It does not matter to the Tesla UMC whether it's connected to a 6-50 or 14-50.
It might be worth noting that a two pole 40 or 50 amp breaker is only $10-20, assuming you want to swap it in for your horribly dangerous 70.
Master Thread: Definitive 14-50 NEMA Outlet Guide
- Thread starter gilscales
- Start date
It does not matter to the Tesla UMC whether it's connected to a 6-50 or 14-50.
It might be worth noting that a two pole 40 or 50 amp breaker is only $10-20, assuming you want to swap it in for your horribly dangerous 70.
Gauss Guzzler
Member
6-50 is perfectly fine. In fact, you likely don't have the neutral wire that would be needed for a 14-50 anyway.
i would love to however electricians I contacted quoted me $400+ Claiming they are Tesla certified and need to do it a-z without using existing outlet which I find ridiculous
Gauss Guzzler
Member
Tell the electrician you just bought the house and the inspector flagged a 70A breaker on a 50A outlet. It's a 5 minute job that they'll charge you 1 hour for. Ask them to spend the remaining 55 minutes looking things over before agreeing to the $125 charge.
davewill
Active Member
Correct, you need an additional neutral wire for a 14-50, and it is not needed for car charging. It might be worth checking to see if that wire is already there, though. It is on the 6-50 I have. I guess the electrician who installed it just decided to go ahead with the Romex cable that included it.
It may be hard to see in the picture but there are 3 wires coming out from the outlet - black and white going to the yellow breaker (70A) and a green one going down.
Ya.. that cable will only support a 6-50 outlet. No neutral connection. The white >would< be used as a neutral on a 120V circuit, and >should< have a band of electrical tape within 6" of the end to tell the poor schmuck at the other end its being used as a Hot wire in this circuit.
Can you look at a bit of the black sheathing to see what gauge the wires within are? I see the pink wires on the 50 amp circuit below it are either 6 or 8 awg but that doesn't really tell us what the white and black wires are because there may be differences in insulation thickness.
Can you look at a bit of the black sheathing to see what gauge the wires within are? I see the pink wires on the 50 amp circuit below it are either 6 or 8 awg but that doesn't really tell us what the white and black wires are because there may be differences in insulation thickness.
Gauss Guzzler
Member
Yeah, that'd be 2-conductor as the green doesn't count and it looks like 6 gauge, so "6/2 Romex cable". It's clearly not AWG 4 so the whole wiring run is a fire risk on that 70A breaker, not just the outlet.
Verify that it's 6 gauge, read the model name/type of your breaker and go get a 50A replacement from Lowes for $15.
DMC-Orangeville
85D and John Deere 5100E
That doesn't even look like Romex. I think it's portable cord. SOOW, or similar. Portable cord = extension cord.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Goes about 1 feet to wall behind from the box to the garage. Previous previous owner installed and breaker marked as ‘Welder’
Also a pic of the cable is below if it helps at all with some readings on it and the breaker
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davewill
Active Member
Yeah definitely portable cord and probably not allowed in walls. I also think that's only 8 gauge wire, in which case you'd only be able to use a 40a breaker. 8ga and a 40a breaker are sufficient for the mobile EVSE, but you really need to get the proper wire and run it over again. Since the run is so short, go ahead and run a neutral wire, even if you decide to stick with the 6-50, so someone else has the choice to change it later.
I also don't care for the way he ran that ground wire into the ground block backwards. Really looks like a hack job.
I also don't care for the way he ran that ground wire into the ground block backwards. Really looks like a hack job.
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Gauss Guzzler
Member
Wow! Good eye, guys! That's a fine-stranded flexible appliance cord. You can't use that. Too many issues to bother describing.
Replace it with 6/3 Romex or 6/2 Romex if you're already invested in the 6-50 outlet. You can do 4/3 Romex for nearly the same cost but there's no advantage unless you plan to upgrade to a wall charger someday.
Replace it with 6/3 Romex or 6/2 Romex if you're already invested in the 6-50 outlet. You can do 4/3 Romex for nearly the same cost but there's no advantage unless you plan to upgrade to a wall charger someday.
DMC-Orangeville
85D and John Deere 5100E
Yep
8/3 SEOW (Six hundred volt Elastomer Oil Weather resistant). It's NOT for wiring in the walls....It is like using a 14/3 extension cord to wire up a duplex receptacle. This was not wired by an electrician.....
I was concerned about that too! Surprised that 8-3 in that cord style means exactly three conductors.
DMC-Orangeville
85D and John Deere 5100E
Correct
I knew it was portable cord (We call it cabtire in Canada) when I saw that the bonding wire (ground) was covered, and there was an absence of labeling on the conductors . All of the conductors in portable cord are insulated, and counted as a conductor. 8/3 SEOW (UL/CSA) has black, white, and green conductors. Rated for 40 amps. Romex (NMB/NMD/NMWU) counts only the current carrying conductors. 8/2 Romex has a black and white conductor and a bare bonding conductor. SOME locales may allow Romex with black and red conductors, for use on 240 volt heating loads.....but I believe it's limited to 12 and 10 AWG. YMMV.
And per previous posts - when you replace the cable, please tape the white conductor with either black or red electrician's tape. The next person who replaces anything in the box will thank you.
(yeah, I was in the wire business for 35 years)
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Personally I’d replace the wire and breaker. I can see $300-400 for an electrician if they pull a permit. It’s not hard as a DIY, but I see so many examples of it being done wrong...
Do make sure the box is power off if you mess with it. Preferably at the next location upstream so there is no live wires where you are working.
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