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EVSE adapters

Discussion in 'North America' started by Hoffbrew, Feb 10, 2021.

  1. Hoffbrew

    Hoffbrew Member

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    Has anyone used their adapters? Looking at the TT-30 adapter. I have 2 30amp RV receptacles at home and 1 is mounted on side of garage, next to where the Y will park. I have tried to contact EVSE with no luck to confirm correct adapter. Is there another company that provides same product?

    TT-30 Adapter for Tesla Model S/X/3/Y Gen 2 – EVSE Adapters
     
  2. Hoffbrew

    Hoffbrew Member

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  3. swaltner

    swaltner Active Member

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    If your existing outlet is a 30 amp outlet for RVs, the TT-30 adapter is what you’re interested in.
     
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  4. Hoffbrew

    Hoffbrew Member

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    Yes, existing for RV trailer use. I have since purchased a motorhome that is 50amp and use a 30amp adapter to plug into 30amp. Now that I am looking around to much, could I purchase the Tesla 14-50 adapter and use my 50 to 30 to plug into the 30 amp at garage? Hope I said that right! Tesla adapter is $45 and EVSE is $75 or don’t be a cheap azz and buy the EVSE
     
  5. swaltner

    swaltner Active Member

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    In general, the response to this question is that it’s safer to use the more expensive 30 amp adapter for your outlet.

    The problem with using a TT-30 plug to 14-50 receptacle adapter and then a Tesla 14-50 plug on the EVSE is that the EVSE thinks it’s plugged into a 50 amp outlet and could overload the 30 amp circuit. For continuous loads (EV charging), you are only allowed to draw 24 amps on a 30 amp outlet. Tesla’s portable EVSE with a 14-50 plug would try to charge at 32 amps, which is a fire hazard. You can turn the amperage down, which is great until your car forgets and resets the amperage to 32 amps. You can keep an eye on that yourself, but what if it resets sometime that your spouse, child, whoever plugs in and they forget to verify the lower amperage.

    You also run into a problem with many of the RV “dogbones” to convert the 30 amp RV outlet into a 50 amp RV outlet. They are not wired for EV charging and yield 0 Volts across the pins that should be 240 Volts.

    It’s much easier to spend the extra $40 on one of the $75 adapters you reference and never have to worry about it working safely.

    Be aware that a TT-30 outlet is only 120 Volts, so your charging rate will be half what it would be on a 240 Volt 30 Amp outlet.
     
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  6. Hoffbrew

    Hoffbrew Member

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    Thank you for that explanation, perfect! I will order the TT-30.
     
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  7. SageBrush

    SageBrush REJECT Fascism

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    This thread reminds me why the 10-30 outlet was killed. People would plug in a TT-30.

    OP:
    Knowing that you have a '30 Amp' circuit is good, but not enough to be safe. You also have to know
    1. 120 or 240 volts
    2. How many wires
    3. Wiring of ground and/or neutral
     
  8. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    Jeez, don't be like that. That's all known and specified already:
    That is TT-30
    1. It's 120V
    2. It's three wires
    3. It's hot, neutral, and ground

    Anyway, @Hoffbrew yes, I have several of the adapters from the EVSEAdapters company, and they are fantastic and very well made. And @swaltner covered the issues in a lot of detail there. Using any kind of plug adapter things that are made for camping or RV use won't work for adapting the TT-30 to 14-50 for electric car charging because they aren't wired in the way the car needs. The EVSEAdapter ones are great and made to do exactly what is needed.

    And that's interesting to see that AC Works is finally making real-ish Tesla-style adapter plugs like that, which connect into the UMC and signal the amp limit I presume. They used to just sell those TT-30 to 14-50 outlet converter types, where you would have to use your Tesla 14-50 plug and remember to dial down the amps from the car--not a very good way to go.
     
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  9. SageBrush

    SageBrush REJECT Fascism

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    I wasn't taking '30 Amp RV' as well defined, but you could easily know better than me.
     
  10. MattM24

    MattM24 Member

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    They also sell the adapter on Amazon.

    Another thought, if you don't use the circuit for an RV, if you have the panel space, you could convert to a 240V circuit and get a 6-30 adapter from that same company. Even the 6-20 adapter from Tesla would get you faster charging, if you wanted to stay OEM. Check with an Electrician for local regulations.
     
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  11. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    That's leaning more toward the terminology of campground employee kind of people. If you try to ask something using NEMA outlet names or say 14-50 or TT-30, you will just get blank stares, and they will have no clue what you are talking about. But their simplified names are consistent and specific.
    If a camping site says:
    "30A", it means a TT-30
    "50A", it means a 14-50
    So it is a known thing, but it's different wording than we're used to seeing here.
     
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  12. freeAgent

    freeAgent Member

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    I have all the Tesla adapters, which includes a 14-30, so I just got a TT-30 to 14-30 adapter which I assume the Tesla mobile connector will recognize properly (since it'll be using the 14-30 plug) as a 30A max connection automatically. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to test it yet.
     
  13. miimura

    miimura Well-Known Member

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    As long as the Neutral from the TT-30 goes to the other hot blade and not the Neutral blade on the 14-30, it will work. This is very specific to Tesla usage of a TT-30 and is nonsensical for RVs and other uses. An RV adapter for 14-30 or 14-50 would distribute the hot line L1 from the TT-30 to both hot lines on the 14-series plug. The Neutral on a Tesla 14-series plug adapter is not connected to anything.
     
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  14. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    1. If you bought it from a camping/RV supply kind of place, it definitely will not work.
    2. If you bought a special one that says it is made specifically for electric vehicle charging, it will work.

    As @miimura explained, they are wired differently. If you get one of those standard camping supply ones, it won't damage anything, but the car will just see 0V and do nothing.
     
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  15. freeAgent

    freeAgent Member

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    Yes, I looked up an adapter that specifically mentioned Tesla compatibility: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNPHXV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8

    Mine is the same brand, but has a small cord and isn't just a single, double-sided plug. It seems they switched to this version after my order.

    EDIT: Actually, that's not the same product at all. Maybe mine is discontinued. Amazon is interesting like that. My product was, "ONETAK NEMA TT-30P to 14-30R 120V 30 Amp 3 Prong Male Plug to 4 Prong Female Receptacle EV Charger Compatible Tesla Power Cord Adapter Connector"
     
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