# Is there a receptacle with BOTH 120V and 240V?



## bruceme (Dec 10, 2008)

I recessed a NEMA L6-30P in my filler cap. This is a _LOCKING_ 30A 3-prong "plug". Having this on the car-end appears counter intuitive, but... walking around your garage waving a hot 3-prong plug is only cool so many times. You want that nicely insulated/packaged receptacle in your hand.

For my 120 line, I chopped off the female end of the heaviest-duty 12ga 120V extension cord I could find and attached the L6-30R. At 15A/120, 12ga will get warm.

But that works awesome and it cost about $60. I bought the recessed L6-30P online and the rest from the big orange box. I also purchased 15' of nice rubber insulated 3-wire 6ga stranded for my 220 line that stays stone cold pulling 30A/220 all day. That was like $2/ft.


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## bruceme (Dec 10, 2008)

Oh yeah... I'm about to add a J1772 (in the mail). 

I'm debating if I want to go through the hassle and complexity of wiring a 240v/40A DPDT relay ($20) to switch it hot so both plugs aren't live every time I charge. Thoughts?

-Bruce


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## notailpipe (May 25, 2010)

bruceme said:


> I recessed a NEMA L6-30P in my filler cap. This is a _LOCKING_ 30A 3-prong "plug". Having this on the car-end appears counter intuitive, but... walking around your garage waving a hot 3-prong plug is only cool so many times. You want that nicely insulated/packaged receptacle in your hand.


Yes, thanks for that, I actually meant putting the male side in the car as you mentioned, just goofed my terminology. 



bruceme said:


> For my 120 line, I chopped off the female end of the heaviest-duty 12ga 120V extension cord I could find and attached the L6-30R. At 15A/120, 12ga will get warm.


Ah. I think I misunderstand how the 120/240V chargers work (I don't actually have one yet). I thought they had separate input wires for each voltage, but it makes more sense that they just accept anywhere from 120 to 240V on each input line (hot/neutral/ground) and it's the same physical wire. So to get 120V on there you've essentially made an adapter that will take said friend's 120V extension cord and convert it to the right connection. Nice!

That should do. If the plug I drew were to exist, that'd work fine too, and would save me from having to carry an adapter. But if I don't hear from anyone else I'll assume this connector doesn't exist. Thanks.


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## bruceme (Dec 10, 2008)

notailpipe said:


> [...snip] I thought they had separate input wires for each voltage, but it makes more sense that they just accept anywhere from 120 to 240V on each input line (hot/neutral/ground) and it's the same physical wire. So to get 120V on there you've essentially made an adapter that will take said friend's 120V extension cord and convert it to the right connection. Nice


A dual mode charger is one that works best on 220v, but can de-rate to 110v and still boost up to your pack voltage efficiently.


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

notailpipe said:


> That should do. If the plug I drew were to exist, that'd work fine too, and would save me from having to carry an adapter. But if I don't hear from anyone else I'll assume this connector doesn't exist. Thanks.


don't think it would work anyway, since the car end is the male plug. You'd have extra prongs getting in the way of the female connector from the wall.


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## bruceme (Dec 10, 2008)

notailpipe said:


> [snip...]but it makes more sense that they just accept anywhere from 120 to 240V on each input line (hot/neutral/ground)


If you plan to wire up your charger, you should learn a bit more about how 220 works. I didn't and once made the case of an Air Conditioner 120v hot.


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

Yes most do. 220v is many times a pair of opposing phase 110v outlets

There is single phase 240v but it is less common around here, not sure where you are located.

Thus it is possible to send 220v without a neutral or without a ground over 110v 3 wire configurations.

No ground isn't real fun though.


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## coulombKid (Jan 10, 2009)

some welding receptacles have internal knife switches that do not engage until you twist lock the plug. That way male blades under the filler cap cannot be hot utile the twist switch is engaged.


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2011)

Put an adaptor on the end of your 240 extension so you can plug into 120 while on the road. I have a standard drier outlet plug now for my 240 so I can plug into any standard 30A drier outlet. I see every home in the country with one. I have a good enough extension I can take my 240 charger with me now. No more stuck on the road with 120 only. 

Pete


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## cruisin (Jun 3, 2009)

gottdi said:


> Put an adaptor on the end of your 240 extension so you can plug into 120 while on the road. I have a standard drier outlet plug now for my 240 so I can plug into any standard 30A drier outlet. I see every home in the country with one. I have a good enough extension I can take my 240 charger with me now. No more stuck on the road with 120 only.
> 
> Pete


 
What size wire did you use for the 220v extension and how did you wire the 220v to 110v adapter when 110v uses a ground?


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## rmay635703 (Oct 23, 2008)

cruisin said:


> What size wire did you use for the 220v extension and how did you wire the 220v to 110v adapter when 110v uses a ground?


Every 220v cable I have has 2 hot 1 neutral and 1 ground, using the adapter you can plug this into a 110v with 1 hot 1 neutral and 1 ground.

I know there are ungrounded 220v (which I mentioned earlier) that have both hots in the positions of the hot and neutral and then the neutral in the ground position.


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## bruceme (Dec 10, 2008)

I ran a neutral to the charger wall-box so I could potentially run a phase of 120v if I needed. But I wired from the box to my car with two hot and one ground (no-neutral) because my charger doesn't even have a neutral, just ground.

btw... size your wires for your fuse/breaker at the main. That should always be your "weakest link". Use this calculator:

http://www.gorhamschaffler.com/wire_size_calculator.html

to find it again google "wire size calculator"


-Bruce


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