Thank you, Bruce and Lee. That is the additional information I was looking for.
The only way I have to measure the power factor of my Kia Soul EV+ is to charge off of 120V. Is it safe to assume that the PF on 120V will be substantially similar at 240V? Thank you again and hope you are having a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. On Sun, Dec 25, 2016 at 10:05 AM, Lee Hart <[email protected]> wrote: > From: David Nelson via EV <[email protected]> >>Please note that I am not asking about electrical code here! I know >>what the code says. >> >>What is the actual sustained current carrying ability of the NEMA >>L6-30 plug/sockets? > > The ACTUAL capacity is determined by the temperature rise. The materials used > to make the connector (usually the insulating materials) have a temperature > limit. Typical numbers range from 80 deg.C to 130 deg.C. That''s what > ACTUALLY sets the maximum sustained current. > > OK; going by memory since I'm away from home for the holidays... Most L6-30 > and -50 receptacles are made from black thermoset plastics (like bakelite) > that have a high temperature rating and won't melt. UL says they are good up > to 130 deg.C. UL rates them for a 40 deg.C rise. In their testing, the > temperature rise at full current did not exceed 40 deg.C. Thus, it can carry > full rated current in an ambient as hot as 90 deg.C before the insulation > will rise above 130 deg.C. > > Now a 90 deg.C ambient is pretty hot (194 deg.F)! It's more likely that your > maximum ambient will be more like 50 deg.C (122 deg.F). This means you can > run at a current that causes TWICE the temperature rise before the > insulation's maximum temperature rating is reached. > > Heating is determined by the SQUARE of the current; so double the temperature > rise doesn't mean double the current! But you can run sqrt(2)=1.414 times the > rated current. That means the receptacle can handle 50 x 1.4 = 70.7 amps in a > 50 amps connector in a 50 deg.C (120 deg.F) ambient. > > The same logic applies to the cords and plugs. However, they are likely to be > made of cheaper soft plastics with a lower maximum temperature rating. They > will MELT if you push them this hard! > > But you can get plugs made of the same high-temperature thermoset plastics as > the receptacles. They are bigger, and have to be manually attached to the > cord. > > Likewise, look at the insulation rating of the wire. It's usually printed on > it, or there will be a code (like SO, SJO, TTW, etc.) that you can look up > online to find its temperature rating. > > Finally, you could put a temperature sensor on the connector, and use that to > determine how much current you can actually draw. > > Season's greetings! I'll EVing you! :-) > > -- > Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James > -- > Lee A. Hart http://www.sunrise-ev.com -- 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)
