Upgraded EVSE Setup

We ordered our Leaf about a week after the May reservations opened thinking we'd get delivery sometime late in the year. To our surprise we were notified of a delivery date of Aug 2011. I know that's just a first guess and doesn't mean anything but it did prompt us to start preparing for delivery.

We live in Dallas so we listened to the EvGO pitch for the free assessment. It's interesting but we're not interested in a contract so we plan on level 2 charging with the upgraded Nissan charger. I had an electrician come in and install an new 240v circuit and LAN drop in the garage. He installed a 4 wire feed line but I wasn't paying attention and he installed a 40 amp breaker. I already had ordered a Leviton 30 amp L6 outlet to use for the connection. They installed a dual gang box but the L6 only requires a single box. I installed the L6 outlet without any problems and have a blank/outlet wall plate on order.

So, here are the questions:

1. Since I'm using a 30 amp outlet on a single branch, do I have to use a 30 amp breaker to stay in code?
2. Since I have the dual gang box, can I create a 110 outlet by using a straight blade outlet tapped off of 1 side of the 240v line?

Thanks

pwruser said:

So, here are the questions:

1. Since I'm using a 30 amp outlet on a single branch, do I have to use a 30 amp breaker to stay in code?

Click to expand...

Correct, a 30 amp receptacle on an individual branch circuit has to be protected at 30 amps or less. Note that the upgraded EVSE uses an L6-20 plug, so for ease of use you may wish to have a L6-20 receptacle, which would have to be protected at 20 amps or less.

pwruser said:

2. Since I have the dual gang box, can I create a 110 outlet by using a straight blade outlet tapped off of 1 side of the 240v line?

Click to expand...

You mentioned the wiring supplying the box is "4 wire", so it should be two hots, a neutral, and a ground. In which case, yes you can use the neutral, one of the hots, and the ground to power a normal 120V receptacle. However, it must be protected at 20 amps or less. Also, since your circuit would now be serving multiple receptacles, your 240V receptacle would need to be 20 amps or less.

Cheers, Wayne

I was soooo close to geting it right but, not close enough.

After doing several hours of research I thought downgrading from 40 to 20 amps might be required.

Thanks for confirming my guesses.