Tips on Garage 14-50 Installation

[beeeerock]

If I may ask, what is the black device on the wall above the HPWC?

Thanks,

Bruce.

Looks like the 'official' cable organizer (support) that would be used where the red piece is below.

 

[bmah]

Looks like the 'official' cable organizer (support) that would be used where the red piece is below.

Agh, you're probably right. I got fooled somehow into thinking it was one continuous surface, and that the dark area where the connector normally hangs was just a shadow. Sigh, probably time for me to go to bed.

Thanks,

Bruce.

 

[FlasherZ]

Looks like the 'official' cable organizer (support) that would be used where the red piece is below.

Yeah, I think that one's due for a redesign in my garage, too... Unless my cable is coiled nearly perfectly, it won't hang on the notch in the organizer. I imagine that the one in the pic is more effective because it is likely to hang better.

 

[pgiralt]

Yes, exactly correct. It's the Tesla-supplied hanger. With the limited space between the garage doors, I couldn't get it to hang reliably when placed lower. Where I put it, I never have to uncoil the cable. The length up to the hanger is the perfect length to reach the car, so plugging in and unplugging is literally a 3 second maneuver. It's very convenient.

 

[smilepak]

If I may ask, what is the black device on the wall above the HPWC?

Thanks,

Bruce.

My guess is where he hook the charger / hangers

 

[strider]

Another tip is that some electricians will put the outlet in upside down for our application.
You want the ground pin on top, and they will put it in with the ground pin on the bottom.

Can you elaborate? We are building a house over the next year and I'll need to instruct our electrician if the plug needs to be upside down in order to hang correctly. Can this be added to FlasherZ's FAQ? Thanks!

 

[FlasherZ]

Can you elaborate? We are building a house over the next year and I'll need to instruct our electrician if the plug needs to be upside down in order to hang correctly. Can this be added to FlasherZ's FAQ? Thanks!

There is no standard for receptacle orientation, and electricians generally do it whichever way they've been taught or whatever theory they've adopted. Most 5-15 receptacles get installed ground-down, although some electricians wire them ground-up (my home has them ground-down, the ones in my shop were installed ground-up). In some cases, this "ground down" orientation gets associated to 14-50 receptacles too. The good news is that the occurrence of this is pretty rare - most of the range, dryer, and RV cords place the ground pin on top, and the plugs you buy in the supply shop have ground pin up, so most electricians know better. But occasionally you'll get the guy who doesn't know any better.

It's a good point, and I added it to the FAQ.

 

[romp]

For the mobile 14-50 connector to be oriented like that:

the receptacle needs to be installed ground up, like that:

Regarding the location of the outlet: the mobile connector cord is long enough to reach from one end of the car to the other, which means you can install the outlet by the panel and still reach the charging port, if you park close enough to the back wall.

Another option would be parking backwards in the garage. My garage configuration is similar to yours, I also park in the right bay. I installed the outlet on the right-hand-side wall and back in, so the charging port is right next to receptacle:

If you're doing the installation yourself, please have it permitted and inspected. In my case the permits and inspection (including new ceiling lights and work area power outlets) were ~$100 and two visits from the electrical inspector (pre- and post-drywall installation) -- very easy and friendly process.

 

[beeeerock]

There is no standard for receptacle orientation, and electricians generally do it whichever way they've been taught or whatever theory they've adopted. Most 5-15 receptacles get installed ground-down, although some electricians wire them ground-up (my home has them ground-down, the ones in my shop were installed ground-up). In some cases, this "ground down" orientation gets associated to 14-50 receptacles too. The good news is that the occurrence of this is pretty rare - most of the range, dryer, and RV cords place the ground pin on top, and the plugs you buy in the supply shop have ground pin up, so most electricians know better. But occasionally you'll get the guy who doesn't know any better.

Not to get hung up on details, but I've often wondered why even a 110 volt receptacle has the ground on the bottom. If the plug is inadvertently pulled part way out and something conductive falls across it, I'd think it's better that it contact the ground pin than the hot! More so with 240 volts and big amps...! But perhaps there's different logic I haven't considered, beside "it just looks better"?

 

[dhanson865]

There is no standard for receptacle orientation, and electricians generally do it whichever way they've been taught or whatever theory they've adopted. Most 5-15 receptacles get installed ground-down, although some electricians wire them ground-up (my home has them ground-down, the ones in my shop were installed ground-up). In some cases, this "ground down" orientation gets associated to 14-50 receptacles too. The good news is that the occurrence of this is pretty rare - most of the range, dryer, and RV cords place the ground pin on top, and the plugs you buy in the supply shop have ground pin up, so most electricians know better. But occasionally you'll get the guy who doesn't know any better.

It's a good point, and I added it to the FAQ.

We'll mine is already installed but I'm at work, I honestly don't know if it is ground up or ground down. I do know it has a metal cover with space for a cord to drop out the bottom of the front and a hole to padlock it shut. Apparently they bought an outdoor rated outlet to install.

 

[davewill]

Luckily, it's usually not that hard to change the orientation. My 6-50 needed to be sideways, (very short cord on my Blink) and the electrician did mount it sideways as I asked, but pointing the wrong way. I could have made him come back out, but I wanted to use it that night. Dismounting the outlet, there was plenty of slack to carefully rotate the outlet 180 degrees and screw it back down. No problem.

 

[jerry33]

Not to get hung up on details, but I've often wondered why even a 110 volt receptacle has the ground on the bottom. If the plug is inadvertently pulled part way out and something conductive falls across it, I'd think it's better that it contact the ground pin than the hot! More so with 240 volts and big amps...! But perhaps there's different logic I haven't considered, beside "it just looks better"?

Having a third pin on a 110V receptacle is relatively recent. It used to be there were only hot pins, so the orientation of the ground pin isn't all that critical, though I agree that ground side up is probably better.

 

[strider]

Not to get hung up on details, but I've often wondered why even a 110 volt receptacle has the ground on the bottom. If the plug is inadvertently pulled part way out and something conductive falls across it, I'd think it's better that it contact the ground pin than the hot! More so with 240 volts and big amps...! But perhaps there's different logic I haven't considered, beside "it just looks better"?

Our bathroom has the plugs like this and it drives my wife nuts - her hair dryer has a circuit breaker "brick" on the end of the cord and it has to be plugged in upside down. As she's drying her her the weight of the cord pulls it out of the wall. I think the "something falling on the hot pins and shorting" is a old wive's tale. Maybe in the old days when fuses blew slower than breakers but then we didn't have grounded outlets at all back then. Today's breakers trip very fast so the chance of an accident are low.

 

[beeeerock]

I think the "something falling on the hot pins and shorting" is a old wive's tale. Maybe in the old days when fuses blew slower than breakers but then we didn't have grounded outlets at all back then. Today's breakers trip very fast so the chance of an accident are low.

LOL... you should see the blackened wall socket in my elderly father's basement shop... I don't know what he dropped onto the partially exposed prongs, but it made a bit of a mess. Recent house build, modern breakers... He admitted to the prongs being exposed but not much else!

 

[TEG]

There is no standard for receptacle orientation, and electricians generally do it whichever way they've been taught or whatever theory they've adopted. Most 5-15 receptacles get installed ground-down, although some electricians wire them ground-up (my home has them ground-down, the ones in my shop were installed ground-up). In some cases, this "ground down" orientation gets associated to 14-50 receptacles too. The good news is that the occurrence of this is pretty rare - most of the range, dryer, and RV cords place the ground pin on top, and the plugs you buy in the supply shop have ground pin up, so most electricians know better. But occasionally you'll get the guy who doesn't know any better.
It's a good point, and I added it to the FAQ.

I think the "standard" is to install so that the writing text on the socket is written "right side up"...

So I think "ground on top" is the "standard" for everything, but most homes are installed with their 5-15s upside down...

But the problem is that most cheap 5-15 sockets don't have any labeling on the front so people forget which way to orient them! :tongue:

 

[Cyclone]

I went 25+ years before I ever saw a 110/120v outlet with ground on top. Looked weird and unusual to me, but hasn't really been a problem.

 

[beeeerock]

I think the "standard" is to install so that the writing text on the socket is written "right side up"...

So I think "ground on top" is the "standard" for everything, but most homes are installed with their 5-15s upside down...

But the problem is that most cheap 5-15 sockets don't have any labeling on the front so people forget which way to orient them! :tongue:

Well, I just learned something new! After 50 years of living with those sockets all around me, I've never realized that they're ALL upside down! That's actually pretty funny... :biggrin:

 

[FlasherZ]

Not to get hung up on details, but I've often wondered why even a 110 volt receptacle has the ground on the bottom. If the plug is inadvertently pulled part way out and something conductive falls across it, I'd think it's better that it contact the ground pin than the hot! More so with 240 volts and big amps...! But perhaps there's different logic I haven't considered, beside "it just looks better"?

That argument is made frequently (and it's usually the cited reason why someone prefers ground-up). I have indeed dropped a metal faceplate across the hot and neutral blades of an outlet before, but the occurrence of that is very rare and doesn't make up for the hundreds of devices that have plugs expecting ground-down. Bottom line is that it's installer preference...

That want an issue in the ungrounded days...

If we established it all over again, I imagine it would be written to rewire ground up.

 

[FlasherZ]

I think the "standard" is to install so that the writing text on the socket is written "right side up"...

This had been argued ad nauseam on many forums so perhaps we shouldn't do it again.

Nothing requires a particular installation technique, and various electricians do it differently. My Leviton contractor grade recepticles have the text on the back "right side up" if you install ground down. So I give up and do it the way I like.