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Convert NEMA 5-20 to 6-20?

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If you have a single 5-20 outlet on a circuit, you must make a change at the panel to charge at 6-20, right? I saw on another post someone said to make or find an adapter and the UMC would pick up on the voltage change but don't see how that could work. I found this adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TJZ29JJ

What is it's purpose?

That looks really bad. The only way that adapter would work is to pull a load on ground (illegal). Because that’s the only way you can get 120V from a 6-20.
 
That looks really bad. The only way that adapter would work is to pull a load on ground (illegal). Because that’s the only way you can get 120V from a 6-20.

That adapter doesn't do anything special. No load would be put on the ground. It would just allow you to plug in a NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 into that adapter and get 240V across the leads. Code complaint? Probably not. But if you use it with your UMC, it would work perfectly fine to pull 240V/12A.

I've got a similar cheater plug that has a NEMA 5-15 plug on one end, and a NEMA 5-15/20 receptacle on the other end. Useful if you want to eek out another 4 amps out of a NEMA 5-15 backed with 12 gauge wire...
 
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That adapter doesn't do anything special. No load would be put on the ground. It would just allow you to plug in a NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 into that adapter and get 240V across the leads. Code complaint? Probably not. But if you use it with your UMC, it would work perfectly fine to pull 240V/12A.

I've got a similar cheater plug that has a NEMA 5-15 plug on one end, and a NEMA 5-15/20 receptacle on the other end. Useful if you want to eek out another 4 amps out of a NEMA 5-15 backed with 12 gauge wire...
Actually if you look at it, you'll realize that it's just a broken listing. The title is for a 6-20 to 6-15/20 adapter, and the picture and description are for a 5-20 to 5-15/20 adapter. Lord knows what you'd actually receive if you ordered it.
 
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That adapter doesn't do anything special. No load would be put on the ground. It would just allow you to plug in a NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 into that adapter and get 240V across the leads. Code complaint? Probably not. But if you use it with your UMC, it would work perfectly fine to pull 240V/12A.

I've got a similar cheater plug that has a NEMA 5-15 plug on one end, and a NEMA 5-15/20 receptacle on the other end. Useful if you want to eek out another 4 amps out of a NEMA 5-15 backed with 12 gauge wire...

That's probably as crazy as pulling 120V on Ground. Also probably why it's not available.
 
That's probably as crazy as pulling 120V on Ground. Also probably why it's not available.

Yeah, re-looking at that adapter, it's what @davewill stated. It's just a NEMA 5-20 -> NEMA 5-15/20. I got the poles of the hot side flipped, since NEMA 5-20 and NEMA 6-20 look almost identical (the sideways pin is on the opposite side for a NEMA 6-20.

Honestly, although stupid to leave out for anyone to plug something into, it's not that insane. It'll blow up anything that is 120V only, but many electronic things you plug into a 120V outlet have input ratings of usually 100-240V. So, laptop chargers, cell phone breaks, heck even monitors won't flinch. Everyone designs their stuff for universal, global power these days unless it's extraordinarily difficult to do. That way you save money on designing a power converter that works in all regions, and don't have to have two lines of circuit design for 120V and 240V regions. Honestly, there's very few things that DON'T work on 240V in the US. Light bulbs, heavy motor applications (e.g. corded power tools), and appliances (e.g. washing machines, microwaves, etc) may be the exception offhand.
 
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I've read that the mobile charger has a GFCI built-in. Do you still need the breaker to have GFCI?

Yes, code requires a GFCI on an outdoor outlet at 50a or below (that's a new change, it used to be below 50a).

Edit: Changed above from "circuit" to "outlet".

Edit Again: Sorry - I keep forgetting your not USA, so your mileage may vary. But the risk is similar as it could be used for another purpose and/or you might be standing in water when you are actually plugging in the plug.
 
Yes, code requires a GFCI on an outdoor outlet at 50a or below (that's a new change, it used to be below 50a).

Edit: Changed above from "circuit" to "outlet".

Edit Again: Sorry - I keep forgetting your not USA, so your mileage may vary. But the risk is similar as it could be used for another purpose and/or you might be standing in water when you are actually plugging in the plug.

It's required for indoor EV Charging as well. Only Hardwired does not require it (e.g. a Wall Connector).

I put GFCI long before it was required. It's common sense.
 
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That adapter doesn't do anything special. No load would be put on the ground. It would just allow you to plug in a NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 into that adapter and get 240V across the leads. Code complaint? Probably not. But if you use it with your UMC, it would work perfectly fine to pull 240V/12A.

I've got a similar cheater plug that has a NEMA 5-15 plug on one end, and a NEMA 5-15/20 receptacle on the other end. Useful if you want to eek out another 4 amps out of a NEMA 5-15 backed with 12 gauge wire...

so a cheater plug would work with a standard Tesla 5-15 UMC and eek another 4 amps? link to cheater plug ? do you need a different UMC adapter as well?
 
Yep, I already tested for other outlets. It's labeled "freezer" and it's in the garage so I'm assuming it was an addition at some point previously just for a deep freeze.
I’m astounded by the assumption it’s only feeding one receptacle. Unless it’s in conduit that you can easily trace, it would remain just that, an assumption. Then at some time in the future when something gets plugged into that newly minted 240 volt circuit somewhere else, get ready for the “magic smoke” being released. Did you never watch Tim Allen’s Home improvement...? Keep that fire insurance paid up... Just like the climbing adage, never climb higher than you’re willing to fall from...
 
so a cheater plug would work with a standard Tesla 5-15 UMC and eek another 4 amps? link to cheater plug ? do you need a different UMC adapter as well?
I believe he's talking about the other way. It's using a Tesla 5-20 adapter, but getting a way to plug that into a 5-15 receptacle where that normally won't fit. But again, proper safety warning: that you should only do that if you've confirmed it has the appropriate 12 gauge wire so it can function as if it's a 20A circuit.
 
I'm pretty sure the UMC is smart enough to know which plug is plugged into it and won't allow different current/Volts than what is expected.
I still don't think you're getting the paradigm of what's going on here. This isn't really breaking or mismatching anything.

Electric code allows installing a mix of 5-15 or 5-20 outlets on 20A circuits--like literally whichever the installer has handy or more of or were cheaper. So you might find this situation pretty commonly, where it really is a 20A circuit, but it's got some 5-15 outlets on it. The Tesla 5-20 plug has one blade sideways, so it won't fit into a 5-15 outlet. So the Tesla plug should be able to use the 20A circuit and will signal to the car to use 16A, but it's just physically blocked from plugging in because of the outlet type.

So these little pigtail cords (I have one) have a 5-15 plug on one end so they can get into the outlet on the wall and then a 5-20 on the other end, so you can fit your Tesla 5-20 into it.
 
The 5-15 outlets themselves are only rated for 15A. Sure, you could probably pull 20A (16A is actually what it will pull...80% of the rating), but it is outside of the spec and could result in heating. I couldn't sleep soundly at night knowing that I'm pulling 16A through an outlet only rated to 15A (12A continuous).

The best thing to do (if it's truly a 20A circuit with the appropriate gauge of wiring), is to replace the outlet with a 5-20...that's like $10.
 
The 5-15 outlets themselves are only rated for 15A.
Usually not. This has been looked at a lot, and from most manufacturers, they don't want to bother with extra overhead cost of stocking separate parts and running manufacturing lines two different ways and keeping track of inventory for the different kinds of pieces all the way back through what it takes to put these together, so the internal guts and parts are the same thing inside the 5-15 and 5-20 and both will handle 20A fine. They just have a different plastic face plate.
Sure, you could probably pull 20A (16A is actually what it will pull...80% of the rating), but it is outside of the spec and could result in heating. I couldn't sleep soundly at night knowing that I'm pulling 16A through an outlet only rated to 15A (12A continuous).
So the outlet isn't where the limitation is at all. It's there to be basically like a keyed padlock or a doorkeeper to enforce a limitation on the outside that will match what the wire is in the circuit. If the circuit is thinner wire and is a 15A circuit behind the scenes, then NEC enforces that it must use only the 5-15 outlets, because you need to not have 20A drawing appliances plug into that. But if the wire in the wall is really a 20A circuit, then it's more permissive. You can plug in 15A or 20A appliances, and they will handle either fine, so NEC allows that you can put whichever style of outlet you have on it.

The best thing to do (if it's truly a 20A circuit with the appropriate gauge of wiring), is to replace the outlet with a 5-20...that's like $10.
If it were your own house, sure. But I think we're talking about kind of general broad applications. If you're visiting somewhere, you're not necessarily going to go to a hardware store and go changing outlets in their building.
 
Here’s a few shots of what a premium receptacle does when it faults (not the HD $.79 variety, keep that in mind when you’re passing 16 amp’s through your car charging on successive nights...Again keep that fire insurance paid up...
PS there was only a few amps load on this, prior to when it failed...
 

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