nema 14-50r to nema 15-5?

psxpetey · Feb 9, 2014

okie doke so lets get right to it. I have a device from overseas 220v which runs at about 32amps. I have a 2 pole 40amp breaker which provides 240v to my stove. It is Nema 14-50r. Now I want to wire this to the device. I found some 8awg wire that holds 30-40amps with 4 wires inside. I could not find a chinese receptacle anywhere, you know the one. Two slanted prongs up top and 1 below for ground.

SO my idea is to wire the 14-50r plug to a 15-5 female plug via the 30 amp wire and then just put a male 15-5 on the device. However before I went ahead and did this I wanted to know how I would go about it. Do I just connect the two hot wires together?

or would this cause problems. aka fire etc. I dont imagine it would but id like to make sure before I go ahead.

yobigd20 · Feb 9, 2014

i'm not an electrician but I know enough to get around and what you're trying to do does not sound safe to me. it sounds like your devices pulls 240V @ 32Amps. Connecting this to a 240V receptible running on a 40A breaker would be fine EXCEPT for how you're trying to wire it. those 5-15 plugs are only rated for 120V @ 12A. if you're running 240V @ 32Amps through them, I would expect them to melt and probably arc and start a fire immediately.

theres probably a better way to do this but I'm not qualified to give you advice.

psxpetey · Feb 9, 2014

yobigd20 said:
i'm not an electrician but I know enough to get around and what you're trying to do does not sound safe to me. it sounds like your devices pulls 240V @ 32Amps. Connecting this to a 240V receptible running on a 40A breaker would be fine EXCEPT for how you're trying to wire it. those 5-15 plugs are only rated for 120V @ 12A. if you're running 240V @ 32Amps through them, I would expect them to melt and probably arc and start a fire immediately.

theres probably a better way to do this but I'm not qualified to give you advice.

240v plugs from china and whatnot look exactly the same inside and 15-5 and yes it is 32amp at 240v I will be using a wire that will be able to hold that amperage. the receptical I will use wont be a plug like in your wall just a female and male 15-5. I am sort of like you I know enough to get around. I just wont to make certain before I go ahead that the risk level is very low lol which I believe it is. However the device does not always run at 32amps. that is its maximum power.

NigelM · Feb 10, 2014

psxpetey said:
240v plugs from china and whatnot look exactly the same inside and 15-5 and yes it is 32amp at 240v I will be using a wire that will be able to hold that amperage. the receptical I will use wont be a plug like in your wall just a female and male 15-5. I am sort of like you I know enough to get around. I just wont to make certain before I go ahead that the risk level is very low lol which I believe it is. However the device does not always run at 32amps. that is its maximum power.

The issue is not just the wire you're using but also the connections and receptacles, plus you need to account for the maximum power your device will be running at even if it's only running at that power a few minutes at a time. Sounds like you want to run a wire from a fixed circuit and end it with a plug as a sort of hybrid extension? I'd advise against that for a number of reasons.

There are a number of highly knowledgeable folks on this forum but you really need to have a qualified electrician look at your set up. Risking your life and/or a fire in your house is not worth the money you're trying to save.

physicsfita · Feb 10, 2014

From what I can tell in the proposed wiring diagram, it looks like you are directly tying the A and B phase hot wires together. This would cause a 240-V short, which would be doubleplusungood.

rabar10 · Feb 10, 2014

physicsfita said:
From what I can tell in the proposed wiring diagram, it looks like you are directly tying the A and B phase hot wires together. This would cause a 240-V short, which would be doubleplusungood.

This. Do a Google search for "NEMA plug wiring", and then as others have mentioned please call an electrician.

Also -- if you're already changing the plug on the device, why not just have the electrician change the appliance plug to a 14-50 and be done with it? If the appliance has no neutral wire separate from ground, then the center vertical prong on the plug will remain disconnected.

mitch672 · Feb 10, 2014

You cannot connect "2 hots together", that's a direct "short circuit".
Our power here is 120V split phase (2 hots each 120V, voltage measured between the 2 hots is 240V), Europe is different, they have 240V on 1 conductor, a neutral and a ground.
Also everything in the adapter has to be rated for the maximum current, you can't use undersized connectors, that's just asking for trouble.

doug · Feb 10, 2014

Based on the first post, the OP should not attempt anything.

FlasherZ · Feb 10, 2014

Completely unsafe. Don't do it.

The "Chinese connector" you're talking about is a standard power plug/receptacle for small electronics in SE Asia and is inappropriate for 32A, it is more like our standard 5-15.

I guarantee that 32A will pretty much melt every single 5-15 connector on the market.

Your wiring diagram will create a direct short which will trip the breaker the moment it's plugged in or the breaker is turned on.

Whether your appliance will work depends upon what it is and how it is wired. Overseas 230V appliances expect ~230V between hot and neutral, whereas US 240V appliances expect ~240V between the two hot conductors. Some appliances (especially isolated switching power supplies) don't care, yet others expect neutral and ground to be at near-zero potential. In these cases, overseas appliances may be unsafe or may blow circuit breakers repeatedly.

And the final rule in electricity - just because it works does NOT mean it's safe.

psxpetey · Aug 24, 2014

FlasherZ said:
Completely unsafe. Don't do it.

The "Chinese connector" you're talking about is a standard power plug/receptacle for small electronics in SE Asia and is inappropriate for 32A, it is more like our standard 5-15.

I guarantee that 32A will pretty much melt every single 5-15 connector on the market.

Your wiring diagram will create a direct short which will trip the breaker the moment it's plugged in or the breaker is turned on.

Whether your appliance will work depends upon what it is and how it is wired. Overseas 230V appliances expect ~230V between hot and neutral, whereas US 240V appliances expect ~240V between the two hot conductors. Some appliances (especially isolated switching power supplies) don't care, yet others expect neutral and ground to be at near-zero potential. In these cases, overseas appliances may be unsafe or may blow circuit breakers repeatedly.

And the final rule in electricity - just because it works does NOT mean it's safe.

This is the answer i was looking for. So basically I would connect hot to the hot in the chinese plug. The other hot to the neutral in the chinese plug and ground to ground and leave the neutral capped because in north america the neutral is for anything on the appliance that may need 120v instead of 240v. Im going with wiring it in, instead of using 5-15 because after some research I realized how dumb that was. So its Nema 14-50 plug with 8/3 grade wire straight into the appliance.
I love it when people actually answer the question like you did instead of just saying contact an electrician.

NigelM · Aug 24, 2014

psxpetey said:
I love it when people actually answer the question like you did instead of just saying contact an electrician.

That comes across as a dig at people who were trying to stop you killing yourself when you clearly had no idea what you were doing. You're on a Tesla Motors forum, some of our members are pretty knowledgeable (esp FlasherZ) but you're soliciting advice from folks without even specifying what device you're trying to connect; it's impossible for anyone here to give you definitive, safe advice based on what you've told us.

Really, talk to a qualified electrician or to an estate planner before you plug in your device.

FlasherZ · Aug 24, 2014

psxpetey said:
This is the answer i was looking for. So basically I would connect hot to the hot in the chinese plug. The other hot to the neutral in the chinese plug and ground to ground and leave the neutral capped because in north america the neutral is for anything on the appliance that may need 120v instead of 240v. Im going with wiring it in, instead of using 5-15 because after some research I realized how dumb that was. So its Nema 14-50 plug with 8/3 grade wire straight into the appliance.
I love it when people actually answer the question like you did instead of just saying contact an electrician.

Some international appliances won't be able to handle this, because they require neutral and ground to be at nero-zero potential. If you insist upon doing this, be very careful. It would have been helpful for you to describe what type of appliance it is.

- - - Updated - - -

NigelM said:
or to an estate planner

:biggrin:

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