Charged with CA plug finally

3-phase power doesn't have to be 208V, although it's pretty common. It depends on how the system is connected and what transformers are in use.

The most common is a transformer that takes 3-phase 480V input and outputs 3-phase from a wye configuration, which has a center neutral. The phase voltages are 120 V (hot-to-neutral), and the line voltages are 208 V (hot-to-hot).

But an alternate way to do it is to connect 3 separate 1-phase transformers with an output center tap in a delta configuration on the output. This gives you 3 hots and 3 neutrals out. Line voltage is 240 V (hot-to-hot), and 120 V hot-to-neutral. This is more complicated to wire, and the neutrals must be separated and kept together only with their matching 2 hots (i.e. 3 separate 240V/120V panels).

A 3rd way to do it is if the 240V/120V loads are very small compared to the 3-phase 480V loads, then a single 1-phase transformer with a center tap can be used to provide 240V/120V service. This unbalances the 480V load on 2 phases, but if the unbalance is small it's not a problem.

I live in CA and am using a NEMA 14-50. But I didn't realize that there was a CA style plug. I was at my nephew's a week ago and wanted to plug into their dryer outlet, but the plug was different from mine at home. One connector was a L-shaped prong. The adaptor I have came with the car and has a straight blade prong in that position.

If anybody can educate me, that would be awesome. I thought I was covered, but apparently I am not. I am also wondering where you got that adaptor.

Many thanks!

I was at my nephew's a week ago and wanted to plug into their dryer outlet, but the plug was different from mine at home. One connector was a L-shaped prong. The adaptor I have came with the car and has a straight blade prong in that position.

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Likely a 14-30. Tesla no longer sells an adapter for that socket. It's a shame, it's probably one of the most common 240V sockets you'll find.

NEMA connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It could also be a NEMA 10-30:


It's a 30a 240v dryer outlet. It is obsolete and can no longer be installed on new circuits. You can only use them to replace existing 10-30s. Tesla sells an adapter for the mobile connector for it. Unfortunately, as noted above, they no longer sell the 14-30 adapter.

Tesla Gear Shop NEMA 10-30

I assume it is this one:

Amazon.com : Conntek PSS21450 1.5-Feet 50-Amp 125/250-volt Shore Power SS2-50P/ Generator CS6365 Locking Plug to NEMA 14-50R Female Connector : Boating Shore Power Cords : Patio, Lawn Garden

The particular adapter is popular on boat docks, a nice 50A (max) 240V charge. The "California" thingy is a big spike in the center for God knows why (I'm sure FlasherZ knows...)- the link above has one, you are covered with or without.

Cosmacelf said:

Question for the electricians out there. This is a large facility and I know they have to have three phase power running through it (Del Mar Fairgrounds) but the car initially sensed 246 volts which went down to 240v under load. How was it not 208v?

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Three-phase power comes in a number of different configurations: Wye (which is the common in residential situations where you have a lot of 120V loads), corner-grounded delta, and "wild leg"/"high leg" delta. Delta is used when you have more industrial / higher-voltage L-L loads. If it's a high-leg delta, you can get 3 voltages - 120V (neutral to L1 and neutral to L3), 240V (L1-L2, L2-L3, L1-L3), and 208V (neutral to L2, but this is very rarely used because it's limited to between 5% and 10% of transformer capacity). These delta voltages assume 240V L-L, of course.

See Three-phase electric power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more information.

Cosmacelf said:

Tesla used to sell that adapter (likely a NEMA 14-30 as others have pointed out), but for some mysterious reason, doesn't anymore. You can either buy or make an adapter for it, though. Check out http://cosmacelf.net/Home%20Made%20Adapters.pdf which will give you links to where you can buy adapters.

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The reason isn't really mysterious, the adapters just didn't have the sales numbers to keep them managed (stock-wise).

I've asked if Tesla would consider sharing their engineering specs / diagrams for a third party to produce them, but as you can imagine I don't think they're interested. I think it would be extremely valuable, both to a third-party parts company as well as Tesla, for the adapters to be available.

Unfortunately, I think it will take someone burning down their house using some stupid combination of a homemade adapter, a quick 220 box, 2 cheap extension cords, and the 14-50 Tesla adapter before Tesla will consider it important enough to have the wide variety of adapters available.

FlasherZ said:

The reason isn't really mysterious, the adapters just didn't have the sales numbers to keep them managed (stock-wise).

I've asked if Tesla would consider sharing their engineering specs / diagrams for a third party to produce them, but as you can imagine I don't think they're interested. I think it would be extremely valuable, both to a third-party parts company as well as Tesla, for the adapters to be available.

Unfortunately, I think it will take someone burning down their house using some stupid combination of a homemade adapter, a quick 220 box, 2 cheap extension cords, and the 14-50 Tesla adapter before Tesla will consider it important enough to have the wide variety of adapters available.

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I thought it was because they didn't want to bother with redesigning it like they had to with the 14-50. When they announced the recall, at least one other adapter besides the 14-50 was immediately pulled. I thought it was the 14-30.

The SS2-50 is common in marinas (not specific to California) although the locations are usually on docks and tough to get your car alongside if you're not in underwater mode. Marine supply stores do sometimes carry longer cables up to 50' although unless you need them regularly it's unlikely to be worth the investment.

FWIW, we also attend lots of horse shows and (in FL at least) they all have NEMA14-50 outlets for the RVs and trailers; I've never had a problem finding one spare to plug in either Model S or Roadster, usually free just by asking nicely or perhaps paying $5 at the show office.

Gizmotoy said:

I thought it was because they didn't want to bother with redesigning it like they had to with the 14-50. When they announced the recall, at least one other adapter besides the 14-50 was immediately pulled. I thought it was the 14-30.

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I don't recall any of them being pulled. I know there was concern whether the 6-50 was affected by the same heat problem with the rev 1 adapters because it was at the same amount of current, but it was already slated to be discontinued over volume anyway, from what I understand.

None of the lower current adapters were affected by the recall, they were just discontinued because of the volume. I suspect the 5-20 and 10-30 will go that way soon, so if you haven't gotten yours, do so.

I really don't understand what sales volume they think they need in order justify stocking them. Clearly there is already tooling available, just make a run and leave it in a warehouse for fulfillment through the web shop only. I can understand not making them available at every service center, but how much can it really cost to make a batch and keep it in inventory for sale through the web store? IMHO, there is no excuse for retiring the 6-50 and 14-30 adapters that already existed unless there is a new design forthcoming for the adapter interface.

NigelM said:

The SS2-50 is common in marinas (not specific to California) although the locations are usually on docks and tough to get your car alongside if you're not in underwater mode. Marine supply stores do sometimes carry longer cables up to 50' although unless you need them regularly it's unlikely to be worth the investment.

FWIW, we also attend lots of horse shows and (in FL at least) they all have NEMA14-50 outlets for the RVs and trailers; I've never had a problem finding one spare to plug in either Model S or Roadster, usually free just by asking nicely or perhaps paying $5 at the show office.

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The California connector is also commonly used for event and construction power as well as the output for high power generators. I have a 14-50 for a spider box (ie: Coleman Cable 1970 Xtreme Box Straight Blade Portable Power Distributor) and CA to 14-50 just in case I need power at an event and can tap into such a setup.

Cosmacelf said:

I did ask Tesla via email about the discontinuance of the 14-30, emphasizing how often people used it (backed up by my surveys), and they said they understood. The implication was that perhaps a redesigned adapter was in the works. My guess is that a UMC version 2 will ship with the Model X, which will have a hardier adapter coupling.

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Perhaps, although that wouldn't be a good reason to discontinue the adapters as early as they did.

miimura said:

I really don't understand what sales volume they think they need in order justify stocking them. ... I can understand not making them available at every service center

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This is really where I see frustration with this. Make it web-only, whenever you get to X number of orders (above anything already in stock), make a batch and ship them out. I can understand them saying they don't keep it on-hand and would only manufacture them in batches on-demand, but completely eliminating the option just doesn't make sense to me. A lack of such adapters is a hindrance in EV adoption b/c people inherently don't want to pay to redo electrical work that could work just fine.

Cyclone said:

This is really where I see frustration with this.

A lack of such adapters is a hindrance in EV adoption b/c people inherently don't want to pay to redo electrical work that could work just fine.

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IMO, your statement is spot on !

You can safely cut the bottom pin off the 14-50 adapter. It is an unused neutral pin, (no electrical connection inside the adapter) and this is the only difference between a 14-30, 14-50, and 14-60, so once removed it'll now fit all 3 outlets. Just be sure you dial your amps down to 24 if you are using a 14-30 to avoid overloading the circuit.