New to Tesla, question/suggestions on installing NEMA 14-50R

[Hwood]

Hi everyone, my 2017 model x 75d is on the way. I am planning to install the nema 14-50R myself.

The 240v outlet will just be underneath my electric panel, so easy drywall work, no need to drill stud.

I got:

nema 14-50r outlet
6/3 wire
Junction box
Square D 50 amp 2 holes circuit breaker
Clamp connectors/ brushing
Conduit to project the wire

I am ready to go. Has anyone done this before here, I saw a bunch of YouTube videos done this. Are there anything I’m missing or this is must to be a certified electrician’s job? Any suggestions?

much appreciated!

 

[DCGOO]

Hi everyone, my 2017 model x 75d is on the way. I am planning to install the nema 14-50R myself.

The 240v outlet will just be underneath my electric panel, so easy drywall work, no need to drill stud.

I got:

nema 14-50r outlet
6/3 wire
Junction box
Square D 50 amp 2 holes circuit breaker
Clamp connectors/ brushing
Conduit to project the wire
I am ready to go. Has anyone done this before here, I saw a bunch of YouTube videos done this. Are there anything I’m missing or this is must to be a certified electrician’s job? Any suggestions?
much appreciated!

As long as you are comfortable working in your electrical panel safely, and you are the homeowner, this is is well within the range of a DIY project. There is no need to hire an electrician. But if you have never done this before, and you are not sure how to proceed perhaps you should hire one, or find a local friend that knows. That fact that you are asking here, suggests the latter.

It is not difficult, but a simple mistake can significantly shorten your time with the car... by a lot and very quickly.
Be safe!

 

[bhorn]

I ran my HPWC myself, but I used 6 gauge THHN through PVC conduit off an existing 60A breaker.

I'd never run any 240V prior to this, but lots of 120V house hold stuff. This website was helpful for me:
Home Charging Wiring Guide | TeslaTap

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Hi everyone, my 2017 model x 75d is on the way. I am planning to install the nema 14-50R myself.

The 240v outlet will just be underneath my electric panel, so easy drywall work, no need to drill stud.

I got:

nema 14-50r outlet
6/3 wire
Junction box
Square D 50 amp 2 holes circuit breaker
Clamp connectors/ brushing
Conduit to project the wire

I am ready to go. Has anyone done this before here, I saw a bunch of YouTube videos done this. Are there anything I’m missing or this is must to be a certified electrician’s job? Any suggestions?

much appreciated!

Consider a 6-50 socket, instead of 14-50.

 

[gjunky]

Consider a 6-50 socket, instead of 14-50.

Why? All the main adapters out there are 14-50

 

[Hwood]

Why? All the main adapters out there are 14-50

Same questions here, all the thread I read and video I watched said 14-50 better since it’s versatile.

 

[EVortex]

You have all the materials required. Are you planning on using the Tesla mobile connector? I have used it before with the same configuration except with a 40amp breaker running 32 amps continuous.

 

[Hwood]

As long as you are comfortable working in your electrical panel safely, and you are the homeowner, this is is well within the range of a DIY project. There is no need to hire an electrician. But if you have never done this before, and you are not sure how to proceed perhaps you should hire one, or find a local friend that knows. That fact that you are asking here, suggests the latter.

It is not difficult, but a simple mistake can significantly shorten your time with the car... by a lot and very quickly.
Be safe!

Thank you for the reminder. I feel it’s pretty simple project but need to be extremely careful with the panel while working

 

[Hwood]

You have all the materials required. Are you planning on using the Tesla mobile connector? I have used it before with the same configuration except with a 40amp breaker running 32 amps continuous.

Yes that’s what I am planning now. I haven’t look into wall charger yet. The mobile connector is going be my day to day charging for now

 

[EVortex]

Yes that’s what I am planning now. I haven’t look into wall charger yet. The mobile connector is going be my day to day charging for now

That’s what I did and eventually bought the wall connector. Good to plan ahead and be able to reuse the wiring and breaker if you decide to do the same.

 

[MXLRplus]

You sound like you will do fine. I've installed several EVSE's of various kinds (and 14-50's) including the Gen2 Wall Connector and the Gen3 Wall Connector.

Per recommendations, you should not charge faster than 40 amps on the 14-50, which is 80% rating for continuous load.
Your #6 THHN will handle up to 65 amps.

If you install a Wall Charger you can use the same #6 wire but you can run a full 48 amps which is the max for newer Teslas. You 'should' select a receptacle that is listed at 60 amps like a NEMA 14-60, or hardwire it, but... Your #6 wire will support 48 amps indefinitely.

 

[MXLRplus]

Your best friend is:

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-II-VoltAlert-Non-Contact-Voltage/dp/B000EJ332O/

It lights up and buzzs when it gets near a wire or device that has AC power available to it. It can also tell neutral from hot.

It's entirely up to you whether you wire the neutral to your 14-50. Your EVSE doesn't use it. Your ground does not have to be #6. #8 is plenty for the ground, which you DO need. If you decide to wire a neutral to it, you need to use #6. You can pull 50a of 120v out of a 14-50 if you have the desire.

 

[Hwood]

Your best friend is:

https://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-II-VoltAlert-Non-Contact-Voltage/dp/B000EJ332O/

It lights up and buzzs when it gets near a wire or device that has AC power available to it. It can also tell neutral from hot.

It's entirely up to you whether you wire the neutral to your 14-50. Your EVSE doesn't use it. Your ground does not have to be #6. #8 is plenty for the ground, which you DO need. If you decide to wire a neutral to it, you need to use #6. You can pull 50a of 120v out of a 14-50 if you have the desire.

Thank you so much! I have my multimeter to make sure nothing is hot while I’m working.

Here are a few YouTube links I’m basically going to follow up the steps

Can you explain a little more on the what’s #6 or #8? So the 6/3 wire comes with #6 ground wire? I do wire the ground to the ground bus bar and neutral wire on the neutral bus bar. My house is only 2-3 years old so the panel is just the most standard panel.

 

[Brahane]

Just a DIYer myself, I installed my Wall Charger, no problem. Its on the same wall as my junction box, so didn't need to run wires very far. Just take an extra step, make sure to use your multimeter and test out all the hubs in the junction box and test out a few other wires, just to ease your mind that it is REALLY shut off.

 

[MXLRplus]

Thank you so much! I have my multimeter to make sure nothing is hot while I’m working.

Can you explain a little more on the what’s #6 or #8? So the 6/3 wire comes with #6 ground wire? I do wire the ground to the ground bus bar and neutral wire on the neutral bus bar. My house is only 2-3 years old so the panel is just the most standard panel.

The 'wand' can sense hot wires through the insulation, and can sense power at receptacles with no shock risk, it's all plastic. It's like magic.

A 14-50 has 4 conductors:
L1 hot (black)
L2 hot (red)
Neutral (white)
Ground (green)

The EVSE uses L1, L2, and G. This makes 240 vac plus a ground for safety. The neutral is used to make 120 vac by using one of the hots and the neutral. But your EVSE doesn't need to make 120 so it doesn't care if it's there or not. Motorhomes do though.

The Ground does not pass current. It only has to be conductive enough to trip the breaker in a dead short since the GFCI circuit in the EVSE will shut off the power at the device if current is detected in the ground. #8 wire is easier to deal with and is allowed by electrical code. If you look at a 14-50 "appliance pigtail" - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YURAW/ you will see that the Green wire is thinner than L1 and L2 (red and black) because it's #8. They also used a #8 sized Neutral wire, but that's not applicable to the receptacle. The neutral should be the same size as the hot in a receptacle.

But you can use #6 for all three (or four) wires if you wish. It doesn't harm anything, but it doesn't help either.

You will find that bending #6 wire can be a pain.

 

[Hwood]

Just a DIYer myself, I installed my Wall Charger, no problem. Its on the same wall as my junction box, so didn't need to run wires very far. Just take an extra step, make sure to use your multimeter and test out all the hubs in the junction box and test out a few other wires, just to ease your mind that it is REALLY shut off.

That’s pretty much what I’m going to do, no drill on stud, just underneath my panel

 

[Hwood]

The 'wand' can sense hot wires through the insulation, and can sense power at receptacles with no shock risk, it's all plastic. It's like magic.

A 14-50 has 4 conductors:
L1 hot (black)
L2 hot (red)
Neutral (white)
Ground (green)

The EVSE uses L1, L2, and G. This makes 240 vac plus a ground for safety. The neutral is used to make 120 vac by using one of the hots and the neutral. But your EVSE doesn't need to make 120 so it doesn't care if it's there or not. Motorhomes do though.

The Ground does not pass current. It only has to be conductive enough to trip the breaker in a dead short since the GFCI circuit in the EVSE will shut off the power at the device if current is detected in the ground. #8 wire is easier to deal with and is allowed by electrical code. If you look at a 14-50 "appliance pigtail" - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YURAW/ you will see that the Green wire is thinner than L1 and L2 (red and black) because it's #8. They also used a #8 sized Neutral wire, but that's not applicable to the receptacle. The neutral should be the same size as the hot in a receptacle.

But you can use #6 for all three (or four) wires if you wish. It doesn't harm anything, but it doesn't help either.

You will find that bending #6 wire can be a pain.

thank you for the detail explain, yes the ground wire is the pain to bend...I already ordered, guess just gonna take it and use pliers to bend it. I guess the hardest part will be the future wall charger install using the #6 ground, it won’t need the white wire. If I can get the HPWC with the 14-50r plug would be nice, but don’t know where can get it nowadays. I don’t need super fast charge at home, if I can get the HPWC with 14-50 plug, it gives extra 25% power would be ideal

 

[MXLRplus]

thank you for the detail explain, yes the ground wire is the pain to bend...I already ordered, guess just gonna take it and use pliers to bend it. I guess the hardest part will be the future wall charger install using the #6 ground, it won’t need the white wire. If I can get the HPWC with the 14-50r plug would be nice, but don’t know where can get it nowadays. I don’t need super fast charge at home, if I can get the HPWC with 14-50 plug, it gives extra 25% power would be ideal

You can use stranded wire for the ground, and it's easier to bend. Solid #6 is crazy for home wiring. Not crazy in a good way. Dangerous to work with.

I buy wire by the spool and pull it through my conduit using a 'fish tape'. I pull one #6 wire, then another #6, then a stranded #8 for ground. If the wire is all black, I use colored electrical tape to wrap each end, red and green.

I buy a 14-50 pigtail from Amazon like I showed you, I break off the end of the copper lug with pliers by bending it back and forth, and tighten the set screw on the copper crimp that is still there.

ie - I make my own 14-50 HPWC's or other EVSE's, It's cheap and easy.

 

[Hwood]

You can use stranded wire for the ground, and it's easier to bend. Solid #6 is crazy for home wiring. Not crazy in a good way. Dangerous to work with.

I buy wire by the spool and pull it through my conduit using a 'fish tape'. I pull one #6 wire, then another #6, then a stranded #8 for ground. If the wire is all black, I use colored electrical tape to wrap each end, red and green.

I buy a 14-50 pigtail from Amazon like I showed you, I break off the end of the copper lug with pliers by bending it back and forth, and tighten the set screw on the copper crimp that is still there.

ie - I make my own 14-50 HPWC's or other EVSE's, It's cheap and easy.

Man you need to make a video tutorial!! Very cool! Call it how to make HPCS 14-50 plug in a easy way lol

 

[teethdood]

Do you have a HPWC or a mobile connector?

If mobile connector, then 14-50 outlet is a good choice.

If HPWC, consider getting one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044UOC2O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
or
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N5IS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Run a 6/3 wire to this box next to your HPWC, then another 6/3 wire from this box to your HPWC
These are only 60A, so if you want anything higher, then search for one with a higher A rating and of course higher gauge wire.
This way, you have a cheap kill switch right next to your HPWC, and it is cheaper than a junction box/14-50 outlet plug.