Week 3 running on 110v

[OliverM3]

Tomorrow after 3 weeks of running my 80 mile commute on 110v hopefully my electrician will be able to complete the trench to run 220v to my detached garage that's 100+ feet from the house. It's done nothing but rain so the machine can't grab and throw mud out of the way to dig the trench.
Overall though the car hasn't been to bad to live with on 110v. I drive 80 miles everyday and put back 55miles per night. I've stopped at a wawa twice for a quick top off and some coffee so overall not to bad even without a real home charging solution.

Crossing my fingers that it gets done before the Wednesday rain starts.

 

[Occhis]

Wow that’s a long run. Wire will be $$$$. Wonder what size he’ll use.

 

[OliverM3]

Wow that’s a long run. Wire will be $$$$. Wonder what size he’ll use.

Yeah it was a good distance and my panel is at the front of my house furthest corner from the garage so that probably added just as much running around an L shape in the basement. I know he said he was using aluminum wire I thought #2 underground. Overall I thought it was reasonable for the distance, the 100 amp sub panel and hardwiring one charger and adding a 6-50 outlet on my wife's side of the garage incase she ever gets an EV. They had a lot of trouble digging the trench since we've been getting so much rain. I would definitely recommend them they did a fantastic job and the price seemed very reasonable for the work.

It's so nice now charging at 48amps!

 

[Summoner12]

Yeah it was a good distance and my panel is at the front of my house furthest corner from the garage so that probably added just as much running around an L shape in the basement. I know he said he was using aluminum wire I thought #2 underground. Overall I thought it was reasonable for the distance, the 100 amp sub panel and hardwiring one charger and adding a 6-50 outlet on my wife's side of the garage incase she ever gets an EV. They had a lot of trouble digging the trench since we've been getting so much rain. I would definitely recommend them they did a fantastic job and the price seemed very reasonable for the work.

It's so nice now charging at 48amps!

I would be sure to check in on that aluminum wire once a year... and be sure they used paste on the connections. With a high current load, maybe weather involved. It's not a bad idea to be on the safe side to ensure connected stay tight and don't get hot, corrode and melt.

I will be running copper and yeah, I gotta pay for it. I had a miss hap at Home Depot and I felt pretty bad. I had the HD kid cut me the wrong wire, three lengths of it to 75' and then realized I needed the next size up....... I was thinking of "going big" just to be safe, but the price was like "eh, if I don't NEED it....." well I ended up NEEDING it.... so instead of buying the 250' for about $300, I bought the 500' roll for $360. Now I can put chargers all over the darn house! BTW, that $360 had changed to $405, but they didn't change the sticker on the rack. The cashier honored the marked price on the shelf, luckily! Copper is like gold these days.

 

[Resist]

Just to be clear, it's 120v/240v and not 110v/220v. Been like that for almost 100 years.

 

[OliverM3]

Just to be clear, it's 120v/240v and not 110v/220v. Been like that for almost 100 years.

Yup old habits still say 110/220. Though I swear it was in the 80's when I was in high school that it switched.

 

[Resist]

Yup old habits still say 110/220. Though I swear it was in the 80's when I was in high school that it switched.

Maybe not almost 100 years yet way earlier than the 80's, but at least since the late 60's if not even earlier. Many devices and cords incorrectly still show 110 volts.

 

[OliverM3]

Funny wonder why I still say 110/220

 

[RayK]

Funny wonder why I still say 110/220

Funny that I remember thinking 117VAC was the standard voltage coming out of the wall. This was when I first started becoming interested in electronics (circa 1968). Wikipedia may not be the most accurate source of citation but this appears:

"Nominal voltages gradually crept upward to 112 V and 115 V, or even 117 V.[citation needed] After World War II the standard voltage in the U.S. became 117 V, but many areas lagged behind even into the 1960s.[citation needed] In 1967 the nominal voltage rose to 120 V, but conversion of appliances was slow.[citation needed] Today, virtually all American homes and businesses have access to 120 and 240 V at 60 Hz."

ref: Mains electricity - Wikipedia (History subsection)

edit: FWIW, I just measured the AC voltage with an uncalibrated True RMS meter and it read 121.4V.

 

[Resist]

Funny wonder why I still say 110/220

View attachment 787422

Well, Tesla is wrong. Thought they hired smart people?