portal heater or chained power strips cause the plug in the wall to flame out.

 

[GSP]

@jorhett - My conclusion that cheap 14-50’s are “likely fine for intended use” is based on their manufactures ratings and how often I expect applicants such as stoves to be replaced over the life of a home.

I would not extrapolate that to cheap 120 V outlets. I would expect them to fail before a new home is re-wired or demolished after perhaps 100 years of use.

In your experience, how many cheap 14-50 outlets (or 10-50) have you found that flamed out?

It would also be interesting to look at home fire statistics to see how many fires are caused by 14-50’s and by 120 V outlets, if that detail is available.

GSP

 

[Dennisis]

I’ll offer another vote for a hardwired wall connector. Get the Tesla and have it wired for a 60A circuit. It is net cheaper (don’t need a GFCI breaker) and faster. And more tidy.

I'd add that I used the 14-50 for a few years (just unplugged to take the mobile connector on trips) but recently upgraded to the wall connector. The wall connector was $430, $300 of which my local utility credited to my account and the other $130 I will get as a tax credit this year, making it essentially free! I did the wiring myself so no other fees but believe there are other credits available if you have to pay a pro. Check with your local utility before deciding which way to go if cost is a primary decision driver. Otherwise IMO the wall connector is definitely the best choice.

 

[jorhett]

In your experience, how many cheap 14-50 outlets (or 10-50) have you found that flamed out?

Every one that I have personally been was asked to look at was either a hidden/recessed 5-20, a 6-20, a 10-30P, or a 14-50. Maybe a 6-50 or two in there, I don't recall. It's always a friend who had a major appliance stop working suddenly.

It would also be interesting to look at home fire statistics to see how many fires are caused by 14-50’s and by 120 V outlets, if that detail is available.

Correlate your local fire departments reports of fire with the words "dryer" or "refrigerator". Stove would be too, but there's obvious other reasons that fires happen on stoves