120 EVSE to 240 with 10-30 Adapter for 40A Dryer Outlet

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whistle

New member
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Jun 8, 2019
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Thanks for this great community! As a new 2019 LEAF owner, the vehicle came with 120V charger. Will I be able to buy this adapter to use on my Dryer outlet (10-30) as circuit breaker is rated 40A?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078PHY3ZJ

OR do I need to get a new replacement like this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0758TLC8H

Grateful for your confirmation.
 
If the whole dryer circuit (wiring as well) and not just the breaker is rated for 40A then you can use the Nissan EVSE. Usually dryer circuits are rated for 30 amps, though, and that is a big problem. You can't use the Nissan EVSE at 240 volts with a 30A circuit.
 
I'll second the suggestion to check the wiring. If you have #8 AWG wire to the outlet, the 40 A breaker is fine but the 10-30 outlet shouldn't be there - change it to a 14-50 and use the Nissan EVSE, no adapters needed. If it is #10, then the 40 A breaker should be replaced with a 30 A and you shouldn't use an EVSE that draws over 24 A. The Zencar / Duosida you linked to is 16 A so it would work fine.
 
I think people are reading your title wrong, and not looking at your adapter link.
It sounds like you simply want to use your 120v 13a OEM Leaf EVSE(not upgraded one) on your 240v dryer circuit and while it's possible, I'm not sure it's safe nor really needed if you have a decent 120v outlet nearby. The reason it might not be safe is the 10-30 outlet doesn't have a dedicated ground, just a neutral and 2 hots. True the neutral generally bonds with the ground back at the breaker/fuse box, but the ground is really supposed to have it's own path. Another reason it's kind of unsafe is you'd have a 30 or 40a breaker hooked to a device expecting a 15 or 20a breaker, IOW your EVSE and wiring past the outlet won't really be protected by the breaker.
So to answer your question, yes that outlet adapter should work to get a 120v circuit with tons of capacity, you really don't need it for a 13a 120v EVSE, again assuming you have a good 120v outlet nearby.
Now what I'd do would be to purchase 16a or better yet 24a(or higher amp that would let you set the maximum current) 240v EVSE and make use of your high current 240v outlet. 16a 240v EVSEs can be had for as little as $200 with 24a+ ones probably between $300-$400 that would charge your '19 Leaf at near it's maximum 27.5a(6600kwh) speed.
16a 120v/240v portable EVSE with correct 10-30 plug, the one you linked:
https://www.amazon.com/Zencar-Portable-Electric-Charging-Compatible/dp/B0758TLC8H/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=level+2+ev+charger+10-30&qid=1560606254&s=automotive&sr=1-3
Very interesting 26a 240v EVSE(2a more than what the maximum should be for a regular 10-30 outlet with 10g wiring and 30a breaker, you gotta love the Chinese for pushing the limits ;) ) but at $329 and with your correct plug, might be just the ticket for you. Note you can't adjust the current lower than 26a but from what you've said, 26a should be just fine and darn near the maximum 27.5a of your Leaf, so that's good. Note 10g wiring is generally rated for a full 30a as well as your 10-30 outlet, the breaker is what needs to be de-rated to 24a and since you already have a 40a breaker, this EVSE should be really ideal for you.
https://www.amazon.com/MUSTART-Portable-Charger-Electric-Charging/dp/B07JNMZ13P/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=level+2+ev+charger+10-30&qid=1560606314&s=automotive&sr=1-4
 
I think people are reading your title wrong, and not looking at your adapter link.
It sounds like you simply want to use your 120v 13a OEM Leaf EVSE(not upgraded one) on your 240v dryer circuit and while it's possible, I'm not sure it's safe nor really needed if you have a decent 120v outlet nearby.

You're right, Jjeff. My bad. I was thinking of the dual voltage EVSE, and not seeing the nuttiness of wanting to plug a 120 volt device into 240 volts.
 
I can understand wanting to use a beefy dedicated circuit instead of a 120v outlet that may be shared with several other outlets, in fact I personally made an adapter to do just that.
Our back hall has a 10-30 dryer outlet and as we went with a gas dryer the 10-30 outlet sat unused. What I did was make a plug-in box that utilized both 30a circuits to make 4 120v 20a outlets. I used a 10-30 dryer cord, wired it to a 4-plex outlet box, install (2) 20a GFI duplex outlets with each duplex outlet going to each circuit. I didn't necessarily care about the GFI part but I wanted the outlets to be protected by the 20a breaker incorporated in the 20a GFI outlet(at least I hope that's the case). Luckily my 10-30 outlet was supplied by greenfield conduit and had a metal box so I used the neutral inside the outlet for the outlets neutral and the greenfield's sheath for my ground(running a separate green wire from my box to the grounding screw on the outlet). I'm sure this is not code but I feel safe in its construction and design but it's not something you could buy nor something I'd really make for someone else. It did give me a dedicated outlet for both my washer and dryer and I didn't have to add to the load that was on the circuit between the washer and dryer.
In the case of the OP I really feel the best option is that 26a L2 EVSE with the correct plug, easy peasy :)
 
That adapter MIGHT work, but I bet that since it ties the neutral and ground together, that the EVSE would register a fault. Even if it does work, it won't charge any faster than a regular 15a 120v plug would. Better to get the ZenCar EVSE which will actually let you charge at 24a 240v.
 
LeftieBiker said:
In the case of the OP I really feel the best option is that 26a L2 EVSE with the correct plug, easy peasy

That should be 24A L-2 EVSE.
Actually, the one I linked was a very odd 26a.....which would be a bit too much for a normal 30a circuit but since the OP specifically said they had a 40a breaker it should work just fine.
 
You can run 120v adaptor off a 4 prong, 4 wire dryer receptacle.
Only issue is that 15 or 20 amp circuit will be protected in most cases by a 30 amp breaker or bigger.

Here is my 4 prong adaptor.
So I can charge my car and work on my new rental house, which is right next to a current rental house.
The new place is a gut job, no electricity, gas, water, sewage ect.
I plug my 4 prong plug into my 30 amp charging circuit on the side of my rental house, plug in my 16 amp 240 duosida evse into the 6-15 receptacle on the left then then plug in my L14-30 to 5-20 adaptor cord (not shown) to run lights, saws, 120v air compressor, drills, dewalt battery charger ect.
The 10-50 receptacle is used to run 240v air compressor, plasma cutter and my welders, which are not being used to fix up this house.
2019-06-16 12.31.01.jpg

So I run 240 and 120v loads at the same time on a 4 prong dryer circuit.
 
jjeff said:
LeftieBiker said:
In the case of the OP I really feel the best option is that 26a L2 EVSE with the correct plug, easy peasy

That should be 24A L-2 EVSE.
Actually, the one I linked was a very odd 26a.....which would be a bit too much for a normal 30a circuit but since the OP specifically said they had a 40a breaker it should work just fine.

It would depend on the gauge of the wiring, as noted earlier.
 
New code, I mean new as of 1996 or so has been to run a dedicated 30 amp circuit on 10/3 with ground to a 4 prong 14-30 receptacle.
Even if you have a 3 prong dryer if it was installed after 1996 it should still have red, black and white insulated wires plus a bare ground pulled to the receptacle.

If it's 8/3 with ground wire on a 40 amp breaker it may have been a repurposed range circuit.
I worked on one about 2 weeks ago. At some point in an old house some one took the 50 amp range circuit and repurposed it to power a dryer and a gas range was put in.
 
smkettner said:
NEMA 10-30 should not have 40 amp supply.
Agreed. If wire size is adequate for 40-ampere circuit, then receptacle should be replaced with 14-50 (if equipment ground wire is available) or 10-50 (if ground wire is not available). 40-ampere breaker should be replaced with 30-ampere breaker if 10-30 receptacle remains.
 
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