I'm not sure of the quality of the sockets used by the evseupgrade adapters I have so the over time quality of the connections might be a concern. I suppose I could use the L6-30 now and when I upgrade to a faster charging vehicle and will be using the full 40A capacity I can change to a different plug. Right now my Soul EV is limited to 6.6kW so just under 30A. The tag on the charger lists 33A as the max current but I haven't seen that high as reported over the CAN bus.
On Sun, Dec 25, 2016 at 12:03 AM, EVDL Administrator via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > On 24 Dec 2016 at 23:32, David Nelson via EV wrote: > >> What is the actual sustained current carrying ability of the NEMA >> L6-30 plug/sockets? > > I may be proven wrong, but I don't think you're going to get a definitive > answer to this question. The manufacturer and vendors will tell you it's 30 > amps because for liability reasons they can't tell you anything else. I > certainly wouldn't, and I don't even make or sell the stuff. > > You can of course run your own tests at higher currents to see how much heat > builds up, but how can you know what long-term effect a particular amount of > heat will have on the materials the recept and plug are made of? Besides, > different plug and recept combinations have different amounts of resistance. > That will change the amount of heat generated, so you'd have to run rather > exhaustive tests. Also, as the recepts wear, contact tension falls and > resistance increases; a new pair that stayed cool at 40 amps might not after > 100 make/break cycles. The manufacturers have taken all these factors and > more into account in rating their parts. > > NEMA 5-15s are allowed on home circuits protected at 20 amps IFF there is > more than one such recept on the circuit (a duplex recept is considered 2 > outlets). This implies that the reason is that the code makes this > allowance because it assumes a significant chance (though not a certainty) > that a full 20a circuit load will be distributed among multiple outlets. > > I've heard rumors for years that the 5-15 recept contacts are identical to 5- > 20 contacts, but I have no way of confirming that. They might look the > same, but be of different composition or have spring tension specification, > or be manufactured to less critical tolerance, and thus might present > different contact resistance, either when new or after some amount of use. > Again, how can you be sure? > > The bottom line is that if you use electrical components beyond their > specifications, you're taking a risk at some level. If you do this in a > fixed installation, you're violating code. In most cities code carries the > force of law. Violating it may also have an effect on your insurance > coverage. > > David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA > EVDL Administrator > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not > reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my > email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > -- David D. Nelson http://evalbum.com/1328 http://www.levforum.com _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
