Only 8A on 240v? What am I doing wrong?

[MikeRTX]

I don't know anything about code, but kudos for making it tidy. I would've *actually* punched through:

View attachment 972587

Don't take this thread too personal, wiring and installation matters are definitely one topic where folks tend to get more ornary than normal.

Congrats on the car and getting your home charging working!

Lol, thanks. Yeah, it seems like some folks get a little sideways on some stuff. But that's okay.

 

[MikeRTX]

I would not buy any Leviton branded outlets for EV charging, they only have half sized contacts if you look into the sockets. Practically any other brand has larger contacts even the $10 one at Home Depot or Leviton.

NeoCharge makes an automatic switch that is UL listed, but it's intended for situations where the 14-30 is in the garage (not having to punch through walls).

Sorry! Something went wrong!

As others pointed out, exposed flexible cord into a wall is not code compliant. Flexible conduit like Romex needs to be either fully inside the drywall or metal-clad or metal conduit (EMT) must be used if exposed. Of course it is up to you to do your own risk analysis.

I know what you're saying, but what's going on here is that the switch box is inserted into the garage side, essentially up against the backside of the utility room wallboard. The "flexible cord" only has to pass through the one layer of wallboard (3/4") before passing through the knockout on the back of the switch box. So there is really no room for conduit or metal-clad.

And there is no reason for the flexible cord from the dryer to be encased in conduit, since it's right next to the existing dryer cord, and no one runs conduit in their utility room from the outlet to the dryer.

Here's a crude diagram of the thing:

 

[stopcrazypp]

I know what you're saying, but what's going on here is that the switch box is inserted into the garage side, essentially up against the backside of the utility room wallboard. The "flexible cord" only has to pass through the one layer of wallboard (3/4") before passing through the knockout on the back of the switch box. So there is really no room for conduit or metal-clad.

And there is no reason for the flexible cord from the dryer to be encased in conduit, since it's right next to the existing dryer cord, and no one runs conduit in their utility room from the outlet to the dryer.

Here's a crude diagram of the thing:

View attachment 977413

I understand your point, just pointing out it's not code compliant unfortunately. I considered doing something similar (as my dryer outlet is also in a laundry room, which is separated from the garage by a wall), but in the end I just installed a proper 14-50 under the existing subpanel in my garage, given there was space for a 50A breaker (used EMT and a exposed work box for the outlet).

I couldn't figure a code compliant way to install that would keep a dryer outlet in the laundry room (even if something existed like the NeoCharge, which it didn't back then) and it wasn't viable to run a cord every time through the door to the garage.

 

[CKwik240]

I would not buy any Leviton branded outlets for EV charging, they only have half sized contacts if you look into the sockets. Practically any other brand has larger contacts even the $10 one at Home Depot or Leviton.

NeoCharge makes an automatic switch that is UL listed, but it's intended for situations where the 14-30 is in the garage (not having to punch through walls).

Sorry! Something went wrong!

As others pointed out, exposed flexible cord into a wall is not code compliant. Flexible conduit like Romex needs to be either fully inside the drywall or metal-clad or metal conduit (EMT) must be used if exposed. Of course it is up to you to do your own risk analysis.

Another option would be to wire in a 30A DPDT on-on switch so you can switch back and forth with no risk of charging the car and using the dryer at the same time. Did this when I had a Chevy Volt and was renting a house that had an electric dryer. I probably spent about $50-100 total at the time, including the cost of the boxes, conduit, wiring, and outlet. It was also easily reversible, which made it easy to revert back when I moved out. While automated solutions are neat, $350 seems insane to me.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Right. I have the 14-30 dongle on the way from Tesla, but since the 14-50 outlet is actually a bit heavier-duty than the Leviton 14-30 outlet I just bought (the 14-50 has nice brass terminals vs the 14-30's steel ones, and I don't like the external terminals of the 14-30, either), I'll probably just leave the 14-50 outlet in place.

If you are concerned about the use of steel instead of brass, note that the Leviton 279-S00 for 14-50 has half size steel contacts to the plug blades, unlike just about every other 14-50 outlet that has full size brass contacts to the plug blades. This can make it marginal in terms of overheating for high amperage EV charging.

For your 30A circuit, best would be to install a (non-Leviton) 14-30 outlet and use the 14-30 plug adapter for the Tesla Mobile Connector with it.