Best EVSE/charging solution for my situation?

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The cable is indoor rated, but as long as it stays inside the house and is in conduit where it's exposed below shoulder level or so, it should be fine. I'm no expert, though.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The breaker should be sized for the EVSE, not just the cable. You can always swap in a 50 amp breaker if/when you get a 40 amp EVSE. Assuming a 30 amp EVSE you want a 40 amp breaker now. The link to the cable wouldn't load.

Can you help me understand this? Don't the rest of the breakers in my house work the same way? I have 20 and 15 amp breakers, but rarely is there anything on the circuit pulling that amperage, right? As you said, it should be easy to swap out later, so I will do a 40 amp now if that makes more sense.
 
jake14mw said:
Can you help me understand this?
This is a little bit of a grey area. The breaker's #1 job is to protect the fixed installation, i.e. the building wire and the receptacle. With 6/2 NM (btw, not allowed outdoors) and a 6-50 receptacle, a 50A breaker does that fine.

Some equipment manufacturers will also ask for a particular breaker size to protect their equipment. In the case of the EVSE you posted, its manual calls for a 40A breaker. Whether the NEC requires that instruction to be followed is open to interpretation (110.3(B)).

Cheers, Wayne
 
This is a little bit of a grey area. The breaker's #1 job is to protect the fixed installation, i.e. the building wire and the receptacle. With 6/2 NM (btw, not allowed outdoors) and a 6-50 receptacle, a 50A breaker does that fine.

Wayne, wouldn't a 40A breaker provide more protection for the cable and outlet, rather than less?
 
LeftieBiker said:
Wayne, wouldn't a 40A breaker provide more protection for the cable and outlet, rather than less?
Yes, of course. My point was that with 6/2 NM and a 6-50 receptacle, a 50A breaker is sufficient protection for the cable and receptacle. So the only question is whether the EVSE itself requires protection by a 40A breaker, rather than a 50A breaker.

Cheers, Wayne
 
40 or 50 is about the same with #6 wire and a 6-50 connector.

Dead short will instantly trip either. Bad connection could overheat with either one. Exceedingly low probability of having a 48 amp fault that would only trip the 40 amp breaker. I would go 50 amp on the breaker.
 
wwhitney said:
jake14mw said:
Can you help me understand this?
This is a little bit of a grey area. The breaker's #1 job is to protect the fixed installation, i.e. the building wire and the receptacle. With 6/2 NM (btw, not allowed outdoors) and a 6-50 receptacle, a 50A breaker does that fine.

Some equipment manufacturers will also ask for a particular breaker size to protect their equipment. In the case of the EVSE you posted, its manual calls for a 40A breaker. Whether the NEC requires that instruction to be followed is open to interpretation (110.3(B)).

Cheers, Wayne

OK, you guys are confusing me now! :) Thanks for looking that up for me. I'm thinking that if the manufacturer calls for a 40A breaker, that's what I should do?
 
jake14mw said:
wwhitney said:
jake14mw said:
Can you help me understand this?
This is a little bit of a grey area. The breaker's #1 job is to protect the fixed installation, i.e. the building wire and the receptacle. With 6/2 NM (btw, not allowed outdoors) and a 6-50 receptacle, a 50A breaker does that fine.

Some equipment manufacturers will also ask for a particular breaker size to protect their equipment. In the case of the EVSE you posted, its manual calls for a 40A breaker. Whether the NEC requires that instruction to be followed is open to interpretation (110.3(B)).

Cheers, Wayne

OK, you guys are confusing me now! :) Thanks for looking that up for me. I'm thinking that if the manufacturer calls for a 40A breaker, that's what I should do?
It sure wouldn't hurt :)
More than likely you'd probably never need 50 amps anyway but I'd also agree with running 6 gauge wire, so you'd never probably have to replace it. 6 gauge may also be a bit more efficient in that running 40a it should never get warm(loss in efficiency) of course breakers also get warm when running near their max rating but as the Leaf only draws 27.5a and the EVSE only outputs a maximum of 30a, even a 40a breaker will probably never get warm.
Breakers are somewhat cheap and easy to replace, a 40a breaker will help protect your 30a EVSE a bit more than a 50a breaker, no real advantage to going with lighter gauge wire, well other than cost :)
 
jake14mw said:
LeftieBiker said:
The breaker should be sized for the EVSE, not just the cable. You can always swap in a 50 amp breaker if/when you get a 40 amp EVSE. Assuming a 30 amp EVSE you want a 40 amp breaker now. The link to the cable wouldn't load.

Can you help me understand this? Don't the rest of the breakers in my house work the same way? I have 20 and 15 amp breakers, but rarely is there anything on the circuit pulling that amperage, right? As you said, it should be easy to swap out later, so I will do a 40 amp now if that makes more sense.

A 120v circuit has multiple oulets and devices. The current demand is unpredictable and so the breaker is sized to the ampacity of the wiring. 240v circuits are dedicated to a single device, which affords the opportunity to size the breaker to the specific device.
 
jake14mw said:
An update to my situation. I saw a great deal on Amazon on a Siemens VersiCharge 30 amp EVSE charger. It was $359, so I ordered it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MFVI92S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Is has a NEMA 6-50 plug. So, I am planning on running a new Circuit. The total wire run will be about 90 feet. I did some checking on wire prices, keeping in mind the idea of futureproofing for cars and chargers in the future that can handle higher charging rates. I found that a 125 ft roll of 6-2 romex is about $165, vs, $115 for 8-2. If I am going through the work, I would think I would want to install a 50 amp breaker and the 6-2? Does this make sense? Is this the right type of wire? For this length run is this the right gauge wire? My garage is drywalled, so the plan is that once the wire gets to the garage wall from the basement, then I will run it in 1" PVC conduit. Is this conduit large enough for 6-2?

Is this the right type of wire?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-125-ft-6-2-Stranded-Romex-SIMpull-CU-NM-B-W-G-Wire-28894402/202316592?keyword=6-2+romex

There are no 40A plugs so 50A is used at 40A. You do not really need a 50A circuit since your EVSE is 30A. A 40A circuit is good for 32A so you are good.
 
The difference between 40 and 50 is minimal - I went for a 50 amp circuit figuring if I ever needed it, it’s available. Besides, IMHO better to overspec as an added safety margin.
 
Thank you to all for their help. I'm going to summarize what my current plan is.

install a 40 amp breaker in my box in an open slot.

Run 6-2 Romex from the box, and behind the finished wall in the basement high on top of cement foundation wall.

When I reach garage, run in 1 1/4" PVC up and over door and across to NEMA 6-50 Outlet in box.

Does anyone see any problems with any of this? Thanks.
 
Not a problem, but I suggest you label the outlet "40A" because the plug and cable will both suggest a 50 amp circuit. I think that 40 is the better way to go, though, because of the EVSE rating.
 
It is my understanding that you can not run romex in conduit. that said the romex for my multi branch circuit to the washer and dryer is run in flex across the garage. That said neither the electrician or the inspector said anything when I changed out my 100A Federal Pacific Electric panel to the current 200A requirement.

It is always good to label a 40A circuit when using a 50A connector. That avoids any potential confusion.
 
I did some web research on running romex in conduit a while back, and the majority view (there is never a consensus on the Web!) was that it's fine as an extra indoor precaution. Just don't expect to solve any code problems by doing it.
 
GlennD said:
It is my understanding that you can not run romex in conduit.
That's a myth. First, if you are using a partial conduit system (open at one or both ends) to provide physical protection to the romex, there's no restriction. As long as you can get it to fit without damaging the cable, it's OK. [If you are using a large diameter conduit as a sleeve for multiple romex cables and it is longer than 24", then derating for multiple conductors applies.]

Second, if you have a complete conduit system (from enclosure to enclosure), you could run Romex in it, but you have to treat the cable as a single circular conductor with diameter equal to the Romex's largest cross-sectional length. That leads to rather large conduits, and you'd usually be better off pulling individual conductors within your conduit system.

One thing you're not allowed to do with Romex is sleeve it in a short section of flex or conduit to run to outdoor equipment near a building, e.g. an A/C compressor. Inside an outdoor conduit is considered a wet location, and Romex is prohibited in wet locations.

Cheers, Wayne
 
LeftieBiker said:
I did some web research on running romex in conduit a while back, and the majority view (there is never a consensus on the Web!) was that it's fine as an extra indoor precaution. Just don't expect to solve any code problems by doing it.
Depends on the code issue. It doesn't fix the issue of running Romex outdoors being prohibited. But it can be used to deal with the prohibition of running Romex "exposed to physical damage" by protecting the Romex.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
LeftieBiker said:
I did some web research on running romex in conduit a while back, and the majority view (there is never a consensus on the Web!) was that it's fine as an extra indoor precaution. Just don't expect to solve any code problems by doing it.
Depends on the code issue. It doesn't fix the issue of running Romex outdoors being prohibited. But it can be used to deal with the prohibition of running Romex "exposed to physical damage" by protecting the Romex.

Cheers, Wayne

Actually, that was what I meant. Shame it wasn't what I wrote!
 
For what its worth, right now you can get a new Tesla 2nd generation wall charger for 350 ish bucks on Ebay new. It will work for whatever EV you have now (with a 200 buck adapter) but if you get a Tesla someday with a dual charger it is good for 72 amps (with the right wiring of course). If I could go back and do it again I would go this route....only because we'll probably pick up a lightly used Tesla S in the next few years.

Just another consideration.

Cheers.

John
 
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