MME Portable Charger Neutral?

[ShadowCVL]

Hey Folks, long time reader first time poster.

So I have a MME Premium on order, the delivery window starts this Sunday, though the tracker still says "in transit".

In my garage I have a welder plug on a 50 amp circuit (Nema 6-50P).

The wiring pre-dates my owning the house, but it was 6/2 so I felt installing a 14-50 would be less than desirable as any 120 on the circuit would energize the ground (even though it is bonded at the panel).

So, I took the existing 6/2, fed it into a hot tub gfci, and then installed a whip with a 6-50 on it. I ordered a chargepoint flex, but it hasnt shipped yet. They and Clipper creek both assured me the neutral was unused in their chargers, including hardwired (240 doesnt use a neutral, only 120 in the us).

I know that the GFCI might need to be changed out for a non, and I already have the breaker if I need to swap it out.

The question I have is, does the MME mobile charger need the neutral? I would hope its a switching power supply, but, if it has any 120 circuits in it (I know you can swap the ends) itll need the neutral.

Hopefully my chargepoint shows up before then and its a moot question. I have an adapter that goes from 6-50 to 14-50 but the neutral is not connected to anything. I know I could swap the outlet with a 14-50 and bond the new neutral and ground in the hot tub panel, but I would prefer to not energize the ground wire as it is a very long circuit and if someone touched the metal while the concrete was wet it could provide a nasty (though not life threatening thanks to gfci) shock.

Thanks in Advance!

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[phidauex]

No, the included charger does not need the neutral connected. I charged with mine connected to my in-laws garage outlet which is a 6-50R (fed by a 50A breaker, double checked), using an inexpensive 14-50 to 6-50 adapter that just disconnects the neutral.

You are right in your instinct not to connect the ground as a fake neutral - that is definitely not safe, the house can only have one bond point.

 

[ShadowCVL]

No, the included charger does not need the neutral connected. I charged with mine connected to my in-laws garage outlet which is a 6-50R (fed by a 50A breaker, double checked), using an inexpensive 14-50 to 6-50 adapter that just disconnects the neutral.

You are right in your instinct not to connect the ground as a fake neutral - that is definitely not safe, the house can only have one bond point.

Yeah, one of my best friends is a licensed electrician, he helped me with this install... all 40 minutes of it... but there was never any need for a neutral, til i realized that the 4-5 week backorder on chargepoint was more like 8 so far. So now im happy, the ground will remain only ground.

Though your only one bonding point concerns me a little, granted my house is over 30 years old... but ground and neutral are bonded at the panel (inside my house) AND at the first means of disconnect outside right next to the meter is the 200amp breaker, its also bonded in that "panel".

I did ask my electrician about that, his reply was "Your house is 30 years old, that was code back then, and its safe the way its done". So....

Anyway, I DO NOT want to energize that ground either way, so im happy, thanks!

I also installed a 14-50 at my dads house, but his panels are on the garage, so a knockout and offset nipple and it was done.

 

[phidauex]

Though your only one bonding point concerns me a little, granted my house is over 30 years old... but ground and neutral are bonded at the panel (inside my house) AND at the first means of disconnect outside right next to the meter is the 200amp breaker, its also bonded in that "panel".

I did ask my electrician about that, his reply was "Your house is 30 years old, that was code back then, and its safe the way its done". So....

Yes, that should be OK, these days we would only bond at the first disconnect (in this case, the 200A breaker next to your meter), and then not bond anywhere else. Bonding in the panel is acceptable, because you know you have a low impedance neutral connection all the way between the two devices, and there are no loads being tapped off between them. You could safely lift the bond in your load center if you are ever doing work in there, but it would be OK to just leave it.

 

[ShadowCVL]

Yes, that should be OK, these days we would only bond at the first disconnect (in this case, the 200A breaker next to your meter), and then not bond anywhere else. Bonding in the panel is acceptable, because you know you have a low impedance neutral connection all the way between the two devices, and there are no loads being tapped off between them. You could safely lift the bond in your load center if you are ever doing work in there, but it would be OK to just leave it.

Thank you, I truely appreciate it. I am hoping I am done working in that panel... the electrician that installed it in the 80s and the one that added 5 or 6 circuits in 98 (the basement was finished then) were NOT tidy. Ive had to get into it a few times to test amperage and trace circuits and its a mess. I was very glad not to have to touch it for this project other than turning on the existing 50 amp breaker that was off. Its also cutler-hammer, I much prefer square d

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