EVSE Plug Adaptors, Cords and Modifications Info

[Ingineer]

FYI: That non-NEMA style connector is called a CS-636xN (x = 9,5,4 for receptacle, plug, connector). The CS stands for "California Style". You will find this connector at many outdoor parks/festival areas, and in convention centers. It's used for portable entertainment/lighting/theater/audio, and you will find it on almost all large rental generators and in "spider" boxes used for temporary power distribution. It's a 50a 120/240v (with neutral).

Also, if you cut the bottom prong off (or slide it out) your 14-50 will work in a 14-30 as well. There is no harm in this as that's the neutral pin, and it's not needed for the EVSE. (see below)

-Phil

 

[patrick0101]

That non-NEMA style connector is called a CS-636xN

Thanks Phil. I will label it. I have seen this connector used at many outdoor events.

 

[mwalsh]

The beginnings of my adapter kit:

L6-20 to 14-30/50/60 (dryer and RV park 50A)
L6-20 to 5-15 (standard 120v household)
L6-20 to L15-20 (Industrial 208v)

I've got the parts for a L6-20 to 10-30/50 too, but ran out of time for making it today.

I'd also like to do a L6-20 to 6-30 and one of those CS-6365Ns to round out my collection, plus any others you might suggest might be advantageous. Though for the seldom encountered ones, I might just have the packaged plug on hand to swap temporarily to the end of one of my existing adapters.

 

[tps]

Though for the seldom encountered ones, I might just have the packaged plug on hand to swap temporarily to the end of one of my existing adapters.

+1

There's probably no need for a bunch of L6-20R dedicated to infrequently used adapters.

 

[johnr]

I'm making a couple of plug adapters to use with my newly upgraded EVSE. So far I have made one NEMA 10-30 adapter which is currently working wonderfully on our dryer outlet. But I have a question about the electrical polarity. The NEMA 14-30 cable which I bought has the colors of the two hots reversed. According to GeekEV's diagram, X should be black and Y should be red. But this cable I have is the opposite. So, does the polarity matter?

 

[smkettner]

So, does the polarity matter?

No

 

[tps]

I have a question about the electrical polarity. The NEMA 14-30 cable which I bought has the colors of the two hots reversed. According to GeekEV's diagram, X should be black and Y should be red. But this cable I have is the opposite. So, does the polarity matter?

The 14-30/50 adapter I will be making shortly will use 10/3 SOOW cable, which has black, white, and green (You have to use 10/4 to get a red wire), and I'll be using white as one hot and black as the other. The electrical code says to wrap some electrical tape (black or red) around the white to "change its color" which I will do if there's emough room in the plugs, but it will likely be tight.

 

[tps]

L6-20 to L15-20 (Industrial 208v)

I don't believe I've ever seen a L15-20R recepticle. All three phases, with ground, eh? What type of equipment is normally plogged into this? We have 3-phase at work with many 2-pole 30A breakers connected to L6-30R (208V "single" phase); this seems to be popular for the input of certain models of APC UPS...

BTW -- nice looking weather-proof 5-15P. Who makes it?

 

[mwalsh]

Here's what I finally ended up with:


L6-20 to 14-30/50/60 (changed the plug to a Camco PowerGrip, thanks to JPVLeaf)
L6-20 to 5-15
L6-20 to L15-20 (we have these at my office)

Then a L6-20 pigtail with nothing on the end (actually it's currently mated to a 20a dual-pole breaker...don't ask) to combine with plugs as encountered to make:

L6-20 to 10-30
L6-20 to 6-30/50
L6-20 to 6-15/20 (using a 6-15 plug)
L6-20 to L14-30

So that gives me pretty much everything a Tesla driver would roll with in his kit. And I keep everything in this handy-dandy recyclable grocery bag from the LA Auto Show.

The only thing I'd still like to get is that CA Style generator plug. But I can't find it for less than $60 and just can't justify buying that one right now.

 

[mwalsh]

I don't believe I've ever seen a L15-20R recepticle. All three phases, with ground, eh? What type of equipment is normally plogged into this? We have 3-phase at work with many 2-pole 30A breakers connected to L6-30R (208V "single" phase); this seems to be popular for the input of certain models of APC UPS...

BTW -- nice looking weather-proof 5-15P. Who makes it?

Oops, sorry. I missed your questions....

The 5-15P is a Leviton. It is rather nice.

We have regular shop equipment plugged into some of the L15-20Rs - things like lathes. But at the other end of the shop we have a thermal test chamber plugged into one. That's the one I would prefer to use, since it's away from those guys doing stuff that could mess up my paint.

 

[GeekEV]

The only thing I'd still like to get is that CA Style generator plug. But I can't find it for less than $60 and just can't justify buying that one right now.

$36.99 at Amazon with free super saver shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HRWGHQ

 

[mwalsh]

The only thing I'd still like to get is that CA Style generator plug. But I can't find it for less than $60 and just can't justify buying that one right now.

$36.99 at Amazon with free super saver shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HRWGHQ

Ah! Thanks for that!

Oh, and I'd still like to buy some L6-20 extension cords at some point.

 

[smkettner]

I found this website for custom cords. You pick the two different ends and the wire and they make it up.
OK you can probably do it yourself for less at Home Depot but for those that might want to click and buy a single probuilt adapter it might be appealing.

http://www.stayonline.com/custom_power_cords.aspx

 

[GeekEV]

I found this website for custom cords. You pick the two different ends and the wire and they make it up.
OK you can probably do it yourself for less at Home Depot but for those that might want to click and buy a single probuilt adapter it might be appealing.

http://www.stayonline.com/custom_power_cords.aspx

They're pretty handy, particularly for extension cords, etc. There's certain adapters they won't make for you given their oddball nature and they'd be specific to a particular plug. If you get the ones we're offering: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3085 they're made so they fit a range of similar plug types with one adapter. I think we're cheaper too on most of them.

 

[davewill]

I found this website for custom cords. You pick the two different ends and the wire and they make it up.
OK you can probably do it yourself for less at Home Depot but for those that might want to click and buy a single probuilt adapter it might be appealing.

http://www.stayonline.com/custom_power_cords.aspx

They're pretty handy, particularly for extension cords, etc. There's certain adapters they won't make for you given their oddball nature and they'd be specific to a particular plug. If you get the ones we're offering: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3085 they're made so they fit a range of similar plug types with one adapter. I think we're cheaper too on most of them.

Yes, I found that you can't make a 10-30 to L6-20, presumably because the 10-30 is hot-hot-neutral rather than hot-hot-ground. I also noticed that it will force heavy gauge wire, i.e. 8ga if you include a 50a plug like a 6-50, which really pumps the price up..or the price may be for the heavy duty connector, it's hard to tell. It might be worth calling to see if they will let you order pigtails like these that the online tool won't do.

P.S. I wanted to buy from you guys, GeekEV, but I don't have a PayPal acct (and won't because of bad past experience). Anyway, making the adapters is part of the fun.

 

[smkettner]

If you get the ones we're offering: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3085 they're made so they fit a range of similar plug types with one adapter. I think we're cheaper too on most of them.

I was looking for a 90* 6-15p x L6-20 x 15' of cord.

For non matching configurations they will sell the connector and cable. Most connectors are available as a premoulded pigtail.

 

[GeekEV]

P.S. I wanted to buy from you guys, GeekEV, but I don't have a PayPal acct (and won't because of bad past experience). Anyway, making the adapters is part of the fun.

Fair enough. No hard feelings... :lol:

 

[tps]

I'm making a couple of plug adapters to use with my newly upgraded EVSE. So far I have made one NEMA 10-30 adapter which is currently working wonderfully on our dryer outlet. But I have a question about the electrical polarity. The NEMA 14-30 cable which I bought has the colors of the two hots reversed. According to GeekEV's diagram, X should be black and Y should be red. But this cable I have is the opposite. So, does the polarity matter?

I've been looking into this. I can't find any definitive US standard for wiring 240V connectors to 3-wire cord, except that green is ground. There is, of course, no red in normal 3-wire cord. Stayonline, which has been recommended here as a source for pre-made cords, sells pre-manufactured L6-20P to ROJ (remove outer jacket), in other words, a molded L6-20P on one end and nothing on the other. These cords are manufactured by PoweFig; Stayonline has the PowerFig technical document which lists the pinout. According to PowerFig, the black wire is connected to Y (the narrow pin) while the white wire is connected to X (the wide pin). On a similar L6-30P to ROJ cable, black is also connected to Y and white to X.

As I mentioned in a earlier post, my original method of deciding how to connect the plugs and connectors stemmed from something I read on a Hubbell box years ago: select the "proper" end of a cord when wiring a plug or connector so the wires come out of the cable jacket oriented so they'll go into the plug or connector without "crossing". I figured out which end of the cable the plug should go on by looking at a 120V plug, then I put the L6-20R connector on the other end. Turns out my cables match PowerFig's wiring "convention".

I'm definitely interested to know what others have found.

 

[GeekEV]

I'm making a couple of plug adapters to use with my newly upgraded EVSE. So far I have made one NEMA 10-30 adapter which is currently working wonderfully on our dryer outlet. But I have a question about the electrical polarity. The NEMA 14-30 cable which I bought has the colors of the two hots reversed. According to GeekEV's diagram, X should be black and Y should be red. But this cable I have is the opposite. So, does the polarity matter?

I've been looking into this. I can't find any definitive US standard for wiring 240V connectors to 3-wire cord, except that green is ground.
<snip>
I'm definitely interested to know what others have found.

What I listed in my diagram are just common usages, but, like tps says, I don't think there is any formal definition of which hot color goes to which pin. The ground pin is always green, the neutral pin is always white. If you're using a 4 wire 120v/240v plug, the two hots would be the remaining black and red wires. Polarity doesn't matter with AC because it alternates anyway (that's the A in AC). If you're using a 3 wire 240v plug (such as the L6-20) you would use the white wire as the second hot by necessity (since most three wire is black/white/green). In that case it's considered good practice to wrap the white wire in black tape just to be perfectly clear to anyone else looking at it that it's not neutral (though anyone working on your adapters should already know that).

 

[mwalsh]

According to PowerFig, the black wire is connected to Y (the narrow pin) while the white wire is connected to X (the wide pin). On a similar L6-30P to ROJ cable, black is also connected to Y and white to X.

This is what I do too.