What 240V power sources have you used?

[Michael Bornstein]

I have just purchased a new 240V 40A portable EVSE based on the OpenEVSE. It came with a 14-50 plug which I modified by removing the neutral pin so that it would also fit 14-30 and 14-40 receptacles (the EVSE doesn't use the neutral wire). I have already discovered 14-50 receptacles in LA (Century City Mall) and Frasier Park (Flying J).

What other power sources are commonly available? Having a portable EVSE greatly expands the range of my car as I am no longer dependant on finding a working J-plug but can also look for alternate power sources. If there are other commonly available sources, I can make a conversion cable.

My home charger, a 40A Leviton uses a 6-50 receptacle, so I am considering making a cable for that in case the Leviton ever fails. Is 6-50 commonly seen in the wild?

What other converters do you use?

 

[Khaihon]

Where is the 14-50 in the century City Mall?

 

[Michael Bornstein]

It is part of the Tesla charging station near Gelsons. DO NOT park in the Tesla spots, but on the other side, there are 2 or three spots that are right next to a 14-50r on the back wall of the Tesla location. BE SURE to ask permission from Tesla (take the escalator up to ground level and they are right next to the Tea (?Teavana) store). When I used the outlet last month, Tesla said fine. After dark, Tesla does use the outlet to charge their own cars, so you might get disconnected.

 

[smkettner]

240v out in the open is fairly rare AFAIK. Many homes have a 10-30 or 14-30 dryer connector in the garage.
If you have 240 available at work you are in luck. 6-50 is fairly rare unless you have big machinery around.
I have added a couple L6-20 at my rental property to use if needed.
For long distance, an RV park with "50 amp" service will have a 14-50 connector if you can talk them into letting you charge for a nominal fee.
Otherwise it is not that common.

 

[fooljoe]

10-30 "old style" dryer outlets are the most common I've seen. I have one in my garage, and I've stayed at a couple different vacation rentals that have them. So you'd definitely want an adapter for that. I stayed at a hotel in Indian Wells that had a bunch of CS-6365/6364 outlets (I think these are common in marinas as well), so I made an adapter for that just in case both of their J1772 plugs were in use, but didn't need to use it. Nema 14-30 is a common generator plug if you'll ever run into that.

However, I think by far the most common "240v source" you'll be able to use is creating your own 240v from two 120v outlets with a quick220-style device.

 

[ehelmholtz]

I have just purchased a new 240V 40A portable EVSE based on the OpenEVSE. It came with a 14-50 plug which I modified by removing the neutral pin so that it would also fit 14-30 and 14-40 receptacles (the EVSE doesn't use the neutral wire). I have already discovered 14-50 receptacles in LA (Century City Mall) and Frasier Park (Flying J).

This is cool! I didn't know anyone building these for sale. What's the enclosure like? Can you take a photo and post here: http://myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1013 I'm curious to see if someone made it more portable so I can learn and modify the one I did.

Regarding 240V sources, I've used 10-30 dryer outlets and less commonly the 14-50 RV outlets. I've most commonly used two 120V outlets to make a 240V 20A outlet and charged at 16A. This is done at my grandparents' place regularly and at friends' places less frequently. My favorite 2x120V charging was here:

It's at the Downtown Parking Structure in Brea, CA. the location has 2 J1772 EVSEs and several paddle chargers but when I arrived the spots were taken. I noticed two 120V outlets next to the EVSEs and I plugged the Quick240 device in and used my own EVSE. I came back a second time and there was an available EVSE but I was driving the Volt so I did the same trick, leaving an EVSE open for others to use.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Ocotillo Wells RV park east of San Diego, California and a NEMA 14-50:

An RV park on highway 199 on the California / Oregon border with 50 amp service / NEMA 14-50:

The Benbow Inn on highway 101 in northern California has a NEMA 14-50:

In Poway, California, we plugged into a CS6365 50 amp socket on a generator:

 

[fooljoe]

I bought my openEVSE from GlennD over at the mynissanleaf forum. Here's the thread. I had Glenn swap out the relay for a 40a-capable one and put on an orange 40a - capable J1772 cable and 14-50 plug, but it basically looks the same. Glenn's always posting new openEVSE makes for sale, or you can probably message him if you want him to make you one custom.

 

[ehelmholtz]

I bought my openEVSE from GlennD over at the mynissanleaf forum. Here's the thread. I had Glenn swap out the relay for a 40a-capable one and put on an orange 40a - capable J1772 cable and 14-50 plug, but it basically looks the same. Glenn's always posting new openEVSE makes for sale, or you can probably message him if you want him to make you one custom.

Ah, I know Glenn's work; he does a great job. I thought about using that enclosure but I think mine is a little smaller. Is your one from Glenn a 120V/240V EVSE like the one I built here http://myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1013 or like Tony's Jesla?
I was wondering if the OPs OpenEVSE built is similar to mine in size and setup.

 

[fooljoe]

Oops actually meant to post in that thread instead. Mine is currently 240v only because the relay Glenn had available has a 240v coil (it uses a small slave relay as well.) I spent $20 on a similar-style relay to the one you used, which will allow for 120v operation as well, but haven't bothered to swap it in yet. For now, I just keep my upgraded Leaf EVSE with me for 120v charging and low-power 240v charging, and only bring the openEVSE along if I have reason to believe I'll encounter 30a+ power.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

Tony:

Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

A question on wiring the 10-30 to the 14-30 (50). The 10-30 is a 3 wire system labelled X, Y, and W. The 14-30 is a 4 wire system labelled X, Y, W, and G. I assume that since the neutral wire (W) is not used in an EVSE, I should connect the W lead from the 10-30 to the ground (G) pin on the 14-30. Is that correct, or should I leave the ground floating (doesn't sound safe to me). Any electrical help would be appreciated.

Mike

BTW, the Leviton 55050 14-50r surface mount unit is not recommended for cable use. Lowes, however, sells a similar device, part #423569 that is a 14-30r surface mount system that includes a cable clamp (though probably too small for a dryer cord) that should work well on a cable. Cost of the receptacle is $12.97. A 3/4" cable clamp was $1.02. Amazon sells a 4' 30A dryer cord with a 10-30 for $8.49 (Petra 90-1010)

Since the source is only 30A, I used a 14-30r rather than a 14-50r. I have cut the neutral pin off my EVSE cable.

Mike

 

[fooljoe]

Your assumption is correct. Use the 10-30's neutral as a ground; don't connect anything to the 14-30/50's neutral.

 

[n3ckf]

I use a Siemens Versacharge as my "portable" 240V charger. It has a 6-50 plug on it which is the same as the 40A Leviton i have in my garage in the house in the mountains. Where i live in the Bay Area i cant put a 240V outlet in (I rent) so i took a dryer cable and a 6-50 surface mount outlet box and "made" a 10-30 -> 6-50 receptable adapter. I keep both of those in the car. I also bought a 14-50->6-50 cord adapter and keep that in the car as well. I recently added a 25ft 6-50 welding extension cable to the collection in case i'm not real close to an outlet i want to charge from.

I have used a 14-50 "in the wild" a couple times but mostly i charge from a dryer plug.

I recently bought parts so i can build a 14-30 (4 pin dryer plug) to 6-50 adapter just liek my 10-30->6-50 one. I dont know anyone who has the 14-30 in their house but its common in new construction.

All of this fits in the under-deck storage in the Rav4 so i dont have to worry about losing cargo space becuase of carrying a spare charger with me, which is handy.

 

[n3ckf]

I use a Siemens Versacharge as my "portable" 240V charger. It was the only adjustable current charger i can find. I leave mine set to the "75%" position (which means it draws 24amps @ 240V, which is safe on a 30 amp dryer circuit). It has a 6-50 plug on it which is the same as the 40A Leviton i have in my garage in the house in the mountains. Where i live in the Bay Area i cant put a 240V outlet in (I rent) so i took a dryer cable and a 6-50 surface mount outlet box and "made" a 10-30 -> 6-50 receptable adapter. I keep both of those in the car. I also bought a 14-50->6-50 cord adapter and keep that in the car as well. I recently added a 25ft 6-50 welding extension cable to the collection in case i'm not real close to an outlet i want to charge from.

I have used a 14-50 "in the wild" a couple times but mostly i charge from a dryer plug.

I recently bought parts so i can build a 14-30 (4 pin dryer plug) to 6-50 adapter just liek my 10-30->6-50 one. I dont know anyone who has the 14-30 in their house but its common in new construction.

All of this fits in the under-deck storage in the Rav4 so i dont have to worry about losing cargo space becuase of carrying a spare charger with me, which is handy.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

I recently bought parts so i can build a 14-30 (4 pin dryer plug) to 6-50 adapter just liek my 10-30->6-50 one. I dont know anyone who has the 14-30 in their house but its common in new construction.

n3ckf:

If you have a 14-50 plug, you don't need a 14-30 plug. EVSE's don't use the neutral lead of the 14-50 so you can cut it off the plug and grind it flat (use a Dremel tool). The plug will then fit a 14-50, a 14-30, and possibly a 14-20 (I haven't seen one of those but the picture seems to be the same as the other two). The only difference between these three plugs is the size and shape of the neutral pin, and since you don't need it, you can cut it off. Your plug will then fit any of the receptacles.

Mike