Nema 10-30 converted to TT-30

[billhein94]

I may be asking a question that has been asked already, but my searches have been unsuccessful.

I have an available TT-30 receptacle that I would like to use on occasion to charge my Tesla Model Y. I mistakenly bought the Nema 10-30 adapter from Tesla. I now know the difference.....I work in the electrical/electronics field, and am confident in my ability to figure this out, I am just having a hard time finding any sort of information or wiring diagrams on the adapter. Soooo.....my questions are:

Could I cut off the 10-30 connector and replace it with a TT-30 connector? I have seen the Tesla adapters for sale without the connector, but they are sold out......are all the 24A versions the same just wired to a different connector?

I guess I really need to know which wire goes to which pin on a TT-30 connector. Anybody have any experience with something like this?

 

[jcanoe]

I may be asking a question that has been asked already, but my searches have been unsuccessful.

I have an available TT-30 receptacle that I would like to use on occasion to charge my Tesla Model Y. I mistakenly bought the Nema 10-30 adapter from Tesla. I now know the difference.....I work in the electrical/electronics field, and am confident in my ability to figure this out, I am just having a hard time finding any sort of information or wiring diagrams on the adapter. Soooo.....my questions are:

Could I cut off the 10-30 connector and replace it with a TT-30 connector? I have seen the Tesla adapters for sale without the connector, but they are sold out......are all the 24A versions the same just wired to a different connector?

I guess I really need to know which wire goes to which pin on a TT-30 connector. Anybody have any experience with something like this?

Short answer - no. The Tesla 10-30 power plug pigtail (like all of the Tesla power plug adapters) has a thermal sensor in the molded plug. The solution is to purchase the TT-30 power plug adapter for the Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector. Tesla does not sell a TT-30 adapter but you can find it at EVSEAdapters.com

EVSE Adapters

TT-30 adapter for Tesla

Another option would be to have an electrician rewire the existing TT-30 receptacle to a 10-30 (does not use a ground connection) or 14-30 (requires a proper ground wire connection.) There may be a code issue with converting the TT-30 to a 10-30 receptacle as the 10-30 receptacle is no longer approved for new circuits but is grandfathered for use with existing home electric dryers. If there is a ground wire then the 14-30 should be used. Either 10-30 or 14-30 would provide 2X the power and charge twice as fast as the TT-30 due to being 240V circuits (always preferable when charging an EV.)

 

[billhein94]

Short answer - no. The Tesla 10-30 power plug pigtail (like all of the Tesla power plug adapters) has a thermal sensor in the molded plug. The solution is to purchase the TT-30 power plug adapter for the Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector. Tesla does not sell a TT-30 adapter but you can find it at EVSEAdapters.com

EVSE Adapters

They were sold out so I was going to try to build my own

 

[billhein94]

Short answer - no. The Tesla 10-30 power plug pigtail (like all of the Tesla power plug adapters) has a thermal sensor in the molded plug. The solution is to purchase the TT-30 power plug adapter for the Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector. Tesla does not sell a TT-30 adapter but you can find it at EVSEAdapters.com

EVSE Adapters

TT-30 adapter for Tesla

what is the long answer???? I would think that the sensor in the molded plug would be the same for the 10-30 and the TT-30 since they are both rated at 24A

 

[billhein94]

Short answer - no. The Tesla 10-30 power plug pigtail (like all of the Tesla power plug adapters) has a thermal sensor in the molded plug. The solution is to purchase the TT-30 power plug adapter for the Tesla Gen2 Mobile Connector. Tesla does not sell a TT-30 adapter but you can find it at EVSEAdapters.com

EVSE Adapters

TT-30 adapter for Tesla

Another option would be to have an electrician rewire the existing TT-30 receptacle to a 10-30 (does not use a ground connection) or 14-30 (requires a proper ground wire connection.) There may be a code issue with converting the TT-30 to a 10-30 receptacle as the 10-30 receptacle is no longer approved for new circuits but is grandfathered for use with existing home electric dryers. If there is a ground wire then the 14-30 should be used. Either 10-30 or 14-30 would provide 2X the power and charge twice as fast as the TT-30 due to being 240V circuits (always preferable when charging an EV.)

I am not able to change the receptacle... I have a 240V circuit at home....this would be for a recreational site....not an everyday thing

 

[jcanoe]

The 10-30 adapter has a chip that informs the Tesla Mobile Connector that the receptacle is 240V/30A. You should be able to find the wiring diagram for the TT-30 and 10-30 online. If you wire up a custom extension cord that has the TT-30 plug on one end and a 10-30 receptacle on the other the Tesla Mobile Connector when used with the 10-30 power plug adapter will only see 120V. The Mobile Connector may throw an error.

When does EVSE Adapter anticipate having more of the TT-30 adapters available?

 

[billhein94]

I can find diagrams for the TT-30 and 10-30 connectors online all day long....what I can't find is what wire is what on the side that plugs into the mobile connector. Everything I found online makes me think that the receptacle on the Tesla adapter looks for amperage (I.E 12A, 24A, or 32A) which also makes me think that it is not voltage specific. I am guessing that the 2 large pins on the car connector are for voltage.....so if it is 120V its hot and neutral.....if its 240V it uses 2 hots the are out of phase with each other. Then there is a ground and a couple of smaller wires for communication.

I am just trying to gather as much information as I can so I can give this a shot.. I will gladly share my results. I am just running into road blocks on everything else.

 

[jcanoe]

I can find diagrams for the TT-30 and 10-30 connectors online all day long....what I can't find is what wire is what on the side that plugs into the mobile connector. Everything I found online makes me think that the receptacle on the Tesla adapter looks for amperage (I.E 12A, 24A, or 32A) which also makes me think that it is not voltage specific. I am guessing that the 2 large pins on the car connector are for voltage.....so if it is 120V its hot and neutral.....if its 240V it uses 2 hots the are out of phase with each other. Then there is a ground and a couple of smaller wires for communication.

I am just trying to gather as much information as I can so I can give this a shot.. I will gladly share my results. I am just running into road blocks on everything else.

You should not attempt to modify the Mobile Connector plug adapter (there is a unique chip inside each version of the power plug adapter that communicates the voltage and amperage rating of the circuit with the Mobile Connector chassis.) Use the 10-30 plug adapter, as is, while wiring up a short extension cord that has the TT-30 plug on one end and the 10-30 receptacle wired for your specific scenario on the other end. That will provide the greatest chance of success with this project.

 

[billhein94]

You should not attempt to modify the Mobile Connector plug adapter (there is a unique chip inside each version of the power plug adapter that communicates the voltage and amperage rating of the circuit with the Mobile Connector chassis.) Use the 10-30 plug adapter, as is, while wiring up a short extension cord that has the TT-30 plug on one end and the 10-30 receptacle wired for your specific scenario on the other end. That will provide the greatest chance of success with this project.

wouldn't it be the same as buying this and adding the TT-30 connector.

Connector for Tesla Model S/X/3/Y Gen 2 (tail without plug) – EVSE Adapters

www.evseadapters.com

 

[Rocky_H]

I can find diagrams for the TT-30 and 10-30 connectors online all day long....what I can't find is what wire is what on the side that plugs into the mobile connector. Everything I found online makes me think that the receptacle on the Tesla adapter looks for amperage (I.E 12A, 24A, or 32A) which also makes me think that it is not voltage specific. I am guessing that the 2 large pins on the car connector are for voltage.....so if it is 120V its hot and neutral.....if its 240V it uses 2 hots the are out of phase with each other. Then there is a ground and a couple of smaller wires for communication.

OK, I guess I will address some of the informational and DIY aspects of this. First off, I just don't like the idea of cutting off the head of a real Tesla plug. I would rather just build an external pigtail to adapt it to something else if needed.

So as to doing that, yes, you are basically right about how the adapters and Tesla charge cord works. It has two pins, and it's just looking for voltage across them. It will not care if that is 120V or 240V. It will detect and use it just fine either way. So from the TT-30 outlet you have, you would want to get the Hot and the Neutral. Those are the wires providing the 120V. You would then connect those to the Hot1 and Hot2 of the 10-30 receptacle end of the pigtail. And then the Ground of the TT-30 goes to the Neutral of the 10-30, because the old 10-30 outlets were kind of cheating and using that as the grounding type of purpose.

I have one other little thing on this that is in my memory, and I don't know if it's valid or not on the newer cars and newer charge cables. I remember people trying to DIY wire up TT-30 plugs and half the time it wouldn't work. For some reason, when using a 120V source, something in the car actually cared which side was Hot and which side was at 0V. So if you do this, and the car won't take it, swap the Hot and the Neutral, and see if that fixes it.

wouldn't it be the same as buying this and adding the TT-30 connector.

Oh, that's pretty interesting. I hadn't seen that they sold those plugless adapters. Yeah, that would be pretty good. My main concern was making sure to have the right automatic amp signaling, but I see that they make you choose which one you want, and if you pick the one with the 24A setting, that would be correct for a TT-30 or 10-30.

 

[billhein94]

OK, I guess I will address some of the informational and DIY aspects of this. First off, I just don't like the idea of cutting off the head of a real Tesla plug. I would rather just build an external pigtail to adapt it to something else if needed.

So as to doing that, yes, you are basically right about how the adapters and Tesla charge cord works. It has two pins, and it's just looking for voltage across them. It will not care if that is 120V or 240V. It will detect and use it just fine either way. So from the TT-30 outlet you have, you would want to get the Hot and the Neutral. Those are the wires providing the 120V. You would then connect those to the Hot1 and Hot2 of the 10-30 receptacle end of the pigtail. And then the Ground of the TT-30 goes to the Neutral of the 10-30, because the old 10-30 outlets were kind of cheating and using that as the grounding type of purpose.

I have one other little thing on this that is in my memory, and I don't know if it's valid or not on the newer cars and newer charge cables. I remember people trying to DIY wire up TT-30 plugs and half the time it wouldn't work. For some reason, when using a 120V source, something in the car actually cared which side was Hot and which side was at 0V. So if you do this, and the car won't take it, swap the Hot and the Neutral, and see if that fixes it.



Oh, that's pretty interesting. I hadn't seen that they sold those plugless adapters. Yeah, that would be pretty good. My main concern was making sure to have the right automatic amp signaling, but I see that they make you choose which one you want, and if you pick the one with the 24A setting, that would be correct for a TT-30 or 10-30.

I found a solution. I can get a 14-30P to 10-30R adapter from amazon then I can cut the 14-30 connector off that one and swap it with a TT-30. Then I can leave my perfectly good Tesla adapter alone.

 

[trwr39]

I wanted to make sure I was covered at campgrounds, and the two most common campground receptacles where I live (aside from 5-15) are 14-50 and TT-30.

They sell 14-50 to TT-30 adapters, but you MUST remember to set the charge limit to 24 amps manually every time you plug in with this configuration, otherwise you're potentially running 32-40 amps through a 30 amp adapter. I don't trust my memory enough for this.

They ALSO sell 14-30 to TT-30 adapters. You have to make sure you find one specifically for EVs, as the wiring is slightly different -- but if you have the Tesla 14-30 NEMA adapter for your Mobile Charger, all you need is this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNPHXV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Since you're using a 14-30 plug, the car takes care of setting the right amperage automatically, which saves my peace of mind -- and I tested it at a campground local to me and I was successfully pulling 24 amps at 120v, which is plenty for Camp Mode.

 

[billhein94]

I wanted to make sure I was covered at campgrounds, and the two most common campground receptacles where I live (aside from 5-15) are 14-50 and TT-30.

They sell 14-50 to TT-30 adapters, but you MUST remember to set the charge limit to 24 amps manually every time you plug in with this configuration, otherwise you're potentially running 32-40 amps through a 30 amp adapter. I don't trust my memory enough for this.

They ALSO sell 14-30 to TT-30 adapters. You have to make sure you find one specifically for EVs, as the wiring is slightly different -- but if you have the Tesla 14-30 NEMA adapter for your Mobile Charger, all you need is this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNPHXV2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Since you're using a 14-30 plug, the car takes care of setting the right amperage automatically, which saves my peace of mind -- and I tested it at a campground local to me and I was successfully pulling 24 amps at 120v, which is plenty for Camp Mode.

I mistakenly bought a Tesla 10-30 NEMA adapter, so I am trying to find a use for that. Unfortunately, I can not find a 10-30R to TT-30P adapter. I did however find a 10-30R to 14-30P adapter that I can use to make my own adapter buy just swapping the plug with a TT-30. Problem solved. I will let you know if it worked when I get the parts from Amazon

 

[davewill]

I mistakenly bought a Tesla 10-30 NEMA adapter, so I am trying to find a use for that. Unfortunately, I can not find a 10-30R to TT-30P adapter. I did however find a 10-30R to 14-30P adapter that I can use to make my own adapter buy just swapping the plug with a TT-30. Problem solved. I will let you know if it worked when I get the parts from Amazon

I'm confident you'll be able to get that to work. I do recommend that you be careful with strain relief, and strip the correct length so that you don't get insulation caught in the terminals inside the plug or let strands be loose that could cause shorts.

 

[billhein94]

 

[billhein94]

I finished the cable . . .now to test it. Cost was only $34 in materials. Even with the accidental order of the Tesla 10-30 adapter, I am all in for about $70. Still cheaper than the $99 adapter online.

 

[billhein94]

It works. I got a 120V 24A charge at about 3kW. Not the best, but about what I was expecting. Still better than the 12A charge with a regular plug in.

 

[trwr39]

It works. I got a 120V 24A charge at about 3kW. Not the best, but about what I was expecting. Still better than the 12A charge with a regular plug in.

Exactly the same as the setup I ended up using, glad it works!

 

[billhein94]

Exactly the same as the setup I ended up using, glad it works!

I can actually get a full charge in just under 24 hours

 

[dogmodes]

I can actually get a full charge in just under 24 hours

Same experience, the TT-30 adapter has worked great for us. I’ve used it on a few trips and probably charged 7-8 times.