[JRRF]

So I was in Home Depot the other day and saw the attached adapter. Apparently RV owners make use of them. It's got a standard house plug female on one end, and a 240v 30amp male on the other. For 10 bucks there is nothing fancy about it.

I've seen some elegant solutions to the problem here, but is this adapter all that I would need to plug my 120v brick into a 30amp 240v outlet?

 

[llninja]

No, that 30A ev adapter is for 120V. Check out https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector for pictures of all the NEMA plugs. But that adapter might be useful when at a campsite as a way to get L1 charging.

I had my contractor wire up this exact connector and it ended up frying my battery charging system in my airstream because it was supposed to be 110v and he wired it up to 220v. When I get a new tow vehicle, i'll be shopping for a new charger.

 

[JRRF]

Are you suggesting that this adapter only works if the 220 female outlet in the wall is wired into a 120 circuit?

What's different about the other adapters people have used/bought here?

 

[llninja]

Are you suggesting that this adapter only works if the 220 female outlet in the wall is wired into a 120 circuit?

What's different about the other adapters people have used/bought here?

The adapter is just metal prongs arranged to connect each prong to another. It is rated for 120v and 30 A. You could choose to wire up a 110v 30A plug to 220v, but doing so would violate all sorts of electrical codes and the plug might possibly overheat and melt.... or it could work just fine. The pigtail that ChrisTX sells converts from whatever 220v plug you have to the 110 style plug, but sends 220v through it. It works. Your contraption would likely work, but I'm not trying it, you try it.

https://youtu.be/CLQ0LZSnJFE

https://youtu.be/ZvqkXHphvgs

You should get a proper 240V outlet installed, then decide if you want a pigtail adapter or a real 240v EVSE.

What is different about this adapter and others sold here is the orientation of the prongs. This one allows you tomplug 15-20A standard plugs into a 30A 12pv camper plug. You need any 240V outlet and a pigtail that converts that outlet to a 110v style plug.

 

[edk-austin]

A few years back I discovered Walmart sells these 120V TT adapters too. The interesting adapter is from NEMA 5-15 to TT-30. Pull 30A/120V from a 15A/120V receptacle. The packaging just says "don't use more than 15A"

 

[jcanoe]

Firesign Theater, Waiting for the electrician or someone like him. Great comedy album, very appropriate title
Waiting for the electrician

Seinfeld Frogger Episode - Peter Stormare as Slippery Pete, rogue electrician who doesn't recognize a drawing of an electrical outlet. Oh, you mean the holes.

 

[llninja]

A few years back I discovered Walmart sells these 120V TT adapters too. The interesting adapter is from NEMA 5-15 to TT-30. Pull 30A/120V from a 15A/120V receptacle. The packaging just says "don't use more than 15A"

View attachment 136689

That's downright dangerous. It lets you plug a 30A plug into a 15A receptacle, but don't you dare pull 30 amp through it, you will melt the receptacle.

 

[obermd]

A few years back I discovered Walmart sells these 120V TT adapters too. The interesting adapter is from NEMA 5-15 to TT-30. Pull 30A/120V from a 15A/120V receptacle. The packaging just says "don't use more than 15A"

View attachment 136689

Stay away from this configuration. It makes it too easy to pull too much from the 15A/120V circuit. At best you'll trip a circuit breaker. At worst you burn the building down.

 

[edk-austin]

Some of the other questionable things I've run across.
(note that my only question about these is their tolerance of lawsuits)

NEMA 5-15 to 14-50 (or 14-30) adapter. At my local Home Depot.

And I had to wonder too about this setup. At a downtown public festival in Georgetown TX. Food truck hookup (black cable to food truck)

But, hey, it's temporary...

 

[edk-austin]

And... to answer the OPs question. Yes, but it's not 240V. It allows you to plug a 120V appliance, EVSE, or otherwise, into a TT-30 outlet. They're both 120VAC. But you're still only charging at L1 rates of 8A or 12A.

 

[JRRF]

And... to answer the OPs question. Yes, but it's not 240V. It allows you to plug a 120V appliance, EVSE, or otherwise, into a TT-30 outlet. They're both 120VAC. But you're still only charging at L1 rates of 8A or 12A.

This is a fair point. Which would mean that your 120v charger would still only pull 120v, regardless of the outlet/adapter. So without a transformer of some sort, what does any setup do to get the 220v into the 5-15 plug of the charger without doing damage, or being dangerous?

 

[llninja]

This is a fair point. Which would mean that your 120v charger would still only pull 120v, regardless of the outlet/adapter. So without a transformer of some sort, what does any setup do to get the 220v into the 5-15 plug of the charger without doing damage, or being dangerous?

It all comes back to buying a 240v Level 2 EVSE and having a qualified electrician install it. Some people have been able to use a pigtail adapter for their gen2 EVSE without any reported issues, but I'm sure there's all sorts of electrical code violations there. You're not supposed to run 220v though that 110V plug, though there are plenty of devices (like phone power adapters) that work fine at 110v or 220v.

 

[hellsop]

I had my contractor wire up this exact connector and it ended up frying my battery charging system in my airstream because it was supposed to be 110v and he wired it up to 220v. When I get a new tow vehicle, i'll be shopping for a new charger.

Same guy that toasted your garage wall? Don't hire him again.

 

[JRRF]

It all comes back to buying a 240v Level 2 EVSE and having a qualified electrician install it. Some people have been able to use a pigtail adapter for their gen2 EVSE without any reported issues, but I'm sure there's all sorts of electrical code violations there. You're not supposed to run 220v though that 110V plug, though there are plenty of devices (like phone power adapters) that work fine at 110v or 220v.

No argument there. But many folks here have been talking about the 240v compatibility of the brick, and using the pigtail to access it. How is that safe at all, and/or how is it different from any adapter? By the same token, why is the brick 240v compatible if it can't be accessed safely?

 

[llninja]

Same guy that toasted your garage wall? Don't hire him again.

Never did hire him again. Though it wasn't a garage wall. This was decades ago when we first ran temporary power to our property. I had them wire up a tool shed and a 30A outlet so we can camp out in our Airstream while hanging out on our property before the house was built.

 

[llninja]

No argument there. But many folks here have been talking about the 240v compatibility of the brick, and using the pigtail to access it. How is that safe at all, and/or how is it different from any adapter? By the same token, why is the brick 240v compatible if it can't be accessed safely?

Well the brick is 240 compatible when they install a different plug onto it to ship to Europe. The innards are shared, but whether that 110V short cable with the plug is safe to handle 220v is the real question. I'm not risking it only because I have a gen1 and already bought an overpriced L2 EVSE (cost me $1600 installed). I was in such a hurry to go L2 I didn't do my homework. I think I joined this forum a week too late to make a difference. Another interesting story about the Bosch-supplied installer. The first time he plugged in my EVSE, sparks flew out of the outlet and charred a nice burn mark on my wall. Master electrician, my ass... I guess he lived long enough to hit 30 years of experience without killing himself, but I ended up having to spackle the mess he made cutting then primer and paint afterwards. I would have done the wiring myself, except our state had a 50% off rebate, but only if the EVSE was installed by a certified electrician approved by them.

 

[JRRF]

Well the brick is 240 compatible when they install a different plug onto it to ship to Europe. The innards are shared, but whether that 110V short cable with the plug is safe to handle 220v is the real question.

This makes more sense. They certainly don't do a straight through on the three wires.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Well the brick is 240 compatible when they install a different plug onto it to ship to Europe. The innards are shared, but whether that 110V short cable with the plug is safe to handle 220v is the real question.

Plenty of people seem to be using the included EVSE on 240V circuits with no problem. The conductors in the plug and the cable aren't carrying any more current than they would be at 120V - so there wouldn't be any more likelihood of them overheating. The only issue with the higher voltage would be if the insulation wasn't sufficient to isolate it. And nobody has reported an issue with that.