The 14-30 adapter will definitely tell the UMC to take only 24 amps. Even if it didn't, a properly installed outlet that's overloaded shouldn't do more than trip the breaker.
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Want to absolutely confirm: I can charge off a dryer plug?
- Thread starter SGM1980
- Start date
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
The adapters from Tesla let the car know what is the correct value, so it should set to 24a.
I installed mine this weekend and the truth is easy I think I spent less than $ 150.00 for everything.
I would not phrase it that way. The charging system in the car is receiving a pilot signal from the external equipment. It's not "detecting the adapter". The adapters have a small chip in them that tells what the amp limit is. When that adapter is plugged into the body of the mobile charging cable, it is the electronics in THAT, which detect it, and then create the correct signal of the number of amps to then announce to the car.
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
Atari2600
Active Member
Although I don't do this any longer be sure to buy a good plug. For instance at Home Depot you can purchase a Leviton or HUBBELL 14-30R. I tried the Leviton first but it wore out fast and started getting warm so I swapped it for the almost 2x more expensive HUBBELL and the plug was pretty much at room temperature. If you are swapping the plug out for the dryer all the time I would still replace it yearly regardless what brand it is.
Original plan: Bought a Tesla wall charger ($500). Electrician said this charger would not work on 100 amp panel. (House built in late 1960s). $3600 to upgrade. Okay, no worries. Then electrician called back. PGE needed to upgrade the transformer on the power pole behind the house. PGE wanted an additional $1500. So, I did the math. $5600!
Electrician suggested we could do this another way. Stopped by the house. Took me to 100 amp panel. Said he could use one of the breakers I'd shut off 17 years ago. It was for a wire which ran to an old electric range. I'd left the wire hanging in the wall with the three wires individually taped. He said he could go into the attic, take that wire which wasn't being used, connect it (in a box) to a new wire which he'd run into the garage. It would be in conduit in the garage because it drops below the 8-foot requirement for conduit. It would end with a dryer-type outlet and all I'd need to do would be to order up a $40 Tesla 10-30 NEMA adaptor. "How much for all this?" "$700."
Now my wife can charge her Tesla at 22 miles of range per hour. Rather than 2-3 miles of range per hour on the regular old outlet. And a big thank you to Greiner Heating and Air Conditioning out of Dixon CA for saving me a ton of money.
That's false, but the electrician probably doesn't know it's an adjustable device--very few EVSEs are. He probably thinks it REQUIRES a 60A circuit, which likely would be a problem to fit in to a 100A main panel. But the wall connector can be configured for circuits as low as 15A, which is probably pretty reasonable to add into a 100A service. This is where people sometimes mess themselves up, where they say, "I want a XX amp circuit." And then they get responses from electricians who are going with that and tell them how it will need thousands of dollars in service upgrades. What people should start with is a question to the electrician, "Do a load calculation. What size circuit do I have capacity to add?"
It shouldn't be a 10-30 outlet. Those have been disallowed for new installations since 1996. If you have the full four wires, then you can do a 14-30, but if you only have three, then it should be a 6-30, which is just a 240V outlet with Hot1, Hot2, and ground. Tesla doesn't sell a 6-30 adapter plug, but EVSEAdapters.com does.
I am in a house that is old and i see what i think is a 10-30 outlet that the old clothes dryer is plugged into. I am seeing that tesla makes an adapter. So that is working for you??
RayK
Active Member
A NEMA 10-30 outlet and the associated Tesla mobile connector adapter looks like this:
If you intend to share the outlet between the dryer and charging your car, you should look into something that will automatically switch between the two uses. This prevents you from unplugging and plugging every time you want to charge your car or dry a load of clothes. Such a thing is called a Dryer Buddy Plus Auto. You plug that into the outlet and then plug the dryer and mobile connector into the respective outlets of the Dryer Buddy. The dryer has priority over the power. If you are charging your car and then somebody turns the dryer on, power to the mobile connector is turned off and your car stops charging. When the dryer is done, power switches back to the car.
As long as you use an Tesla NEMA 10-30 adapter with the mobile connector, the charging current will automatically be limited to a maximum of 24A. Being an "old" house, and if the dryer outlet has not been used for some time, I'd get a qualified electrician out to inspect everything to make sure that the circuit (breaker, wiring, outlet) can handle EV charging. You probably should also replace the outlet with something more "modern" like a commercial / industrial grade Hubbell or Bryant branded part, as these are two that are favored here. In other words, stay away from the $10 Leviton residential grade stuff.
If you intend to share the outlet between the dryer and charging your car, you should look into something that will automatically switch between the two uses. This prevents you from unplugging and plugging every time you want to charge your car or dry a load of clothes. Such a thing is called a Dryer Buddy Plus Auto. You plug that into the outlet and then plug the dryer and mobile connector into the respective outlets of the Dryer Buddy. The dryer has priority over the power. If you are charging your car and then somebody turns the dryer on, power to the mobile connector is turned off and your car stops charging. When the dryer is done, power switches back to the car.
As long as you use an Tesla NEMA 10-30 adapter with the mobile connector, the charging current will automatically be limited to a maximum of 24A. Being an "old" house, and if the dryer outlet has not been used for some time, I'd get a qualified electrician out to inspect everything to make sure that the circuit (breaker, wiring, outlet) can handle EV charging. You probably should also replace the outlet with something more "modern" like a commercial / industrial grade Hubbell or Bryant branded part, as these are two that are favored here. In other words, stay away from the $10 Leviton residential grade stuff.
The other thing, when charging off suspect wall plugs, is to determine the minimum amount of power that you need and set your car's amp level accordingly. If you need ~20kw for the next day's driving and, for example, and you'll be plugged in for more than 5 hours at a 240v outlet, reduce your amp level to ~16 amps, which won't stress the circuit nearly as much.
There is no difference between the wall connector and the mobile connector charging speeds, until you get above speeds the mobile connector can provide. This chart from tesla has the estimated charging speed. A typical dryer outlet is 30 amps. The 30 amp line on this chart shows that is 5.7kW, and on a model 3 that 30amp circuit is going to charge the car at 24amps, which is 22 miles per hour. Its going to be between 20-22mph depending on if you have any voltage drop.
Wall Connector
The Tesla Wall Connector is the most efficient way to charge a Tesla at home — just plug in your vehicle overnight and wake up to a charged vehicle.
www.tesla.com
| Wall Connector Technical details | Charge Speed Max miles of range per hour of charge* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit breaker (amps) | Maximum output (amps) | Power at 240 volts (kilowatt) | Model S (mph) | Model 3† (mph) | Model X (mph) | Model Y (mph) |
| 60 | 48 | 11.5 kW | 41 | 44 | 35 | 44 |
| 50 | 40 | 9.6 kW | 34 | 37 | 29 | 37 |
| 40 | 32 | 7.7 kW | 27 | 30 | 23 | 30 |
| 30 | 24 | 5.7 kW | 21 | 22 | 17 | 22 |
| 20 | 16 | 3.8 kW | 14 | 15 | 12 | 15 |
| 15 | 12 | 2.8 kW | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 |
MichaelP90DL
Active Member
I charge using the dryer's 240-volt outlet. 24 amps, adds about 14 miles of indicated range per hour.
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