Using Wall Connector on a 14-50 outlet

[DavidElg]

Hi everyone. Shortly after getting my Model 3, I had an electrician come out and install a 14-50 outlet that I've been using with the UMC. Thanks to the old referral program, I now have a Signature Black Wall Connector, still in the box. I really don't want to pay an electrician to come back out and install it. I'm wondering if anyone here has attempted using the wall connector on a 14-50, and if so, how difficult was it to accomplish?

 

[Ninetenjack]

Hi everyone. Shortly after getting my Model 3, I had an electrician come out and install a 14-50 outlet that I've been using with the UMC. Thanks to the old referral program, I now have a Signature Black Wall Connector, still in the box. I really don't want to pay an electrician to come back out and install it. I'm wondering if anyone here has attempted using the wall connector on a 14-50, and if so, how difficult was it to accomplish?

Isn't difficult but consider a couple of things your 14-50 probably has a 50 amp breaker, in Canada mine was installed with a 40 amp breaker. If you have a 50 amp breaker you will be limited to 40 amps on the receiving side as opposed to 48 amps using a 60 amp breaker at your panel. In Canada, the 14-50 used 8 gauge wire, 60 amp will need 6 gauge or lower....

 

[gfunkdave]

You can also go to Home Depot, buy a range cord, and wire it into the wall connector so you don't have to mess with the outlet. If you do that, the electric code says the cord has to be a max of 12" long so if you want to be compliant with that you'll need to cut the cord.

Be sure to set the wall connector to the correct amperage to match the circuit breaker on that circuit.

 

[DavidElg]

You can also go to Home Depot, buy a range cord, and wire it into the wall connector so you don't have to mess with the outlet. If you do that, the electric code says the cord has to be a max of 12" long so if you want to be compliant with that you'll need to cut the cord.

Be sure to set the wall connector to the correct amperage to match the circuit breaker on that circuit.

Thanks! So something like this would work?

https://www.amazon.com/TES-Ft-Wire-Range-Cord/dp/B00TCZS4QQ

 

[COrocket]

Thanks! So something like this would work?

https://www.amazon.com/TES-Ft-Wire-Range-Cord/dp/B00TCZS4QQ

Yeah that would be perfect. Just cut the cord to the desired length, run the wire into the wall connector and hook up the terminals, set the internal rotary dial to 50A, reassemble and attach to the wall. You’ll have to cap off the neutral wire, since the wall connector only uses two hot wires and a ground.

 

[b0n3z]

I plan on doing the same. I ordered and already have the following:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YURAW

Now I just need to find a cable strain relief that fits the bottom of the Tesla HPWC (which I believe is 1" NPT) and fits the cable diameter from Amazon.

This also has information about how to set the dip switch and rotary switch (besides the Installation Manual - page 21-22)
installation manual
video link

 

[DavidElg]

Now I just need to find a cable strain relief that fits the bottom of the Tesla HPWC (which I believe is 1" NPT) and fits the cable diameter from Amazon.

I believe this will work:

https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Tight-Cable-Strain-Relief/dp/B07BSWDZ33

They only come in a 3-pack. I will confirm once I get them myself and have the chance to hook everything up.

 

[eprosenx]

Hi everyone. Shortly after getting my Model 3, I had an electrician come out and install a 14-50 outlet that I've been using with the UMC. Thanks to the old referral program, I now have a Signature Black Wall Connector, still in the box. I really don't want to pay an electrician to come back out and install it. I'm wondering if anyone here has attempted using the wall connector on a 14-50, and if so, how difficult was it to accomplish?

FYI, there are tons of threads around here on this topic.

site:teslamotorsclub.com wall connector pigtail - Google Search

High level is that I do not believe putting a pigtail on the Wall Connector is code compliant since the installation instructions do not allow for this.

Quite a few have done it, and if done correctly it likely won't be an issue, but it adds potential failure points. We had one person who had his receptacle get really hot due to it being miswired. If you plugged a UMC into that receptacle it would have detected it overheating, but the Wall Connector with a home made pigtail would not.

Note that Tesla now makes a Wall Connector variant for exactly the use case you are asking about. It has a temperature sensor in the factory pigtail. Thought that is hard to justify if you already have a Wall Connnector on hand.

I personally would want to hard-wire it in (and perhaps depending on the wire you have in place or could easily pull if in conduit you might be able to upgrade it to 48/60 amps).

Good luck! Please report back on what you end up doing!

 

[Rocky_H]

Note that Tesla now makes a Wall Connector variant for exactly the use case you are asking about. It has a temperature sensor in the factory pigtail.

Well, the word "now" is outdated already. It was available for a few weeks and is gone.

 

[DavidElg]

UPDATE: I have successfully installed my wall charger with 14-50 pigtail!

I purchased 2 things from Amazon for this project:

4-ft Range Cable - $14 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL9JAW
1" Cable Strain Relief - $18 for 3-pack - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BSWDZ33
(if anyone wants one of the other 2 extras i have, I'd be happy to send to you for shipping costs)

I trimmed maybe a foot off the range cable (although not enough to be 100% code compliant). The cable strain relief worked perfectly. I didn't realize the HPWC was already threaded at the bottom opening to accept these. As someone above mentioned, I didn't need to use the white cable in the range cord so I cut it flush with the insulation and used a healthy amount of electrical tape on the end as I didn't have one of those plastic cap things. After getting it wired up, I turned the dial to "8" which is for a 50-amp input. Here's what it looks like in my garage:

 

[craigcabrey]

Awesome, I'm about to do this same install! Unfortunately it seems Home Depot doesn't have any similar type of strain relief in stock (closest is a 3/4" relief), so may need to be more clever in that respect.

 

[eCharcoal]

UPDATE: I have successfully installed my wall charger with 14-50 pigtail!

I purchased 2 things from Amazon for this project:

4-ft Range Cable - $14 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL9JAW
1" Cable Strain Relief - $18 for 3-pack - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BSWDZ33
(if anyone wants one of the other 2 extras i have, I'd be happy to send to you for shipping costs)

I trimmed maybe a foot off the range cable (although not enough to be 100% code compliant). The cable strain relief worked perfectly. I didn't realize the HPWC was already threaded at the bottom opening to accept these. As someone above mentioned, I didn't need to use the white cable in the range cord so I cut it flush with the insulation and used a healthy amount of electrical tape on the end as I didn't have one of those plastic cap things. After getting it wired up, I turned the dial to "8" which is for a 50-amp input. Here's what it looks like in my garage:

View attachment 382332

How many MPH are you getting with this setup?

 

[eprosenx]

UPDATE: I have successfully installed my wall charger with 14-50 pigtail!

I purchased 2 things from Amazon for this project:

4-ft Range Cable - $14 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL9JAW
1" Cable Strain Relief - $18 for 3-pack - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BSWDZ33
(if anyone wants one of the other 2 extras i have, I'd be happy to send to you for shipping costs)

I trimmed maybe a foot off the range cable (although not enough to be 100% code compliant). The cable strain relief worked perfectly. I didn't realize the HPWC was already threaded at the bottom opening to accept these. As someone above mentioned, I didn't need to use the white cable in the range cord so I cut it flush with the insulation and used a healthy amount of electrical tape on the end as I didn't have one of those plastic cap things. After getting it wired up, I turned the dial to "8" which is for a 50-amp input. Here's what it looks like in my garage:

View attachment 382332

Did you confirm that the 14-50 is on a 50a circuit and that the wire is sufficient ampacity for the 50a circuit?

As others have mentioned, depending on the type of wire and if it is in conduit or not, you might be able to upgrade to a 60a circuit on the existing wire if you hard wired the wall connector in.

 

[DavidElg]

How many MPH are you getting with this setup?

38 mi/hr now. When I was using the UMC I was only getting 30

 

[DavidElg]

Did you confirm that the 14-50 is on a 50a circuit and that the wire is sufficient ampacity for the 50a circuit?

As others have mentioned, depending on the type of wire and if it is in conduit or not, you might be able to upgrade to a 60a circuit on the existing wire if you hard wired the wall connector in.

It is on a 50 amp circuit that was wired properly. Sure, I could have it hardwired with new conduit and a new 60 amp circuit to bump my charging even more, but the whole point of this was to not bring an electrician out.

 

[jlv1]

I turned the dial to "8" which is for a 50-amp input

If it's a 50A circuit, shouldn't you have set it to 40A (80% rule)?

 

[MrMassTransit]

If it's a 50A circuit, shouldn't you have set it to 40A (80% rule)?

The setting for the wall connector is for the circuit rating. If it is set to 50A, the wall connector will draw a max of 40A to be compliant with the rule. If set to 40A, it will draw a max of 32A.