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Mauileaf said:
The 14-50 to L6-20 adapter is all I need after an upgrade?
Yes, if your dryer outlet is a NEMA 14-50 or 14-30 (it might be something else). Here's an image of receptacle types:
NEMA receptacle diagram
Technical stuff: The adapter works with both 14-50 and 14-30 because the neutral pin is cut off the plug. The L6-20 end needs only three wires: Hot, Hot, Ground. Neutral is used for dryers and stoves so that they can have 120V clocks and controllers. It is not used for a 240V EVSE.

Also, as planet4ever said above, it is crucial that the outlet you use for charging the LEAF be the only one on the circuit. Is it?
I would get a separate meter for fun?
I like having a meter to track my electricity usage from the wall so I can track the exact cost of fueling my car. But I assume that you probably wouldn't want to install something like that in a rental house. If you do, DaveinOlyWA explains how here: Refurbished utility meter installation

I have two portable EVSE units. The one modified for 240V lives in my garage except in the rare instances I need to use a 240V plug to charge down in town. The 120 V one lives in my car since I live in a remote area with no public charge stations whatsoever; it is my emergency backup. But Nissan raised the price of their portable Panasonic unit so buying a second EVSE is now quite expensive. If you can get by without carrying one in the car I'd just leave it in the garage.
 
I'll get that 240v tested to make sure it's got power first. I would consider asking the landlord (who's also the one who built this house) about putting in a third (do i need to?) with its own breaker just in case (we do cloth diapers and using the dryer every night it seems!)

FREE Blink charger? I've missed something along my research.

I'm no electrician but what's the deal with the L6-20 over the dryer issue it seems I might introduce?
 
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I use this now...

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Should I use this instead?
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^I'm not an electrician but it looks to me like your second outlet is a 14-50 and does have its own circuit and breaker ("Welding"). If you have a voltmeter you can check to see that it is off when you flip that breaker. Same with the dryer outlet.

If the outlet works, it appears that you are good to go with an upgraded EVSE and 14-50 to L6-20 adapter for Level 2 charging.

There are some EEs here who have more experience with such things and who are better qualified to say. Or ask any local electrician.

As for your current 120V charging, you should be fine with the outlet you are currently using. It isn't necessary to use a GFI outlet because the EVSE acts as a really big GFI unit. In case of a ground fault it would immediately cut the flow of power to the J1772 plug. Try to be sure that the 120V outlet you use doesn't have anything else drawing current on the same circuit while you are charging. The EVSE draws 12 Amps at 120 Volts and that should be the maximum used on a standard 15 Amp circuit.
 
dgpcolorado said:
^I'm not an electrician but it looks to me like your second outlet is a 14-50 and does have its own circuit and breaker ("Welding"). If you have a voltmeter you can check to see that it is off when you flip that breaker. Same with the dryer outlet.

If the outlet works, it appears that you are good to go with an upgraded EVSE and 14-50 to L6-20 adapter for Level 2 charging. ...
I'm not an electrician either, but I find it curious that the circuit is labeled "50a", and seems to have a 50a receptacle, but the breakers themselves are only 20a. I surmise that someone decided to downgrade it for some reason. They really should have changed out the receptacle to a 20a, but didn't. It should work OK for the upgraded EVSE, as dpgcolorado noted, although the possibility exists that you could install a 40a or 50a breaker and plug a higher capacity EVSE into that circuit. I wouldn't do it without things being checked out by qualified personnel though, as there may have been a good reason to downgrade the circuit. Besides, you won't really see any advantage with your current LEAF as it can't use the extra capacity. It would leave your portable EVSE available for carrying around, however.
 
davewill said:
dgpcolorado said:
^I'm not an electrician but it looks to me like your second outlet is a 14-50 and does have its own circuit and breaker ("Welding"). If you have a voltmeter you can check to see that it is off when you flip that breaker. Same with the dryer outlet.

If the outlet works, it appears that you are good to go with an upgraded EVSE and 14-50 to L6-20 adapter for Level 2 charging. ...
I'm not an electrician either, but I find it curious that the circuit is labeled "50a", and seems to have a 50a receptacle, but the breakers themselves are only 20a. I surmise that someone decided to downgrade it for some reason. They really should have changed out the receptacle to a 20a, but didn't. It should work OK for the upgraded EVSE, as dpgcolorado noted, although the possibility exists that you could install a 40a or 50a breaker and plug a higher capacity EVSE into that circuit. I wouldn't do it without things being checked out by qualified personnel though, as there may have been a good reason to downgrade the circuit. Besides, you won't really see any advantage with your current LEAF as it can't use the extra capacity. It would leave your portable EVSE available for carrying around, however.


umm, im sorry but is that supposed to be a picture of a "working" plug?
 
I've use most of the outlets and all seem to be working. I need to pick up a voltmeter to test that 220 which has its own breaker.
 
Mauileaf said:
I don't understand your question.


oh crap! i didnt see the post above about the 20/50 amp breaker thing.

ya, that is weird. i would take that plug out and put in the 20 amp plug (cheaper) and see what gauge wire you got running to it
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
Mauileaf said:
I don't understand your question.


oh crap! i didnt see the post above about the 20/50 amp breaker thing.

ya, that is weird. i would take that plug out and put in the 20 amp plug (cheaper) and see what gauge wire you got running to it

haha..glad I snapped that photo! I'll call my landlord and see if he even remembers why. I'm not about the pull that thing. Definitely not qualified to do so.
 
Mauileaf said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
i would take that plug out and put in the 20 amp plug (cheaper) and see what gauge wire you got running to it
haha..glad I snapped that photo! I'll call my landlord and see if he even remembers why. I'm not about the pull that thing. Definitely not qualified to do so.
I think 50a is typical for welding, which is what the handwritten label in the breaker box says. Who knows how you ended up with a 20a breaker there, but treat it as a gift. 20a is what you want if you are going to get an EVSEupgrade. I don't think you need to worry about wire gauge; it might or might not support 50a, but it should be good for at least 20a.

Now, as to your "definitely not qualified" comment, it's really not that big a deal. Talk to someone at a hardware store; tell them you have a 50a outlet in a wide box and want to put in an L6-20 outlet instead. They can show you the hardware (maybe $25) and how to wire it. All you need is that voltmeter you want to get, straight blade and Phillips blade screwdrivers, and possibly needle nose pliers. It's a ten minute job for you, or $150 for an electrician, your choice.

Ray
 
Mauileaf said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
Mauileaf said:
I don't understand your question.


oh crap! i didnt see the post above about the 20/50 amp breaker thing.

ya, that is weird. i would take that plug out and put in the 20 amp plug (cheaper) and see what gauge wire you got running to it

haha..glad I snapped that photo! I'll call my landlord and see if he even remembers why. I'm not about the pull that thing. Definitely not qualified to do so.
Pictures are good! We so often get questions without enough information and have to guess at what the poster really has to work with. Yes, that 20 Amp double pole breaker is strange for a 14-50 "Welding" outlet. But it would be fine for a 16 Amp upgraded EVSE.
planet4ever said:
I think 50a is typical for welding, which is what the handwritten label in the breaker box says. Who knows how you ended up with a 20a breaker there, but treat it as a gift. 20a is what you want if you are going to get an EVSEupgrade. I don't think you need to worry about wire gauge; it might or might not support 50a, but it should be good for at least 20a.

Now, as to your "definitely not qualified" comment, it's really not that big a deal. Talk to someone at a hardware store; tell them you have a 50a outlet in a wide box and want to put in an L6-20 outlet instead. They can show you the hardware (maybe $25) and how to wire it. All you need is that voltmeter you want to get, straight blade and Phillips blade screwdrivers, and possibly needle nose pliers. It's a ten minute job for you, or $150 for an electrician, your choice.

Ray
If Mauileaf isn't comfortable changing out the outlet in his rental house, wouldn't it just be simpler to use a 14-50 to L6-20 adapter? Not as elegant as putting in an L6-20 outlet, but should work fine as long as the breaker and wiring are ok.

I certainly wouldn't use the outlet without testing it with a voltmeter and verifying that it really is connected to that 20 Amp breaker (by flipping the breaker to see if the power shuts off to the outlet). The usual "be careful" stuff.
 
all good points-will work on this when I have some free time and keep you guys posted...but I think I am going with an EVSE upgrade as soon as they email me back, or however their process works to ship out here on the island.

plus I contacted Blink for a free home unit. I'd think those on the android/iphone apps in need of charging going up to the mountain can come up and charge, in return for Blink it's free marketing out here on Maui. There is only one on Oahu at the moment.
 
the adapters by far the easiest way but changing the plug it's a lot cheaper. I take the plug to match the EVSE upgrade plug for about $5.

ellen mind I put a meter in line so I could monster how much charge I was using so change the plug while I was doing it was kind of a no brainer anyway
 
I hope they didn't have a 20A breaker originally and changed out its original 20A receptacle for the 14-50 ! I.e. the wire gauge running in the wall might only support 20A (good enough for a current LEAF).

Also ... minor gripe ... the 14-50 is installed "upside-down". Most angle-plugs you would find to plug into that 14-50R like to have the groud pin at the top instead, so that the cable can hang down. Not really a problem ... since you're likely going to swap it out anyway.
 
Landlord comes into town tomorrow and is actually shocked about the 20a breaker with it being marked 50a
 
Mauileaf said:
Landlord comes into town tomorrow and is actually shocked about the 20a breaker with it being marked 50a
A little background from the National Electrical Code sounds like it would be helpful:

1) First, if you have a circuit with just a single receptacle on it, the only rule about the size of the receptacle is that it is at least as big as the circuit size. So there's nothing wrong with a 50 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit.

2) Second, welder circuits (Article 630) are a bit unusual. Because welders often have a duty cycle of less than 100%, you calculate a reduced conductor size. So a 50 amp welder with a low enough duty cycle might only require 25 amp conductors. Moreover, the small conductor rule 240.4(D), which says for example that #12 Cu shouldn't have a breaker larger than 20 amps on it, doesn't apply to some special applications, including welders. So you could use the full 25 amp capacity of #12 Cu for a welder. Lastly, the breaker can be up to 200% of the conductor capacity, so you could have a 50 amp breaker with #12 conductors on it.

3) Someone not familiar with the above or wishing to repurpose the circuit might have come along and replaced the 50 amp breaker with a 20 amp breaker.

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
Mauileaf said:
Landlord comes into town tomorrow and is actually shocked about the 20a breaker with it being marked 50a
A little background from the National Electrical Code sounds like it would be helpful:

1) First, if you have a circuit with just a single receptacle on it, the only rule about the size of the receptacle is that it is at least as big as the circuit size. So there's nothing wrong with a 50 amp receptacle on a 20 amp circuit.

2) Second, welder circuits (Article 630) are a bit unusual. Because welders often have a duty cycle of less than 100%, you calculate a reduced conductor size. So a 50 amp welder with a low enough duty cycle might only require 25 amp conductors. Moreover, the small conductor rule 240.4(D), which says for example that #12 Cu shouldn't have a breaker larger than 20 amps on it, doesn't apply to some special applications, including welders. So you could use the full 25 amp capacity of #12 Cu for a welder. Lastly, the breaker can be up to 200% of the conductor capacity, so you could have a 50 amp breaker with #12 conductors on it.

3) Someone not familiar with the above or wishing to repurpose the circuit might have come along and replaced the 50 amp breaker with a 20 amp breaker.

Cheers, Wayne

Turns out that receptacle was used for freezers (ice box).
 
For some reason I feel restricted! I drive 40 miles rountrip. 80% charge and have 4 bars left after 1200ft climb. It's like a video game?! Can I really do this, or am I just 12 hours overworked and need to sleep. But no...I'm leafing out to you. Lol

Or do I just need to order that dang level 2 already

How often do you use your leaf after a commute to work?
 
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