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I am not an Electrician

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Obligatory new Model 3P owner, 500miles old, yadda yadda, love it, it's fast, ICE cars are awful, red lights are my enemy.

Moving on.

I need to charge this puppy at home (renting), and it came down to a choice between spending ~1,000 for an electrician (Northern VA, am I right?((Also landlords demand a professional installation))) OR using the old 10-30R dryer plug that's already there.

I chose the latter... I only commute like 15 miles each way to work -.-

So per recommendation, I bought a new industrial strength 10-30R outlet and went to go install it. Confirming that the wire installed does not have a GROUND wire, I couldn't replace it with a 14-30R. So I turn it off at the breaker, take it out and I find gooey stuff on the wires. See pics.

Is this stuff normal? Bad news bears? Should I wipe it clean before throwing on the new one?

Also, to connect to this outlet, I will have to use an extension cord. Is the #1 method a bad idea? Too many breaks in the line?

#1 - Mobile connector w/ 10-30 adapter -> 10-30/14-50 adapter -> 14-50 extension cord (larger guage wire for safety reasons?)-> 14-50/10-30 adapter -> outlet

OR

#2 - Mobile connector w/ 10-30 adapter -> 10-30 extension cord -> outlet

I am choosing to use the 10-30 adapter so I don't have to worry about manually changing the cars amp draw.

Sorry this is all a mess, thanks in advance to anyone with advice for me.

Don't wanna burn the house down.

Imgur
 
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Me too. I'm not an electrician. I think you need to first talk to your landlord. Sell him on the valuable going forward of his house being EV charging capable. Then tell him it needs a 14-50 outlet 50 amp circuit. If he back away from that, why not offer to pay half, and deduct it from the rent? If he doesn't like that, tell him how the 14-30 circuit will just get by, but needs a pro to look at it and maybe it will require an upgrade over the existing circuit. Again, if you must, share the cost. And try to take it off the rent.

I would not be surprised if the pro electrician wants to replace the wire. And if the box will handle it, maybe the smarter thing is to pull two wires one for 30 and one for 50. Who knows.

But I would worry about that gooey stuff. I personally would not use it until you/we know more. And I would not use an extension cord with it. Like you said, you don't want to burn the house down. Maybe the landlord will pickup the cost of the pro coming by. He should.

You might want to put this in writing to him. Google your state and city statutes to see if there are regs that support your request.
 
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That gooey stuff is no-ox, used to keep the wires from corroding and causing any issues with the connections.

With that said, i'm still going to suggest you contact an electrician to swap the receptacle out with the questions you're asking. You're playing with something that could potentially cause a fire if installed improperly, or worse yet kill you don't know what you're doing.
 
I am not an electrician (but I've had more than one tell me I do better work than most of those that are...)

The gooey stuff is nothing to worry about. Assuming that the insulation is intact (hot wire can cause some insulation to get soft and gooey), it's probably either no-ox or even just cable lube.

Suggestion #1: Find an electrician, with or without your landlord paying for it, to take a look and swap out the receptacle. Why? You're asking too many questions. Yes, questions are good but with a circuit pulling that much power for that long a period of time it's not the "attach red wire to the screw on receptacle where it says the red wire goes" kind of things you need to worry about. It's the subtle stuff that's going to bite you in the butt. Or, more precisely, cause a house fire.

Suggestion #2: Go with your choice #2 above. Why? Every plug/receptacle connection is a potential fire hazard. Especially if you're not using good quality stuff (i.e., usually, but not always, non-Home Depot parts).

Again, given your questions, find an electrician. House fires are no fun.
 
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Obligatory new Model 3P owner, 500miles old, yadda yadda, love it, it's fast, ICE cars are awful, red lights are my enemy.

Moving on.

I need to charge this puppy at home (renting), and it came down to a choice between spending ~1,000 for an electrician (Northern VA, am I right?((Also landlords demand a professional installation))) OR using the old 10-30R dryer plug that's already there.

I chose the latter... I only commute like 15 miles each way to work -.-

So per recommendation, I bought a new industrial strength 10-30R outlet and went to go install it. Confirming that the wire installed does not have a GROUND wire, I couldn't replace it with a 14-30R. So I turn it off at the breaker, take it out and I find gooey stuff on the wires. See pics.

Is this stuff normal? Bad news bears? Should I wipe it clean before throwing on the new one?

Also, to connect to this outlet, I will have to use an extension cord. Is the #1 method a bad idea? Too many breaks in the line?

#1 - Mobile connector w/ 10-30 adapter -> 10-30/14-50 adapter -> 14-50 extension cord (larger guage wire for safety reasons?)-> 14-50/10-30 adapter -> outlet

OR

#2 - Mobile connector w/ 10-30 adapter -> 10-30 extension cord -> outlet

I am choosing to use the 10-30 adapter so I don't have to worry about manually changing the cars amp draw.

Sorry this is all a mess, thanks in advance to anyone with advice for me.

Don't wanna burn the house down.

Imgur


Hi. Electrician here. The dryer outlet without a ground is perfectly fine to use to charge the tesla. Old dryer outlets had the case of the dryer bonded to the neutral of dryer, as the dryer required 110v for its lightsgue and timer circuits. However, the neutral wire of the circuit is bonded to the ground at your panel. Because the tesla charger does not require a neutral, you can essential treat the neutral eire as a ground wire in this case.

The goo is definitely anti oxidation compound, which is perfectly fine. My only concern is now that you took the outlet out, making sure you have the correct torque on the screws is important, most homeowners do not tighten them enough, and that will result in a fire.

Choice 2 is the better choice because it will ground the tesla charger, despite the fact it is using the “neutral” conductor.

You definitely do not need to run a new wire, but the extension cords will really need to be monitored and replaced at the first sigh of corrosion/damage
 
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Another electrician. Please note, that is Aluminum wire Thus the compound. It requires special consideration and handling. Do not ring strip the cable. If you are just replacing, you should be OK if you torque the connections well. You can also put a DYMO tape on the receptacle with some words (just to raise letters) if the letters shrink back down you have a HEAT ISSUE.
 
Another electrician here.

It is worth noting that the 1030 outlet only puts out 30 amps, so the charge rate is between the stage 1 120v (2-4 mi/hr) and the stage 2 NEMA 1560 (30 mi/hr charge rate). You will get around a 10-14 mile and hour charge rate using the 1030.

If your daily commute is only 15 miles, you could very well charge it off of a standard 120v 20amp circuit and forego the need for the 220v circuit at all. At least for your daily charges. If you have a particularly long range day and you need more than the normal 15 miles, then you could run an extension cord from the 1030 to boost charge rate to catch up.

I always advise against the habitual use of extension cords. Even mindful people can get complacent, and any time you are dealing with 220v circuits, complacency kills.
 
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Me too. I'm not an electrician. I think you need to first talk to your landlord. Sell him on the valuable going forward of his house being EV charging capable. Then tell him it needs a 14-50 outlet 50 amp circuit. If he back away from that, why not offer to pay half, and deduct it from the rent? If he doesn't like that, tell him how the 14-30 circuit will just get by, but needs a pro to look at it and maybe it will require an upgrade over the existing circuit. Again, if you must, share the cost. And try to take it off the rent.

I would not be surprised if the pro electrician wants to replace the wire. And if the box will handle it, maybe the smarter thing is to pull two wires one for 30 and one for 50. Who knows.

But I would worry about that gooey stuff. I personally would not use it until you/we know more. And I would not use an extension cord with it. Like you said, you don't want to burn the house down. Maybe the landlord will pickup the cost of the pro coming by. He should.

You might want to put this in writing to him. Google your state and city statutes to see if there are regs that support your request.

So if the landlord won't acquiesce to his request for a subsidized EV outlet he should go see if he can get city/state to hassle the guy to give it to him?

Did the landlord advertise that the home/apartment came with EV charging? No? Then if they don't see any value in adding it then it's nobody's damn business but theirs as it's their property.

Oh, I see you're from Hawaii.... well that explains a lot.
 
Another electrician here.

It is worth noting that the 1030 outlet only puts out 30 amps, so the charge rate is between the stage 1 120v (2-4 mi/hr) and the stage 2 NEMA 1560 (30 mi/hr charge rate). You will get around a 10-14 mile and hour charge rate using the 1030.

If your daily commute is only 15 miles, you could very well charge it off of a standard 120v 20amp circuit and forego the need for the 220v circuit at all. At least for your daily charges. If you have a particularly long range day and you need more than the normal 15 miles, then you could run an extension cord from the 1030 to boost charge rate to catch up.

I always advise against the habitual use of extension cords. Even mindful people can get complacent, and any time you are dealing with 220v circuits, complacency kills.

I don’t think charging a car off of a 120v outlet is a good idea. A constant 12a load on push-in receptacles that may have other existing loads on them is doomed for failure at some point...
 
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More than $1000 for an electrician? Is it a really complicated job?
I had to run cable from the breaker box in my basement, up through the ceiling, over two rooms, into the garage, and then wrap conduit around to where I wanted the 14-50, and it was still only a little more than $1000.
Might want to give https://www.havepower.com/ a call and see what they can do.
 
Also just make sure the new outlet you bough is compatible with aluminum wire, if it isn't you'll need to get one that is, or if it is allowed in your area get some al-cu splices and make some pigtail cables to the outlet. You don't want to use a copper only outlet with aluminum cable.

All dryer outlets are going to rated for aluminum
 
Me too. I'm not an electrician. I think you need to first talk to your landlord. Sell him on the valuable going forward of his house being EV charging capable. Then tell him it needs a 14-50 outlet 50 amp circuit. If he back away from that, why not offer to pay half, and deduct it from the rent? If he doesn't like that, tell him how the 14-30 circuit will just get by, but needs a pro to look at it and maybe it will require an upgrade over the existing circuit. Again, if you must, share the cost. And try to take it off the rent.

I would not be surprised if the pro electrician wants to replace the wire. And if the box will handle it, maybe the smarter thing is to pull two wires one for 30 and one for 50. Who knows.

But I would worry about that gooey stuff. I personally would not use it until you/we know more. And I would not use an extension cord with it. Like you said, you don't want to burn the house down. Maybe the landlord will pickup the cost of the pro coming by. He should.

You might want to put this in writing to him. Google your state and city statutes to see if there are regs that support your request.

I ran in a 10-30 plug for a while (before I installed a HPWC) and you’ll find 24amps charging adequate. Do clean and restrooms those wires before installing the better receptacle.