Extension cord question

[planet4ever]

See that's what I'm not understanding. Why would I have to dial it down to 12 amps? This cord which is a 240V 20 amp 75 foot extension cord uses the same 12 awg wire. So if I change my extension cord which is also 12 awg, then why would I have to dial it down to 12 amps. Makes no sense.

Sorry, brain check. You said 12 gauge. I thought and wrote 12 amp.

If you coil by hand.... there is actually a thread on that to keep the twists out.

Yes, here it is: How to wrap your EVSE/other cables! (You're doing it wrong!) Do read and follow, please. Your extension cord will last much longer.

Ray

 

[donald]

makes sense that the VMs leads have thermal protection on the plugs. But would it be such a burden to make extension leads with built-in thermal protection that can be used specifically for this purpose of extending EVSE leads?

I have an extension lead with a resettable thermal cutout, though I'm pretty sure it is just to ensure the coil doesn't get too hot if it is rolled up but carrying max current. Not rocket science, is it? The VMs could sell their own '20m EVSE-specific extension' for a hundred bucks, and be making a profit.

There are people in charge of creating and marketing these sorts of accessories in these companies, and it strikes me they are simply not driving EVs themselves to see for themselves what people actually want and need.

 

[tothemoon]

I just got back my EVSE upgrade today (Priority-mailed it on Monday morning, got it back by UPS Thursday afternoon) and it works great. I am in a rented house and didn't want the hassle of an electrician or permanent installation. I like the idea of a portable L2 charger that I could take with me. We might charge at an RV hook-up sometime. My garage has been converted to storage space, but it has an unused dryer outlet in the back serviced by a 60 Amp breaker. I bought a 50-foot, 10-gauge extension cord, a dryer plug, and a Woodhead Watertite 6-30 receptacle on Ebay. I cut off both ends of the cable and put the dryer plug on one end, the Woodhead Watertite 6-30 on the other end, and hung up the cable out of the way, with the watertite end hanging outside under a large roof eave. Everything worked the first time when I tried it all out this afternoon.

The Woodhead Watertite connector has a rubber grommet that clamps tightly to the cable and really does appear to be waterproof when its cap is on; I would feel pretty comfortable submerging it in a bucket. But when the standard-style 6-30 connector from EVSE upgrade is plugged in, the cap is off and it doesn't have any special sealing to the 6-30 plug. I'm thinking about looking for a watertite version of the 6-30 plug and replacing the EVSE upgrade plug with that to be more confident charging on rainy nights.

http://www.molex.com/woodhead/products/family?key=wet_location__watertite174&channel=products&pageTitle=Introduction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have been charging at 20 Amps for a few hours now, and none of the connectors or the cable are even a little bit warm. The EVSE brick is a little warm but not much, if any, more than it was with normal use before the upgrade.

 

[Berlino]

That sounds like great work, tothemoon.

Can you recommend a good place to get a 50', 10-gauge extension cord?

 

[planet4ever]

My garage has been converted to storage space, but it has an unused dryer outlet in the back serviced by a 60 Amp breaker.

60 amp?? Are you sure? Perhaps you mean a pair of 30 amp breakers, which would be normal for a dryer. I would never plug a 50-foot, 10-gauge extension cord into a circuit protected by 60 amp breakers.

Ray

 

[tothemoon]

That sounds like great work, tothemoon.

Can you recommend a good place to get a 50', 10-gauge extension cord?

I looked around at Home Depot but found a better deal on Ebay. It was around $60 with shipping, IIRC.

 

[tothemoon]

My garage has been converted to storage space, but it has an unused dryer outlet in the back serviced by a 60 Amp breaker.

60 amp?? Are you sure? Perhaps you mean a pair of 30 amp breakers, which would be normal for a dryer. I would never plug a 50-foot, 10-gauge extension cord into a circuit protected by 60 amp breakers.

Ray

It is a pair of 30-Amp breakers. Does that make it safer?

 

[Deleted member 9549]

My garage has been converted to storage space, but it has an unused dryer outlet in the back serviced by a 60 Amp breaker.

60 amp?? Are you sure? Perhaps you mean a pair of 30 amp breakers, which would be normal for a dryer. I would never plug a 50-foot, 10-gauge extension cord into a circuit protected by 60 amp breakers.

Ray

It is a pair of 30-Amp breakers. Does that make it safer?

It means the circuit is limited to 30 amps, not 60. Breakers are placed on the hots. A 120v circuit has one hot and one breaker. A 240v circuit has two hots and therefore two breakers, each at the maximum current allowed. The max current does not add between them.
An L6-30 outlet is supposed to support max 30 amps. Thats what the 30 is for in the name.

 

[tothemoon]

It means the circuit is limited to 30 amps, not 60. Breakers are placed on the hots. A 120v circuit has one hot and one breaker. A 240v circuit has two hots and therefore two breakers, each at the maximum current allowed. The max current does not add between them.
An L6-30 outlet is supposed to support max 30 amps. Thats what the 30 is for in the name.

Ah, that make sense. I thought the pair of breakers was in parallel, but I understand now that they are in series. Is it true that one will trip if it's sourcing more than 30 amps either to ground or to the other leg?

 

[davewill]

Ah, that make sense. I thought the pair of breakers was in parallel, but I understand now that they are in series. Is it true that one will trip if it's sourcing more than 30 amps either to ground or to the other leg?

They are on each of the hots. The two breaker switch handles should be physically connected so that they turn off and on together. Yes, they should trip whether the excess current is between the two hots or between one hot to neutral/ground.

 

[CRLeafSL]

Interesting read. At least I know it's possible now. Unfortunately I had a trade going with another member for his upgraded EVSE for trade of my stock one, but it fell through. Money is tight right now so can't really afford to send mine in for upgrade so until I can find someone to trade me an upgraded one, looks like I'll be on 120 for a while.