New to Tesla and waiting for my M3P. I have an existing 240 outlet in my garage in a home I moved to recently. See pic. Will it be as simple as getting the adapter for Nema 6-50 from the Tesla store and plug it in or do you think I should have a professional come and look at it (which based on my phone calls to a few was about $400...)?
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Question on charging with Nema 6-50
- Thread starter royinla
- Start date
An electrician will check your wire gauge, which from your picture looks like it could be 8AWG, as well as the distance to the breaker box, breaker size, safety of run among other things. That may or may not be worth the money to you.
Personally I'd just go with it. At the 32A a mobile connector will pull, it wouldn't ever be beyond what an 8AWG cable is capable of. If you find that the cable is 8AWG and not 6AWG, I'd make sure the breaker was changed to a 40A for safety sake.
If it's 6AWG, a 50A breaker is appropriate. Again, hard to tell from your picture but cable probably has white lettering on it indicating size.
Personally I'd just go with it. At the 32A a mobile connector will pull, it wouldn't ever be beyond what an 8AWG cable is capable of. If you find that the cable is 8AWG and not 6AWG, I'd make sure the breaker was changed to a 40A for safety sake.
If it's 6AWG, a 50A breaker is appropriate. Again, hard to tell from your picture but cable probably has white lettering on it indicating size.
$400 bucks to check a single outlet is totally nuts!
I'd just go with it... (Actually, I'd turn the breaker off, then pull the cover off of the outlet and make sure the connections are good and tight, close it back up and turn the breaker on)
I agree that checking if its 6 or 8 AWG is a good idea, too... and whether its aluminum or copper conductors, because they have different ratings.
I'd just go with it... (Actually, I'd turn the breaker off, then pull the cover off of the outlet and make sure the connections are good and tight, close it back up and turn the breaker on)
I agree that checking if its 6 or 8 AWG is a good idea, too... and whether its aluminum or copper conductors, because they have different ratings.
Thanks. The previous home owner was a 'car guy' and used to work on cars so I assume this is a legit outlet. It goes to a panel right behind it actually to a breaker that marked as 'Welder' with 70amp on it...I guess I can just try it first as suggested
Welders would be a common reason to have a 6-50 instead of 14-50. The 70A breaker appears to be way oversized for the wire you have though. If you were to have an electrical fault, the wire would burn up and be your "fuse" before blowing the breaker. That's why you should downsize the breaker.
The black wire in the original pic is not related to this outlet (although it looks like it). Here is a picture of the black and white wires coming into the double breaker (yellow) that is assigned to the "welder". Thoughts? Am I risking any damage to the car by just trying using it?
Attachments
Many welders are put on 6-50 outlets with a 40a breaker and 40a wiring. Still safe for the Tesla portable unit with a max of 32a. But, just something to watch out for.
You are not directly risking damage to the car, you are risking damage to the wiring (burning), which in turn may damage the structure (fire), which in turn will damage the car (fire/colapse)
You are not directly risking damage to the car, you are risking damage to the wiring (burning), which in turn may damage the structure (fire), which in turn will damage the car (fire/colapse)
Definitely should not be a 70a breaker if it is only going to the 6-50. I cannot read the label on the yellow breaker. Is that what it says?
I'm also not sure what kind of wire it is using. It looks like it is going into that black jacket along the lower right? Can you read any label on it? I don't see any wiring on the individual conductors, so be good to know what kind of wire it is.
Also, what is that other wire in the first picture if not related to the 6-50 outlet?
As long as the breaker is sized appropriate for the wire (e.g. 40A or 50A, can't make it out in the photo) and you intend to use the Gen 2 mobile adapter (what Tesla is shipping now) you are good to go. The gen 2 mobile adapter limits charging to 32A as others have already noted so even if the breaker/wire is 40A you are good.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Just buy the adapter and plug it in. Your mobile connector is going to draw 32 amps max, which is no problem even in any of the edge cases being talked about here where the outlet was not installed to code.
No need to waste money on an electrician house call.
check the outlet and wiring for excess heat after you’ve been charging for an hour or so.
EDIT - I didn’t catch the 70 amp breaker part. That’s not right. Someone hacked this circuit together.
No need to waste money on an electrician house call.
check the outlet and wiring for excess heat after you’ve been charging for an hour or so.
EDIT - I didn’t catch the 70 amp breaker part. That’s not right. Someone hacked this circuit together.
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Thank you all for your thoughts. The other wire in the original pic is going from a regular power extender, it just goes into a whole in the wall to the back room where the panel is. It is not connected to the 240. Here is a zoom on the yellow breaker if it helps....?
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Yeah, that’s goofy for sure.
Are you sure that wire/breaker goes directly to the outlet in question, and not to a sub panel somewhere first?
Brock-WI
Member
That wire size looks to be 8 at best, you should be able to read a number somewhere on the wire leading out of that 70 amp breaker. Once you confirm that we can let you know what that breaker should really be
The wire coming from your 70A breaker is definitely not larger than the wire in your 50A breaker. Everything else is just arguing semantics. It should have been 4AWG copper and hardwired if it was for a welder requiring that much.
At most the yellow breaker should be changed to 50A for your home's long term safety, otherwise the wire and outlet are fire risks. If you got this far with pictures and such, you can probably DIY the breaker replacement with the help of a YT video.
None of this will hurt the car. If you chose to close up the panel and never think about it again, everything would probably be fine.
At most the yellow breaker should be changed to 50A for your home's long term safety, otherwise the wire and outlet are fire risks. If you got this far with pictures and such, you can probably DIY the breaker replacement with the help of a YT video.
None of this will hurt the car. If you chose to close up the panel and never think about it again, everything would probably be fine.
It doesn't matter if goes to a sub panel, as @zannman already noted that wire doesn't look big enough for a 70A breaker.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Agree with all this, although I’ve been squinting at the pic for 5 minutes and had convinced myself that the black/white wire actually could be a size up from the red going into the 50.
In any case, this was definitely a hack job by the previous owner and there’s no arrangement where a 70 amp breaker on that size wire (even if it is 6awg) with a 6-50 plug is kosher by code.
That said, your 32 amp EVSE will almost certainly “just work” without any problems and should never draw more than 32a when functioning properly.
It’s that “when functioning properly” part that summarizes the risk.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
LOL - this is why it was $400 for electrician advice.
A tell it is a hack job is the white wire should have been taped red.
It can't possibly be going to a sub panel, it's only 3 wires, A sub panel feed would need a separate neutral and ground line.
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