Will an outlet adapter work?

babychef

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I have ordered a Mach-E. I have a dedicated 240V 50A circuit in my garage. Currently, though, it has a L6-30R outlet. Would this adapter work with the Ford Mobile Charger? Thanks.
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RickMachE

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You do realize that the proper outlet would cost much less?
 

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I have ordered a Mach-E. I have a dedicated 240V 50A circuit in my garage. Currently, though, it has a L6-30R outlet. Would this adapter work with the Ford Mobile Charger? Thanks.
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No, because a L6-30R outlet is rated for 30 amps, not 50 amps. You should have a 30 amp circuit breaker on that outlet. If you don't, it is a fire hazard.

The Ford charger will attempt to draw 48 amps and will either damage your outlet or cause your breaker to throw.

Edit: the Ford charger draws 32 amps, not 48. Sorry about that. Still a problem though.
 

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The Ford Mobile charger will only pull 32 amps, but the outlet should be changed.
 
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babychef

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No, because a L6-30R outlet is rated for 30 amps, not 50 amps. You should have a 30 amp circuit breaker on that outlet. If you don't, it is a fire hazard.

The Ford charger will attempt to draw 48 amps and will either damage your outlet or cause your breaker to throw.

Edit: the Ford charger draws 32 amps, not 48. Sorry about that. Still a problem though.
I understand, but there is actually a 50A breaker on that circuit.
 


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babychef

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No, because a L6-30R outlet is rated for 30 amps, not 50 amps. You should have a 30 amp circuit breaker on that outlet. If you don't, it is a fire hazard.

The Ford charger will attempt to draw 48 amps and will either damage your outlet or cause your breaker to throw.

Edit: the Ford charger draws 32 amps, not 48. Sorry about that. Still a problem though.
I understand, but there is actually a 50A breaker on that circuit.
 
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babychef

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You do realize that the proper outlet would cost much less?
A proper outlet would cost less than $24? Also, I already have a 240V outlet installed which I use intermittently for another purpose. I am just wondering if I can use this adapter for the Ford charger.
 

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I understand, but there is actually a 50A breaker on that circuit.
That is a fire hazard. The outlet is rated for 30 amps, so if you draw 32 amps it will exceed the rating of the outlet significantly and the breaker will not throw to prevent a fire. The breaker is supposed to be rated for the lowest current allowed on the circuit which is 30 amps.

What size wire do you have going to that outlet? If the wire is also rated for 30 amps you have an even bigger fire hazard.
 

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I understand, but there is actually a 50A breaker on that circuit.
This is a fire hazard. The breaker is not designed to protect your equipment, it's there to protect the wiring and the outlet. Your outlet is not capable of carrying 50A, but you try to pull 50A, it could catch fire before the breaker trips. Similarly, the wiring is likely not capable of carrying 50A.
 

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Just my opinion, but doing the home charger the right way (properly sized, professionally installed and independently inspected) is a no-brainer. It's a $50k+ car. Why would you want to scrimp on such an important detail of ownership?
 

mkhuffman

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If (and this is a big if considering the outlet is rated for 30 amps) the wire is properly sized for a 50 amp circuit, then you can replace the outlet with a 50 amp outlet and then get an adapter for your 30 amp use case. That is safe.

If the wire is not rated for 50 amps and is instead rated for 30 amps, you absolutely should not put a 50 amp outlet on the circuit and you should definitely replace that circuit breaker with a 30 amp one. Until you do that, you have a fire hazard.

This is serious stuff and National Electrical Code (NEC) standards should not be ignored.
 

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The Ford Mobile charger will only pull 32 amps, but the outlet should be changed.
It only pulls 28 amps but still not code compliant To do that on a 30Amp circuit.
 

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My 2¢, and while I’m not an electrician I’ve done quite a bit of wiring.
A NEMA 14-50 outlet at Lowe’s is $10.
See here
If the wiring is appropriate for the 50 amp breaker, then this solves the fire hazard problem and you can plug in your EVSE safely.

Then, buy an adapter L6-30R, so you can still use whatever you are currently plugging in sometimes.
See here

Adapting down will pull less power through the appropriately sized 14-50 outlet.

If you really really don’t want to change the outlet, and you want to use the adapter, you should get a different EVSE that you can set to pull no more than 24 amps which will keep that 30 amp plug from heating up. Full disclosure, that is what I did. I bought a Grizzl-E classic and set it to 24 amps then used an adapter just like you’re showing on my 240 V 30 amp outlet I already had for my air compressor. But that was a holdover until I could get a proper 50 amp outlet installed. Then I just set the grizzl-e for 40 amps.
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