Does anyone know of a 50' 14-30r extension cable?

[scot]

I'll manage with having to change to 24amp or less manually. Unfortunately one city I travel to regularly seems to be stuck in the 90s and absolutely refuses to add any electric charging capabilities at all. No businesses, no municipal, no superchargers, no nothing. Fortunately it is for family and its fine if I'm there for 2 days or so.

Want to get that down to a near full charge overnight, so I was thinking about the type of cable that would suit this location and other emergency locations well. That seems to be a 14-30r cable, and since the dryer is upstairs it is going to be about 45-50 feet to get to the car, figured a 50' with the regular cable's length would be perfect. Maybe 8 or 10awg.

I've seen a few in different formats at 50' from camco, but not 14-30. They have the 14-50, but only 30' which is not quite far enough.

 

[roblab]

I'll manage with having to change to 24amp or less manually. Unfortunately one city I travel to regularly seems to be stuck in the 90s and absolutely refuses to add any electric charging capabilities at all. No businesses, no municipal, no superchargers, no nothing. Fortunately it is for family and its fine if I'm there for 2 days or so.

What I did was make room in my circuit panel for a 50 amp breaker and ran 50' of romex out to the car. One end of the 6-3 with ground was hooked to the panel and breaker, the other was wired to a 14-50 outlet (with box) I got from Home Depot.

The panel has to be open to run the cable out of it, but you say this is temporary. You can usurp some other circuit since you will be only using it at night (like a hot tub, or oven, etc.) or just leave your 50 amp breaker there and only wire it when you need it.

I have done this many times on visiting far flung relatives. You need the specific breaker for their brand of box (Square D, Champion, GE, etc.). I bring my roll of romex and my bag of breakers, and charge just like at home.

 

[scot]

What I did was make room in my circuit panel for a 50 amp breaker and ran 50' of romex out to the car. One end of the 6-3 with ground was hooked to the panel and breaker, the other was wired to a 14-50 outlet (with box) I got from Home Depot.

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Honestly considered this. I think, unfortunately, my mother would disown me and my brother would say I'm trying to burn down our inheritance ( ) if they saw the utility box open and a cable across the floor into the garage. Plus installing it would require killing power to the house while I put the breaker in and screwed down the ground. Not good with 5 little kids running around.

Easy enough technically so I might do it in an emergency, but... I'd still rather stick with a dryer plug cable.

 

[TexasEV]

Assuming you'll be visiting there again, how about having an electrician install a proper 50A outlet in the garage?

 

[davewill]

Easy enough to make one. Be sure to get the proper cord, NOT romex which which is too stiff and won't stand up to repeated coiling and uncoiling. You can get away with only three conductors which will make it smaller and lighter to pack, so long as you make label it clearly that it can only be used for car charging.

 

[scot]

Texas: Requires holes in the ceiling to pull the wire from the box and it isn't my house. It is a possibility, but I wanted a more portable and multi-situation usable solution.

davewill: Any idea where I could get a proper 3 conductor (I assume 8awg?) somewhat rugged and definitely flexible but cheap cable? Terminating the ends is easy enough, but never bought anything like that and not sure where to start.

 

[FlatSix911]

Take a look at Electric Vehicle Adapters & Extension Cords | Tesla Roadster Model S

 

[ohmman]

Amazon.com: Camco 55195 50 AMP 30' Extension Cord with PowerGrip Handle: Automotive

I use that with an adapter from: EVSEadapters.com: Electric vehicle adapter cables

 

[davewill]

Here's a couple of examples. I did not try to find the cheapest sources. The first is a 4-conductor cable if you want to make a proper, but heavier extension cord, and the second is a 3 conductor cable just for EV charging.

Wire Cord, 50 Ft, Rubber Coated, 10 Gauge, 4 Conductor (10/4) 600v SOOW - Electrical Wires - Amazon.com

TEMCo SOOW SO Cord SOO097 - 10/3 50 ft. HD USA Portable Outdoor Indoor 600V Flexible Wire Cable - - Amazon.com

 

[182RG]

I've seen a few in different formats at 50' from camco, but not 14-30. They have the 14-50, but only 30' which is not quite far enough.

Make your own. There's a Home Depot right down the road from you. #10-4 SJOOW cable by the foot will run you approx. $100. They have all the plugs. Takes 10 minutes.

Southwire (By-the-Foot) 10-4 300-Volt Black Stranded CU SJOOW Cord-55812699 - The Home Depot

 

[roblab]

Honestly considered this. I think, unfortunately, my mother would disown me and my brother would say I'm trying to burn down our inheritance ( ) if they saw the utility box open and a cable across the floor into the garage. Plus installing it would require killing power to the house while I put the breaker in and screwed down the ground. Not good with 5 little kids running around.

Easy enough technically so I might do it in an emergency, but... I'd still rather stick with a dryer plug cable.

There is that, I'll admit. My brother in law got excited when the circuit breaker tripped (that;s what it's made for!) and it doesn't let the house burn down. But generally I leave the house power on, slip my breaker into the box with breaker off, box hot. It is designed to be difficult to actually touch those power lugs. The negative buss bars are not powered. I run the cable out of the way. You turn the breaker off when not in use, and maybe use one kid for demo as to what happens when you short across 220 volts (just kidding!!) I assume that most kids have been taught about or experienced putting things into outlets, though, and a lot depends on the age of the kids and location of breaker box.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yes, just make one, as @davewill and @182RG mentioned. I understand if you have not bought bare wire before, you might not realize where to get it, but it actually is really common. Almost any electrical/plumbing supply store or Home Depot or Lowes has reels of all kinds of wire that you can buy by the foot.

 

[scot]

I've bought plenty of bare wire, but all of it... well, really bare. More romex or regular thin stuff for random projects. Never looked for or noticed wear coated 10awg stranded before. Considering the number of times I've been in HD or Lowes you would think I would have seen it...

Rob: Agreed on making it somewhat difficult to touch the busses, but you do have to shove a screwdriver in there to attach the ground down to the ground buss. You are really depending on the proper installation of the rest of the wiring (nothing nicked which you could accidentally short and the like) and not accidentally doing something stupid like letting the screwdriver slip. I'll go race cars on a racetrack no problem, but that level of risk seems needlessly high when there is a perfectly serviceable power switch right there to turn the whole thing off

 

[Mark Vallaster]

buy the 14-50 80 amp extension cord and then the appropriate dryer adapter. I can 2 of them -- one for each mother in laws house.

 

[davewill]

buy the 14-50 80 amp extension cord and then the appropriate dryer adapter. I can 2 of them -- one for each mother in laws house.

I assume you mean 50a cords as no one would make an 80a cord for a 50a plug. The problem with the 50a cords is that they are hard to find in the 50ft length specified, expensive when you do, and they are overkill if only used for 30a dryer plugs.

 

[roblab]

Rob: Agreed on making it somewhat difficult to touch the busses, but you do have to shove a screwdriver in there to attach the ground down to the ground buss. You are really depending on the proper installation of the rest of the wiring (nothing nicked which you could accidentally short and the like) and not accidentally doing something stupid like letting the screwdriver slip. I'll go race cars on a racetrack no problem, but that level of risk seems needlessly high when there is a perfectly serviceable power switch right there to turn the whole thing off

The negative buss bars should not be that close to the power busses, but you are right. It's a matter of what you are comfortable with. I get tired having to reset clocks when I turn off the whole panel, so I leave it on. And -- I use a screwdriver with a plastic, non conducting handle. It's only 110, really. And I don't do race cars, which I would consider much more risky! I'm so bad, I don't use rubber gloves (and those blue nitrile gloves wouldn't help much anyway).

Making an adapter is also pretty easy, and it's made while unconnected, so that's a plus. It was my hand made adapter that flipped the breaker at my brother in law's house, and the many times before, using my 50 amp breaker and 30' of romex, I had never had any problem. Since his 30 amp outlet us in a cupboard behind a bunch of junk, about a foot from the floor, it's a pain. He installed the cupboard after the outlet. So there's that.