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NEMA 14-50 vs 6-50
- Thread starter Horses|Rams
- Start date
One reason, in the US the NEMA 14-50 is commonly found at RV parks and campgrounds. The NEMA 6-50 is more common in Canada less common in the US. In US homes the 14-50 is usually installed in the kitchen for electric ranges and ovens. The 6-50 is used for welding equipment, not much else.
Both the 14-50 and 6-50 offer flexibility and ease of plugging in a new EVSE as required without requiring an electrician. Given that the NEC now requires all new circuits used for charging an EV be dedicated, protected by GFCI if the circuit terminates in a receptacle it makes more sense to skip the receptacle and hard wire the EVSE whether Tesla Wall Connector or other EVSE. Eliminating the need for a GFCI circuit breaker and the receptacle (whether 6-50 or 14-50) will reduce the cost by least $150.
Both the 14-50 and 6-50 offer flexibility and ease of plugging in a new EVSE as required without requiring an electrician. Given that the NEC now requires all new circuits used for charging an EV be dedicated, protected by GFCI if the circuit terminates in a receptacle it makes more sense to skip the receptacle and hard wire the EVSE whether Tesla Wall Connector or other EVSE. Eliminating the need for a GFCI circuit breaker and the receptacle (whether 6-50 or 14-50) will reduce the cost by least $150.
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Basically the 14-50 is more flexible. The dedicated 14-50 can be used to other stuff not only ev charging.
ATPMSD
Active Member
Neither! Install the Wall Connector.
When you add up the parts your need for a 14-50 or 6-50 (quality outlet, GFIC breaker, UMC adapter for the outlet you select, and some sort of UMC/cable management system) the cost of going to the Wall Connector is just a few hundred more. And for that you get to charge at 48A instead of 32A, and you get to keep the UMC in the car (where it belongs) so it will not be forgotten when needed.
You spent a small fortune on your car, I suggest it is not worth penny pinching now.
When you add up the parts your need for a 14-50 or 6-50 (quality outlet, GFIC breaker, UMC adapter for the outlet you select, and some sort of UMC/cable management system) the cost of going to the Wall Connector is just a few hundred more. And for that you get to charge at 48A instead of 32A, and you get to keep the UMC in the car (where it belongs) so it will not be forgotten when needed.
You spent a small fortune on your car, I suggest it is not worth penny pinching now.
Like everyone said. 14-50 is just more common and more useful if you plan to use that plug for different applications. A 14-50 has a neutral wire meaning it has the capability to be used as 120v. I'm a contractor and I have a subpanel breaker box that plugs into a 14-50 to give me 4 extra outlets to plug in my tools if required. You can also find adapters to easily covert 14-50 to 6-50, 6-30 etc for purposes of plugging in electric heaters, air compressors, welders etc.
ATPMSD
Active Member
Provided you do not make a habit of it. These outlets are not intended to be unplugged and plugged on a regular basis.
Also in an emergency situation (please don't do this unless you know the sequence of steps to do it properly) you can connect a generator to the 14-50 outlet to power some devices in your home.
You need to check with your local code official, My electrician told me they were no longer allowed to install 6-50 receptacles in houses. Apparently the fear is that people will run the neutral on the ground wire when plugging in an appliance that requires the neutral. Seems dumb, I guess you can't plug your welder in in your garage. The hard-wired charger gets around that.
My cost of putting in a dedicated 14-50 outlet and 50A circuit was $290 all-in, including licensed electrician for final wiring.
The parts list: (65 bucks total)
a) 14-50 outlet (Hubble, sourced at Electrical Distributor)
b) wall housing (outdoor certified / garage installed, sourced at Elec Distrib)
c) conduit+fittings (Home Depot)(which could have been used to source the outlet and box)
The electrician provided / did the wiring and provided the 2 circuit breakers, one for each phase. (225 bucks total)
I re-purposed a 30A laundry room dryer dedicated circuit that wasn't being used (gas dryer).
I left that wiring in place and ran new wiring to the Service Panel from the new outlet/box location in the garage.
Replaced the 30A breakers with 50A on the Service Panel. Would have just added them but the Panel slots were fully taken.
The wire run was only 8 feet after all the twists and turns. Conduit was under 6 feet.
Under $300 is probably about as inexpensively as it can be done.
Local electricians like to charge $800 plus parts because they know SoCAL Edison will reimburse you up to 800 for an EV setup.
So a Telsa Wall Changer plus install would have been quite a bit more, which for a single EV wouldn't be worth it.
Anyone local to OC - I can provide a referral to the electrician I used. PM me.
ATPMSD
Active Member
I suggest you forgot a few parts
A 14-50 outlet should have run between $50-$85, unless you got a cheap one (if you got a Leviton change it out. Lots of posts on issues with that outlet)
GFIC breaker $100
14-50 UMC adapter $45
Some sort of UMC/Cable management system $35
Which should bring your parts total to about $230-$265.
Benito1283
2021 MYLR 19"
I really hope he put in ONE 2-pole breaker, and not “2 breakers, one for each phase“ as you stated. This is dangerous and would also indicate he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Yeah, I probably mis-spoke.
It's one block, but takes up two spaces on the panel, just like the 30A block it replaced.
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14-50 Hubbel, not the Home Depot Leviton cheap stuff.
GFIC was already in place (I just up-rated the breaker)
Yes, I did not mention the UMC adapter - it's a requirement no matter what you do, my post was focused on the infrastructure support.
The 'cable management piece' was $16 bucks on Amazon. NBD. It's just a piece of wall-mounted plastic.
ATPMSD
Active Member
Not sure how you did this unless you replaced the breaker, which would have add about $100.
In any case, when people have parts already in place it does reduce the cost. Most people asking about a 14-50, 6-50 or the Wall Connecter are staring from ground zero, so the cost to go to the Wall Connector is not that much more.
The electrician included all the wire, and the new breaker, in his $225 fee.
Replaced a 30A with a 50A.
The wire run was only maybe 8 feet (4 conductors).
Again my case was just a re-purposing of an existing circuit and changing an outlet.
paladin757
MYP O/D 12/04/2021 VIN assigned 2/3/22 NF374xxx
i beg to differ with you on the outlets not being intended to be plugged and unplugged. Have had Class A motorhome 45ft and it uses this plug and never had any issues at all the RV parks being plugged in and out daily ... it is just like any other plug.. but should be turned off before inserting the plug and unplugging them.. don't need an arc when you plug or unplug happening
The 14-50 receptacles found at RV Parks are specifically designed for use with higher volume of plug and unplug operations when supplying power for motorhomes. These receptacles cost several times as much as the 14-50 receptacles used in the home.
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