New house, new 14-50

[Feathermerchan]

I installed a second circuit and outlet for the second car. Luxurious.
Now I need one for the CT.

 

[MN-MS100D]

I wonder if welding cable meets code spec? It is fine filament and flexible plus high temp. I use it in vehicles for aux battery and other high loads. Wait until you do solar using 8ga solid copper ground wire. Ugghh.

Do not use welding cable. Lugs need to be rated for Fine Stranded Conductors, and most are not unless specifically marked. You would need to use high press cable terminations to be able to use welding cable with standard lugs.

From NEMA:

"When fine-stranded cables are improperly used with set-screw type mechanical connectors, there is an increased risk of overheating and/or wire pullout. Strands may break or be forced between the connector screw and threads. A false torque reading could result, which increases the risk of overheating and wire pullout. Even if the strands do not break and the wires are not forced into the threads, the initial torque setting may not hold in a typical connector. Even if the connection is re-tightened later, the connection may continue to loosen and create a high resistance connection."

 

[MXLRplus]

Do not use welding cable. Lugs need to be rated for Fine Stranded Conductors, and most are not unless specifically marked. You would need to use high press cable terminations to be able to use welding cable with standard lugs.

From NEMA:

"When fine-stranded cables are improperly used with set-screw type mechanical connectors, there is an increased risk of overheating and/or wire pullout. Strands may break or be forced between the connector screw and threads. A false torque reading could result, which increases the risk of overheating and wire pullout. Even if the strands do not break and the wires are not forced into the threads, the initial torque setting may not hold in a typical connector. Even if the connection is re-tightened later, the connection may continue to loosen and create a high resistance connection."

Thanks. The reason I noted it was because I saw welding cable inside a Gen2 HPWC. But you are right, they have special crimps instead of normal lugs or tinning.
When I use these on cars I'm clamping them, not set screws.

 

[Feathermerchan]

Good point on the welding cable. A crimped ferrule on the cable before insertion into the set screw type connector may be OK.

 

[Scrannel]

Did my own as well. Feels good, right?

 

[kwoody51]

Congrats, glad you got it done! You are right getting the outlet back in the box with the beefy wires can be a little rough. Outside this 240 vs 120 is just one more wire- no big deal!

Success!
View attachment 538689
Note the marching green lights. It works!

As anticipated, 6 AWG is a pain. Mashing the outlet into the box was a pain. Getting a sort of S-curve in the romex from the top of the box to the bottom of the breaker panel just a few inches away was a pain. Simply cutting the wire was a pain. But pain makes us stronger, right?

If you come to this thread seeking to do it yourself, here are things I'd do differently that might make it easier for you. Get the largest volume box you can find: more room for maneuvering the wires around. Don't create for yourself the S-curve problem that I did: either put your new box maybe a foot away from the panel, allowing for more gentle curvature, or position your box laterally so that no S is even needed. And get oomphier wire cutters than the ones you probably have in your tool box.

An unexpected difficulty was cleaning up the knockout in the panel box. You know how they're attached at diametrically opposite points, and you twist the hole out? Well, the two break-off points left little stubs of rough steel sticking into the hole, and they were more than enough to keep the wire clamp from fitting in. The angles were such that filing it down to a proper circle wasn't fun. But I persevered.

The work inside the breaker panel was pretty straightforward. Getting the length of your cuts just right so that there is enough wire to route it neatly without too much to where you're having to stuff it makes the difference. Goldilocks: neither too short nor too long.

I was on the edge of my seat (well, actually standing outside, leaning over the seat) after I plugged Wattney in, and watched as it reported 239V (yay!) and then the amps gradually crept up to 32/32!