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mitch672
Active Member
The savings of 6-50 vs 14-50 is usually less than the price of another adapter.. Depending on how long the wires need to be run.. Either way, superchargers should eventually minimize the future need for rv charging.
mitch672
Active Member
Hardly. There are many parts of the country that won't be anywhere near a Supercharger, but RV Parks are plentiful (I am talking about rural areas like around Mount Washington in NH, for example)
Cool... Many approaches to charging.. Op is from So Cal... Lots of superchargers here in just a few months...
Its 45 dollars for an additional adapter... I am sure its at least 45 dollars cheaper for a 6-50 install regardless of how little 6g copper wire one needs , even if you diy.
Its 45 dollars for an additional adapter... I am sure its at least 45 dollars cheaper for a 6-50 install regardless of how little 6g copper wire one needs , even if you diy.
Their website says this:
To elaborate, my garage is on the complete opposite side of the house from the breaker box for some silly reason, so it'd likely be 100 or so feet. Maybe my best bet then is to do the 6-50 in the garage and have adapters for both 6-50 and 14-50. Is either outlet technically better than the other or they both essentially equal?
mitch672
Active Member
The 14-50 has 2 equaly sized hot contacts, the 6-50 has one smaller and one larger, but they are both rated for 50A
If you price out 6/2 NM vs. 6/3 NM you will see the difference in cost
A 14-50 can also be used by a visiting RV, while a 6-50 can be used by a visiting welder
Whatever you decide, I would still own the 14-50 adapter for on the road charging, that is the most popular 50A outlet, which was the original question
I own all if the UMC adapters, and I have built cords to other outlets as well (10-30R to L6-30P, L6-30R to L6-20P then I have my "Quick 220" I built that has an L6-20R on it, so I can hook it all together (using a Tesla 10-30 UMC adapter) and use 2 out of phase 120V non-GFCI outlets as well (you dial down the current to 12A)
If you price out 6/2 NM vs. 6/3 NM you will see the difference in cost
A 14-50 can also be used by a visiting RV, while a 6-50 can be used by a visiting welder
Whatever you decide, I would still own the 14-50 adapter for on the road charging, that is the most popular 50A outlet, which was the original question
I own all if the UMC adapters, and I have built cords to other outlets as well (10-30R to L6-30P, L6-30R to L6-20P then I have my "Quick 220" I built that has an L6-20R on it, so I can hook it all together (using a Tesla 10-30 UMC adapter) and use 2 out of phase 120V non-GFCI outlets as well (you dial down the current to 12A)
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laalan
Member
The 14-50 has 2 equaly sized hot contacts, the 6-50 has one smaller and one larger, but they are both rated for 50A
If you price out 6/2 NM vs. 6/3 NM you will see the difference in cost
A 14-50 can also be used by a visiting RV, while a 6-50 can be used by a visiting welder
Whatever you decide, I would still own the 14-50 adapter for on the road charging, that is the most popular 50A outlet, which was the original question
I own all if the UMC adapters, and I have built cords to other outlets as well (10-30R to L6-30P, L6-30R to L6-20P then I have my "Quick 220" I built that has an L6-20R on it, so I can hook it all together (using a Tesla 10-30 UMC adapter) and use 2 out of phase 120V non-GFCI outlets as well (you dial down the current to 12A)
I ran 6/2 and put in 14-50 outlet. If I sell, I can change back to 6-50
mitch672
Active Member
FlasherZ would not approve, that's a clear violation of the N.E.C. If your house burns down, the insurance company can use that non-complaint install to not pay a claim. Not to mention, if an RV plugs into it, who knows what will happen with no neutral (depends on how you wired the neutral). I would change that outlet to a 6-50 and get the Tesla 6-50 adapter, or build a 14-50 to 6-50 cable and label it "for Tesla charging only" (of course the parts will be as much as just buying the 6-50 adapter). A 14-50 with no neutral, or a neutral tied to ground is not code compliant.
A floating neutral on a NEMA 14-50 will create serious problems and/or destroy any appliances connected to it that need 240V/120V (such as an RV or electric range).
With electricity, you must assume that any infrastructure you install can and will be used by someone when you are unavailable. But more importantly -- all it takes is one bad move and someone dies. A few years ago, there was a lineman killed when the line he was working to reconnect downed lines; a homeowner connected a generator to the circuit, causing a backfeed into the line he was working on. As it was reported following the investigation, the homeowner had fully documented the process for doing this backfeeding "safely" -- to include ensuring the two-male-connector "suicide cord" was attached before breakers were opened, ensuring the main was turned off before the dryer receptacle breaker was turned on, etc. However, that night the documenting homeowner was away and the boss (the other homeowner) was following his instructions as documented... except she missed/skipped one accidentally: turning off the main breaker to the home. At the time, everything appeared to work ok, but she didn't know that her mistake was sending electricity down the lines. Now, this wasn't because the wife was following her husband's instructions, it was because unsafe instructions were used in the first place; he could have easily forgotten to throw the main breaker as well. It's because something unsafe was done in the first place.
Do it right, save a life. At best, you'll screw up an appliance. Worse, you can cause a fire and serious property loss (as your insurance company won't cover you). Worst, that fire kills a family member.
THHN #6 is about $0.60 per foot from most supply houses. Considering the cost of the vehicle you're purchasing, is it smart to save $50 -100 by incorrectly installing it?
(And thanks Mitch - I can't give you reputation points because I have to "spread it around" more...
)
deonb
Active Member
More importantly - if your house burns down even in a way completely unrelated to the outlet, they can hold up the code violation as an excuse not to pay.
Saphire
Member
Can someone simplify the adapters that we should own to do cross country road trips to include waypoints off the beaten path? Much of this information is going right over my head, I've got a MS on order so I was under the assumption Tesla provided all the adapters that would be needed. Please help, thanks in advance.
Well that's the thing, Tesla provides the most common set of adapters, but they don't provide everything that you might encounter. You can do a long roadtrip with only Tesla's adapters, but it is possible that you'll run into a situation where you'd wish you had something else. For instance, if you are planning on visiting a friend's (or your own) marina on your way, you might wish you had a 30A or 50A marine ship to shore power adapter. Also, all of Tesla's adapters assume your plug is within 20 feet of your car, which sometimes isn't the case. For more information about what else you can do, read this document: http://www.cosmacelf.net/Home Made Adapters.pdf
> I ran 6/2 and put in 14-50 outlet. If I sell, I can change back to 6-50 [laalan]
You can remove that unsafe 14-50 and install a Clipper Creek EVSE in its place which will comply with the Code. These EVSE do not use (cannot use!) the neutral wire which you do not have anyway. Day in day out this style of charger is easy to use and reliable as can be. Pack the UMC in the frunk so it will always be in the car, and won't get beat up from daily use. If you invested in a loooong 6/2 run, this could be a tempting solution.
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You can remove that unsafe 14-50 and install a Clipper Creek EVSE in its place which will comply with the Code. These EVSE do not use (cannot use!) the neutral wire which you do not have anyway. Day in day out this style of charger is easy to use and reliable as can be. Pack the UMC in the frunk so it will always be in the car, and won't get beat up from daily use. If you invested in a loooong 6/2 run, this could be a tempting solution.
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Saphire
Member
WOW - Cosmacelf the link you provided had extensive info...very informative thank you. I'm not wanting to delve into home made electrical connections. Keep it simple, I'd like to purchase the most commonly used Tesla adapters for road trips. I also want to take advantage of Blink, Charge Point, Leviton charging stations. What do I need?
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