chibi_kurochan
Member
Fingers crossed, hopefully they will start selling 10-30 again soon!
I'm new around here, where do you usually use 6-50 adapters?
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Hey Tesla, there is a need for that NEMA 14-30 adapter still!
- Thread starter supratachophobia
- Start date
Fingers crossed, hopefully they will start selling 10-30 again soon!
I'm new around here, where do you usually use 6-50 adapters?
Usually in 6-50 outlets.
Seriously, they're not common so few people have missed not having the adapter, with the exception of those who already had a 6-50 outlet in their garage for a welder or something.
I came from a Nissan Leaf, and had a previous EVSE installed in my garage that required a 6-50 outlet.
It's actually pretty common for other EVSE manufacturers to offer 6-50 models including the following:
-ChargePoint Home
-ClipperCreek (offers various NEMA options)
-GE WattStation
-Bosch PowerMax2
-AeroVironment EVSE-RS
-Siemens VersiCharge.
Lol, I was wondering myself, and didn't get to show my ignorance quickly enough!
I'd never heard of a 6-50 before, so, thanks!
ccutrer
Active Member
I think the leaning towards a 6-50 vs. 14-50 is that for a new install specifically for EV charging, you can omit the neutral conductor. Depending on the length of the run, and assuming 6AWG wire, this may be non-trivial savings. If you're paying an electrician to do it (vs. if you're skilled enough to install outlets like this yourself), there probably won't be very much savings in labor. But once you factor in the cost of the extra adapter, you'll probably come out even. But like @MIT_S60 said, if you previously had a 6-50 installed for a non-Tesla EV, it's probably cheaper to buy the 6-50 adapter for a Tesla, than paying an electrician to come out and swap the outlet (especially if it's a long run and they now have to add a neutral wire to make it a legal 15-40 outlet).
Me personally, I have a variety of reasons:
* I'm OCD, so want a complete set (yeah, this is probably the biggest reason)
* I don't live in California, so public EV charging is not plentiful. good to keep your options open
* Sometimes I travel to places that don't have any EV charging at all. good to keep your options open
* I'd be kicking myself so hard if I needed to charge, a 6-50 was miraculously available, and I didn't have the adapter, and instead had to take the major inconvenience of finding an RV park (or heck, even a supercharger. I'd rather charge at my destination than at a supercharger, if at all possible)
Yeah... those last three are really the same thing, and will likely never be a factor in reality. So I'll admit, it's all because I'm OCD
. I can't even claim that I plan on saving money on wire for a new construction home we're building soon. Cause I plan on doing wall connectors on a shared 100A circuit. And if I add an extra outlet "just-in-case" it'll be a 14-50, because it might as well be just-in-case for an RV, too.
ccutrer
Active Member
If you're a homemade adapter junky like this, it's also slightly safer to use a 6-50 as your least-common-denominator, rather than a 14-50. Slighty. It's impossible to mis-use a 14-50P to 6-50R adapter. On the other hand, a 6-50P to 14-50R means you have a disconnected neutral pin, which could cause problems if someone tried to connect an actual RV or other device that needs a neutral to the 14-50R. I know odds are remote of that happening, but you never know. When I go looking for adapters or parts to build adapters, I cringe at what the RV world has come up with that bypasses safety features and assumptions in order to make something work.
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
Also ordered a 6-50 adapter, even though I don't have immediate plans to use it. I want my UMC to be "universal," and to be prepared in case I do need it someday and it's off the market again.
When I wanted to use a 14-30 adapter to charge from a dryer outlet overnight on a trip, all 30A adapters had been pulled from the store and were "no longer for sale" at my local service centers. Since my destination was within supercharger range, no overnight charging meant an extra supercharger stop first thing in the morning, an hour which could have been saved. However, if my destination had been out of supercharger range, the lack of overnight charging would have been much more inconvenient.
When I wanted to use a 14-30 adapter to charge from a dryer outlet overnight on a trip, all 30A adapters had been pulled from the store and were "no longer for sale" at my local service centers. Since my destination was within supercharger range, no overnight charging meant an extra supercharger stop first thing in the morning, an hour which could have been saved. However, if my destination had been out of supercharger range, the lack of overnight charging would have been much more inconvenient.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
There are other options even if you can't get a Tesla adapter: I made my own 10-30P to 14-50R adapter. You could do the same with other adapters that you need. Yes, you have to remember to set the charging current in the car but you only have to do it once per location since the car remembers the setting.
Darn you to heck. It's your fault that I just spent $103.53 to buy the last two adapters in my soon-to-be complete UMC adapter collection.
Bruce.
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
Yes, I know; I've built 10-30 and 14-30 adapters myself to avoid being in the same situation again. But your last sentence underscores the reason why a Tesla adapter is preferred: it's designed with a safety feature to limit the amps it can pull, instead of relying on the driver to ensure the setting is changed in the car. I've read some anecdotes on TMC which suggest that the setting isn't foolproof; a GPS hiccup could make the car think it was not at a previously-known location, and revert to drawing 40 amps.
ccutrer
Active Member
Heh. Which other one were you missing? I also had to get a 6-15 to complete my collection. And do you have both a US and a Canadian 14-50 - US for use on 50A breakers, and Canadian for use on 40A breakers (the latter is legal in the US, and apparently common in Canada).Darn you to heck. It's your fault that I just spent $103.53 to buy the last two adapters in my soon-to-be complete UMC adapter collection.
Bruce.
It was the 6-15 for me as well. I guess my collection won't be *that* complete because I only have the US 14-50 but not the CA 14-50.
Of all the various UMC adapters, the only ones I've actually used in two years are the 14-50, 10-30, and 5-15 (the latter one when I got my car, just to make sure it worked). My chances of needing any of the others (except maybe the 14-30) is pretty small, so I'm pretty much down to getting them "because I can". Is that wrong?
Bruce.
ccutrer
Active Member
Nope, that's me. I use the 14-50 (both US and Canada) regularly. I've used the 14-30 on one trip, and plan to use it on another soon. I've used the 10-30, 5-15, 5-20, and J1772 just to test that they work. That leaves the 6-15, 6-50, and my homemade 6-20 to 5-20 adapter that I'll probably never really use, nor do I even have a place to test them.It was the 6-15 for me as well. I guess my collection won't be *that* complete because I only have the US 14-50 but not the CA 14-50.
Of all the various UMC adapters, the only ones I've actually used in two years are the 14-50, 10-30, and 5-15 (the latter one when I got my car, just to make sure it worked). My chances of needing any of the others (except maybe the 14-30) is pretty small, so I'm pretty much down to getting them "because I can". Is that wrong?
Bruce.
This is why I can't really get the excitement people have over the 6-50 coming out again. It doesn't really matter, since you can always get a pigtail adapter from several places to swap between 14-50, 10-50, or 6-50. They are all perfectly safe. The 14-30 was important because there was not a proper 30 amp circuit adapter at all for too long.
How did you track down a Canadian 14-50? I wonder if I can walk into the store/service center in Montreal the next time I'm up there and buy one.
As I mentioned above, I have several locations I can charge at with 6-50's. By the time you buy the parts to make a 6-50P<->14-50R (or buy one), you're close to the price of a UMC adapter, and the UMC adapter eliminates a set of connections.
ccutrer
Active Member
I agree that a 6-50 isn't critical. What it does allow is smaller storage requirements, because a UMC adapter is smaller than any pigtail that has to have both a plug and a receptacle. And like I said before, some forms of custom pigtails allow you to cheat a neutral or a ground (a 6- or 10- series to a 14- series). This doesn't matter for EV charging, and as long as you label very well should be okay. But there's always a possibility that someone tries to use one for say an RV, and things wouldn't work out well. Of course that's less likely to fry something as say a 6-20 to 5-20, or TT-30 to 14-30 adapter, both of which provide drastically different voltages than what the receptacle would normally allow (and one of which I've built). So I guess my other point is that first party UMC adapters are easier for lay person to understand vs. custom pigtails. They just have to find the adapter in their bag that will fit in the receptacle that is available, and then the UMC into that. Heck, even a "common" 5-15 to 5-20 cheater (another thing I have in my personal bag) could potentially be dangerous with an EVSE that pulls a full 16A continuously.
ccutrer
Active Member
Funny story on that one. At the time I had a full 50A 14-50 in my garage. I knew the different adapter existed, and my parents have a 40A 14-50 in their garage that was put in for an archaic reason. So I wanted to get it. I ordered it online (it's a simple drop down on the 14-50 page). A few days after I ordered I got an email from Tesla saying it's a mistake and it's probably not what I wanted, and they refund me. The next day it shows up at my house anyway! So I email them back and say yes, I really want it, and I'm not sending it back, but you should probably send me an invoice or something and I'll pay for it. Good thing, too - two months later I got a Leaf (the X is hers), and a 20A EVSE. I don't have enough load available to do 50A and 20A, but I do for 40A+20A. So just switched the breaker to a 40A breaker, and use the Canadian adapter regularly. I still use the US at a friend's house that we regularly visit.
So... your mileage may vary ordering online. I doubt it'd be a problem if you go in to a Canadian service center.
Ah, thanks - I see there is a US/Canada selection. I didn't think to check the order page first.
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