That adapter won't help you if you need to plug in to a 6-50 outlet. The 'R' in 6-50R means 'receiver' (i.e. female end). If you need an adapter to plug in to a 6-50 outlet then you need a 6-50P to 14-50R adapter.
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Oops! My mistake. You are correct. I didn't look closely enough at the photo.
I'm amazed at how hard this adaptor is to find.
Here is a welding equipment website selling what is described as a "Full KVA 230 Volt (NEMA 6.50P To NEMA 14-50R)" but it doesn't look like what I need, it looks like the opposite of what I need.
Miller Power Adapter - Full KVA 230 Volt 300517
And here is one on ebay described at "6-50p to 14-50r adapter" that looks like what I need. But pricey.
Tesla 6 50p to 14 50R Adapter for Model S | eBay
Finally, here is a site that has a long page listing all kinds of adaptors including a 6-50p to 14-50 (the page is even titled "Adaptors for Model S") but no pricing, you have to contact them and ask.
http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?classId=330&listtype=0&pagenum=24
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You need 14-50 female to 6-50 male. You are not going to find it. I looked a while back. Either make one with 6/3 wire and leave the neutral on the 14-50 off or buy this:
Look at this on eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=271544395445
Tesla 6-50p to 14-50r adapter for Model S
Look at this on eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=271544395445
Tesla 6-50p to 14-50r adapter for Model S
Thank you for that ebay link. That is the same link I posted earlier in this thread.
The link I posted to the page at Generator Power Cord, Marine Shore Power, Trailer Cord, RV Generator Adapter - Conntek appears to show the type of adaptor I need, see http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?id=971
I sent them an email asking what the price is and how long it will take them to make one. I will let you know what I find out.
The link I posted to the page at Generator Power Cord, Marine Shore Power, Trailer Cord, RV Generator Adapter - Conntek appears to show the type of adaptor I need, see http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?id=971
I sent them an email asking what the price is and how long it will take them to make one. I will let you know what I find out.
I think this adapter is the opposite of what you want. The "P" in 14-50P means "plug", which is the part with the blades sticking out, while the "R" in 6-50R means "receptacle", which means it has the holes. If your friend has a 6-50 outlet in his shop, then you need a 6-50P to 14-50R, which you will never find on Amazon because there is no NEC-compliant way to connect the neutral on the 14-50R. However, I think some of the custom adapter sites will make one for you and label them "For Tesla charging only" or some such so they don't ever get used by an RV.
Edit: Sorry I'm late to the game on this. I think I forgot to page forward before replying...
This is what I would do, and almost did until I got luck and scored a 6-50 Tesla adapter:
Buy at couple of feet of this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-3-SOOW-SO...926?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417055f1ee
Buy a NEMA 6-50 Male plug:
http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-931-A...TF8&qid=1405699065&sr=8-13&keywords=nema+6-50
Buy a NEMA 14-50 Female Receptacle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00192QB9M/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wire it up without using the Neutral on the 14-50 (Top Hole)
Buy at couple of feet of this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-3-SOOW-SO...926?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417055f1ee
Buy a NEMA 6-50 Male plug:
http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-931-A...TF8&qid=1405699065&sr=8-13&keywords=nema+6-50
Buy a NEMA 14-50 Female Receptacle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00192QB9M/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wire it up without using the Neutral on the 14-50 (Top Hole)
The reason you won't find these adapters widely available is that it is impossible to derive a proper NEMA 14-series receptacle feed (which is 250/125V and requires neutral) from a NEMA 6-series receptacle (which is 250V only). Most 14-series applications require 120V (for example, in a stove you require 120V to run the oven light, although this is changing with LED lighting going into these appliances).
As noted, you can manufacture your own as Tesla simply ignores the neutral conductor, but you must ensure it is properly labeled so someone doesn't try to use it for a non-Tesla application. An RV that attempts to use the adapter will find its appliances operating very weirdly and/or destroyed.
Label that adapter in two places. See the FAQ in my signature for more information.
As noted, you can manufacture your own as Tesla simply ignores the neutral conductor, but you must ensure it is properly labeled so someone doesn't try to use it for a non-Tesla application. An RV that attempts to use the adapter will find its appliances operating very weirdly and/or destroyed.
Label that adapter in two places. See the FAQ in my signature for more information.
FlasherZ, thanks for your words of advice, I definitely label all the adaptors I use for my car. They live in my trunk, I don't own an RV, so I am not too concerned about them being misused.
I called Conntek when they did not reply to my email. They said they could make up one of their "NEMA 6-50P to NEMA 14-50R Pigtail Adapter Cord" and will ship it to me. See http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?classId=330 Apparently they don't stock them, they make them as needed. Total price will be $74.50 (including shipping). So I placed an order for that item and will receive it next week.
That price is $30 less than the ebay seller who wants $95 plus $10 shipping for what the ad describes as a "Brand new Conntek 6-50p to 14-50r adapter for Tesla Model S" http://www.ebay.com/itm/271544395445 So the ebay seller is selling what I just ordered for $74.50. Wow. Does that ebay seller think what they are offering is no longer available, hence the big mark up? If so, that seller is incorrect.
The Conntek adaptor is about $20 more than it would cost to buy the various parts from Amazon sellers when shipping is taken into account (as posted upthread by smsprague) and make it yourself.
I'm fine with paying a bit more to have the adaptor assembled, hopefully by someone who knows what they are doing. I realize it is a relatively easy thing to make.
I will post again when I have received the NEMA 6-50P to NEMA 14-50R Pigtail Adapter Cord by Conntek but won't have a chance to try it out until late October. I do not have a 6-50 plug at my house. I'm buying it to use at this destination near Yosemite, CA http://www.sunsetinn-yosemitecabins.com/
So this company Conntek in Wisconsin appears to be a source for 6-50 adaptors and many others, see http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?classId=330 They apparently make them as requested, they don't have them in stock and you have to call them to place your order, you cannot order them through their website.
I called Conntek when they did not reply to my email. They said they could make up one of their "NEMA 6-50P to NEMA 14-50R Pigtail Adapter Cord" and will ship it to me. See http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?classId=330 Apparently they don't stock them, they make them as needed. Total price will be $74.50 (including shipping). So I placed an order for that item and will receive it next week.
That price is $30 less than the ebay seller who wants $95 plus $10 shipping for what the ad describes as a "Brand new Conntek 6-50p to 14-50r adapter for Tesla Model S" http://www.ebay.com/itm/271544395445 So the ebay seller is selling what I just ordered for $74.50. Wow. Does that ebay seller think what they are offering is no longer available, hence the big mark up? If so, that seller is incorrect.
The Conntek adaptor is about $20 more than it would cost to buy the various parts from Amazon sellers when shipping is taken into account (as posted upthread by smsprague) and make it yourself.
I'm fine with paying a bit more to have the adaptor assembled, hopefully by someone who knows what they are doing. I realize it is a relatively easy thing to make.
I will post again when I have received the NEMA 6-50P to NEMA 14-50R Pigtail Adapter Cord by Conntek but won't have a chance to try it out until late October. I do not have a 6-50 plug at my house. I'm buying it to use at this destination near Yosemite, CA http://www.sunsetinn-yosemitecabins.com/
So this company Conntek in Wisconsin appears to be a source for 6-50 adaptors and many others, see http://www.conntek.com/products.asp?classId=330 They apparently make them as requested, they don't have them in stock and you have to call them to place your order, you cannot order them through their website.
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Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
@FlasherZ: Thanks for all of your great advice. I could not agree more about the labeling of the 6-50P to 14-50R adapter, and have done just that.
One thing that I did, just in case the adapter was misused, was to connect the neutral pin in the 14-50R to ground. That way, if the "EV-Only" adapter somehow found it into the wrong hands and an RV was plugged in, at least the 120 Volt appliances would not fry. If a GFI popped, fine, but there would not be smoke coming from the 120 Volt gear. What are your thoughts about making this neutral-ground connection in the adapter as insurance in case of misuse?
EGC's are supposed to be used for fault currents only. You can't guarantee that the grounding conductor (EGC) can properly carry current, as it may be provided via cold water pipe or some other metallic path. At the very least, in a modern, current-code development, the EGC is permitted to be much smaller (#10 for a 50A circuit) and as a result carries an overheating risk.
It's also a shock risk in some cases; remember that current doesn't flow only over the path of least resistance, it flows over multiple paths in inverse proportion to resistance on the multiple paths. So let's say that you plug in an RV to your adapter, and you have 10A of unbalanced 120V loads across that adapter, flowing from L1 to ground. If a human creates another path to ground by touching any other grounded appliance in the home plus a faucet (assuming copper pipes are used), she may end up carrying some of that current across her body and may be shocked. It won't be a hard shock, but it might be a tickle. The same would occur while touching a grounded metal appliance with bare feet on wet concrete.
This is why the code has completely eliminated the sharing of ground and neutral, requiring 4-wire feeders and NEMA 14-series.
If someone can't read the warning on the adapter, I'd rather it fry their appliances than provide a life-safety risk to those in the home.
KenN
Member
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Good analysis and arguments, but we still have 10-50's in older houses. There are the occasional tickles of current, but there is no requirement to remove them.
Now for a really stupid install story: The next hangar over from me changed leases recently, and the landlord asked me to look at a funny outlet. It was a 14-50. My first thought was that maybe here was a backup place to charge if I needed it. Then I read the label on the outlet, it said, 3-Phase, 208V. I looked in the panel; it was a 3-phase breaker. I went and got my Volt Meter, and sure enough, I measured 208 Volts on all three pairs of the 14-50, L-L, L-N, and N-L. The irony is that it would have worked fine for a Tesla, but talk about smoking the 120 Volt devices in an RV. Next I saw that the grounding was just through the conduit. At that point, I recommended to the hangar owner to just remove the outlet and breaker ASAP, which his electrician did a few days later. This made me believe a little more strongly in code and inspections...
With proper bonding straps, yes, but with limits.
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Of course. But remember in 10-50's you have an ungrounded outlet and the fault current "grounding" is provided via the neutral conductor, not the other way around. The neutral conductor is properly sized for the circuit, compared to the EGC.
And the shock hazard still exists: my great grandmother's oven was the perfect example of this happening. The kids in the family learned really quickly not to touch the oven and the sink at the same time. Shock hazard is shock hazard ... and only a few mA can stop your heart if administered at the wrong time.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Believe me, this conduit was not properly bonded, a very scary install.
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Good points. Thanks for being the patient teacher.
Hand to hand, or hand to foot current is the worst because it puts the most current though the heart. Good reasons to wear insulated shoes and keep one hand in your pocket when you don't know the status of what you are investigating. I treat working on 120 V AC and above like handling a gun. Even if the gun is unloaded and safety on, I treat the gun as if it is loaded. With electrical, even if the breaker is off, and the Voltages measure zero, I still treat the connections as if they are live; that's just my careful habit.
I've seen those. A local theater had a 240V high-leg delta system used to power their carbon-arc lamps. When it was re-wired for Xenon lamphouses a few decades later, some enterprising "electrician" apparently thought he could save a bit of wiring by connecting the lamphouse ventilation blower between phase A and ground, because the motor was a 120V motor, and that's how you get 120V. Reports were that it never worked reliably. Lots of scary stuff there - the theater is 90+ years old and has all sorts of remnants of electrical systems gone by.
The limitations I speak of are in NEC 250.118. Namely, flexible metal conduit (FMC) is limited to 6' in any fault current path, and 20A and under (liquidtight/LFMC can be up to 60A), only when specific listed fittings are used. If MC cable assemblies are used, it requires proper listing for ground. Steel pipes and EMT are sufficient to any current when properly sized.
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Yesterday I received the NEMA 6-50P to NEMA 14-50R adaptor described in my earlier post. It appears to be very well made. I will not be using it until my trip to Yosemite in October (don't have access to a 6-50 plug locally) and will post a report at that time.
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