Adjusting amp current draw when using 6-30 to 14-50 adapter

[grayguy]

I purchased a 6-30 to 14-50 adapter for an Airbnb with a 6-30 30A outlet in their barn. Tesla does not sell a 6-30 adapter for the Mobile Connector, so this is a hack of sorts. It's unclear to me if I need to adjust the current draw in the car to 30A (or maybe less to be safe) to ensure my Mobile Connector does not attempt to pull more of a load than the breaker is supplied with, or if the Mobile Connector will negotiate that by detecting the power supplied by the outlet?

I've read discrepant information stating that the current draw only needs to be manually adjusted on 120V circuits with other loads on them, and that is not the case with this outlet, which is 240V. Any suggestions here? I couldn't find much from Tesla on when to manually adjust this. I was thinking of sending the Airbnb host a short video or instructions for future guests so that a guest does not blow their circuit in the future after I introduce them to this feature. I haven't found that simple set of instructions yet.

 

[RTPEV]

From the mobile connector's perspective, it is plugged into a 14-50, so yes, you will need to limit the current to 24A (30A * 80%) in the car. You will need to do this any time you are using an adapter that is not an official adapter designed to plug directly into the mobile connector housing (Tesla's adapters have the "smarts" to identify the current limit so that the mobile connector can properly limit current draw).

And yes, you may possibly need to do this when using either 120V or 240V.

 

[Genie]

The 6-30R in the barn, and the 10awg likely feeding it, are good for 24A max in EV charging even if they are fine for 30A drying clothes. The Tesla UMC plug ends limit the current properly for the plug type, if you adapt that to a different outlet you need to manually limit the current.

 

[swaltner]

If it was me, I’d have purchased this adapter instead. I believe they purchase an official Tesla adapter for a 30 amp outlet and then replace the plug. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s an adapter your grandma (or anyone else that struggles with tech) can safely use.

NEMA 6-30 Adapter for Tesla Model S/X/3/Y Gen 2

www.evseadapters.com

As mentioned earlier, you need to manually set your car to 24 amps (or less) when using your adapter. Be safe out there using these outlet adapters that present higher amp outlets than is actually available.

 

[beatle]

I was thinking of sending the Airbnb host a short video or instructions for future guests so that a guest does not blow their circuit in the future after I introduce them to this feature. I haven't found that simple set of instructions yet.

Others here have given you some good options to get you through the trip, though if I were the owner of the AirBnB, I wouldn't advertise any little tricks to use various EV charging adapters. The customer is bound to mess them up in one way or the other, or make assumptions with interpreting the instructions that are wrong, and then blame the owner for leading them astray, tripping the breaker, or causing some other problem.

 

[Rocky_H]

It's frustrating that places still sell inappropriate mismatched amp level adapters like that. Most non-Teslas don't even have a way to manually turn down the amp levels to what is safe, so this is really bad. As @swaltner linked, the 6-30 adapter from EVSEAdapters is the best thing to get, but anyone else who is making things like this should be making it a 6-30 to 14-30, so the amp level is at least correct, so the car's adapter will set the current at the correct level.