Conduit question for installing L6-20 outlet on exterior

[CRLeafSL]

I'm going to be ordering the EVSEupgrade here shortly and am installing an L6-20 outlet on the outside of my house to plug into. My question is what is the best type of conduit to use for Outdoor conditions? I'm only going about 10 to 15 feet from the main panel at most and would like the ease of flexible conduit if all possible. I'm running 10/2 UF-b wire which I know is bigger than what is needed, but I like to run one size bigger than I need. Any suggestions on what conduit to use? Thanks.

 

[UBUYGAS]

Why L6-20?, Pretty sure you should be installing L6-30 and 10/2 is way too small, I used 6/3

 

[CRLeafSL]

I have a 2012 so it's a 16 amp EVSE. 12 gauge covers up to 20 amp, 10 gauge is 30 amp. Plenty big.

 

[UBUYGAS]

I have 2013 but I bought a 9.6kWh EVSE that pulls 40amps max., I figured when I get my 2017 LEAF or Tesla it'll most likely charge at 10kWh and I'll be ready.

 

[CRLeafSL]

Yeah That would be cool. Tesla is a dream right now, but keeping my eye on the 3rd gen. I'm not going to be living in my current house long enough for it to matter, so I'm not looking to upgrade in the future. In fact after I turn my lease back in which is about a year and a half, that same wire is going to be powering a 120 volt exterior outlet so it's plenty big for my use. I just need to know what conduit to use.

 

[UBUYGAS]

In NJ i'm pretty sure the conduit is PVC/Plastic. Not Steel anymore. My next door neighbor is a Electrician for 30 years and all his outdoor conduit is plastic.

 

[CRLeafSL]

I was afraid you were going to say that. I was hoping that one of the flexible ones like the flexible metal or watertight conduit would work that's flexible. All its doing on the exterior is going through the hole that I drill to feed the wire into the outdoor weathertight box that I'm installing. The conduit is gonna go right into the back of the box on the exterior. None of it is even going to be seen after the box is screwed to the outside of my house. It's not like I'm running it down my exterior wall or anything, it's literally just going through a hole right into the box.

 

[smkettner]

If exposed on the inside I think armored cable is probably easiest. Armored cable is the flexconduit with wire already in it.

Verify what plug will be on the evse.

 

[wwhitney]

All its doing on the exterior is going through the hole that I drill to feed the wire into the outdoor weathertight box that I'm installing. The conduit is gonna go right into the back of the box on the exterior.

In that case, you don't need an outdoor wiring method. You could use NM cable, if the interior conditions allow that. In which case, I like to use a short nipple of rigid conduit screwed (and siliconed) into the back of a weatherproof electrical box, with a bushing threaded on the other end of the nipple. This forms a sleeve for the NM cable entering the box, which keeps moisture coming down the backside of the box away from the cable and out of the box.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[CRLeafSL]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have verified right off the EVSEupgrade page that the 2011/2012 upgraded units do use an L6-20 plug. I was wondering if I could use indoor wire since the wire isn't technically going outside, but since the outlet will be outside I was going to use outdoor rated just to be safe. If I can use indoor rated, then I'll go MC style with the wire inside the metal conduit (flexible) already. That would be perfect.