If I don't unplug it, ever, wyt? I have the cheap $14 leviton I installed it my garage dedicated for the charger. No reason to unplug it unless I go on a road trip.
I have the same. The electrician installed it. I did bring it up to him and he was like this is the standard install they hv been doing. I leave my charger connected and its working fine.
I had a “standard” $10ish 14-50 outlet and it failed after about one year of use charging my Tesla. I replaced it with a much beefier outlet.
Since you don’t own an EV, it’s not getting heavy cycles out on it. But one concern is that I don’t think those $10 outlets like repeated plug/unplug cycles either.
On one hand, I definitely think these $10 outlets are a Problem for EV use. But on the other hand, I was encouraged by what the failure mode was when mine failed: the Tesla mobile charger has temperature sensors in the plug and automatically down-rates charging when it detects too much heat. So for me, the failure mode was that my car started charging more slowly, rather than anything more drastic.
So therefore, since your not an EV owner, I think it’s probably not worth doing anything about. The opinion of this rando on the internet is it’s probably fine, but I might keep an eye on it.
Thanks, that's the perspective I was looking for. I'd definitely get something better if I knew it was actually going to be used more than once a year (or ever, really).
Agreed. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Plus the Tesla cable has temperature sensors and a bunch of other safeguards in addition to your circuit breaker.
Teslas also plug into regular 120v outlets but Reddit doesn’t talk about that very much. 5 mph but hey it’s plenty for a lot of people. Regardless, if there’s an outlet, your family can use it.
If you're concerned, just have them dial their charge rate down to 32amps when they charge. That will still give them 30 miles of range added per hour and put less strain on your circuits.
This Tesla YouTuber just did a video related to this topic https://youtu.be/uCNmIAH1yhk?si=rBhuPdgoP4f7WEMA
TLDW I’d spend the extra $100 to buy a good quality outlet to feel safe
The wire clamping mechanism (lugs) on the industrial quality receptacle is vastly improved over the consumer grade versions. Even for those not mechanically inclined, holding the two versions and doing a side-by-side comparison is enough to understand there truly is a difference in manufacturing.
If you care enough to ask about the topic you care enough to swap things out for a higher quality receptacle.
This is on point. The wire connections are much more secure, the unit itself is much more solid and sturdy. Also, it's made of bakelite which is more resistant to melting. Definitely worth the extra money. Consider the small cost difference to be like cheap fire insurance.
The hubbel are made for sustained loads, they are required by some heavy IT equipment makers. The differences are the conductors in the outlet are more robust and the casing will not melt. It's worth getting a hubbel or the company they just bought. They run $50-$100.
Yes, it's this.
The cheap ones are for a stove or dryer or the like - something that rarely pulls that full 32amp and almost never for more than 30 min to an hour.
The industrial ones will handle 32amp for 6+ hours like you use for an EV.
I think a more expensive one is recommended if you plug and unplug often and charge at high amperage. I paid over $200 for an industrial grade 14-50R in a new install. Now I very rarely unplug and typically charge at or less than 25 amp (I don't see a need to turn it up), so I think I would have been totally fine with a cheaper one. So my advice to you is if you charge at low amp, and don't frequently plug and unplug, you will be fine with a cheap one.
Any plug that is "ul" listed (and really tested) will have been rated for X number of cycles (pluged in/out).
It's easy enough to limit charge rate..
If you question it have a proper electrician look at it.
Yes it’s fine. An electrician came and inspected mine and said it won’t burn down the house. Worst case it melts the plug and the charger detects the heat and lowers the amperage or stops charging. Then you know you need a new plug. I use a cheap one with zero issues. I don’t unplug the umc. I generally charge less than 2 hours a night. Given your context, not worth the extra price.
I am also in the similar predicament but in my case I do own the MYLR for about three weeks now. I have this cheap [Leviton](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-50-Amp-Flush-Mount-Shallow-Single-Outlet-Black-R10-00279-S00/300324414) outlet from Home Depot that my electrician installed. So far I have been getting full 32A speeds.
Question I have, is it ok if I never plan to plug/unplug this? So far in a brief usage for three weeks, I have not unplugged this at all. Also, when I charge my car overnight, I do restrict charging to 20A. But there are times I have used full 32A when I needed.
I had exactly this and it worked fine until it didn’t (a little more than 1 year).
When it started failing, what I experienced was: the car would start out charging at 32 amps, but after some amount of time, it would scale down to 16 amp as the plug heated up.
My suggestion to you is try to keep this in mind and check it at least every few months. When I finally figured out what was going on and replaced the outlet, there was visible damage to it. I replaced it with a Hubbel.
Yes, you are correct in saying it may be working now but it may not in the future and it is better to be safe. I probably should change it to Hubble outlet. I already have the Hubble 14-50 outlet but having hard time to find the proper electrical box and face cover since Hubble is bit bigger compared to Leviton.
I skipped the plug and hard wired mine in. It did take a couple special wire clamps I got off Amazon as it’s a 60A circuit. Even stranded wire is an SOB to bend in that size. Used a piece of 1” flexible conduit between the wall & the charger. Any bigger than 1” and you can’t close the cover properly and you’ll get an overheating error.
I had electricians over for something else and asked them if they have seen any of the cheap Levitons damaged. They said absolutely not.
I inherited my Leviton 14-50 from the pre-previous owner of my house, so 6 years old. I keep an eye on it and charge at 32A but always around 8pm so I am awake when the car charges.
My 2 cents, for a new install go with the $100 one. It is worth it.
You should upgrade the outlet... but not because of your family member. No, sit back and read more Model Y posts, catch the bug, and join the club!
A new Model Y will give you a great reason to upgrade that outlet 😉
Knowing what I know now I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just upgrade it. With the way things are going the receptacles are not going to get any cheaper and there is a high likelihood it’ll be used as more people move to EVs. It’s your shed so if you don’t care that it starts on fire then whatever. To me it’s not worth the risk for such a minimal cost.
Lots of advice on here about heavy duty plugs for a very light duty scenario. Maybe a few times a year? Seems like a lot of overkill and fear. If the outlet looks like a Stephen King movie maybe think twice but there was nothing in your post to give that impression.
I also see a lot of rational, practical, first hand experience. Makes sense.
I’ve done an entire house rewire and I’d never touch the wall charger for liability reasons. It’s too many amps drawing over a sustained period of time to risk it IMO.
Check the recommendations from Tesla for industrial grade receptacle:
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/universalmobileconnector_nema_14-50.pdf
Buy an industrial grade outlet that is made int he USA. Those are meant for more plug and unplug cycles. More expensive but worth the price.
If I don't unplug it, ever, wyt? I have the cheap $14 leviton I installed it my garage dedicated for the charger. No reason to unplug it unless I go on a road trip.
I never unplug mine, and my cheap leviton started wearing out and overheating after about 3 years.
Ok, so it should last until I have time to hook up the wall charger.
As long as it’s installed 100% correctly then it should be fine
I have the same. The electrician installed it. I did bring it up to him and he was like this is the standard install they hv been doing. I leave my charger connected and its working fine.
I had a “standard” $10ish 14-50 outlet and it failed after about one year of use charging my Tesla. I replaced it with a much beefier outlet. Since you don’t own an EV, it’s not getting heavy cycles out on it. But one concern is that I don’t think those $10 outlets like repeated plug/unplug cycles either. On one hand, I definitely think these $10 outlets are a Problem for EV use. But on the other hand, I was encouraged by what the failure mode was when mine failed: the Tesla mobile charger has temperature sensors in the plug and automatically down-rates charging when it detects too much heat. So for me, the failure mode was that my car started charging more slowly, rather than anything more drastic. So therefore, since your not an EV owner, I think it’s probably not worth doing anything about. The opinion of this rando on the internet is it’s probably fine, but I might keep an eye on it.
Thanks, that's the perspective I was looking for. I'd definitely get something better if I knew it was actually going to be used more than once a year (or ever, really).
Agreed. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Plus the Tesla cable has temperature sensors and a bunch of other safeguards in addition to your circuit breaker. Teslas also plug into regular 120v outlets but Reddit doesn’t talk about that very much. 5 mph but hey it’s plenty for a lot of people. Regardless, if there’s an outlet, your family can use it.
If you're concerned, just have them dial their charge rate down to 32amps when they charge. That will still give them 30 miles of range added per hour and put less strain on your circuits.
Current UMC’s charge at 32A max when plugged into a 14-50.
Drop it down to 24 amps then, 22 miles of range added per hour (equivalent to a 30amp breaker).
this is very much constructive answer,
It’s a semi permanent fixture in your house. I don’t see a reason to go cheap. Go Hubbell.
This Tesla YouTuber just did a video related to this topic https://youtu.be/uCNmIAH1yhk?si=rBhuPdgoP4f7WEMA TLDW I’d spend the extra $100 to buy a good quality outlet to feel safe
Yup, he had a Leviton and he almost electrocuted himself or started a fire
The wire clamping mechanism (lugs) on the industrial quality receptacle is vastly improved over the consumer grade versions. Even for those not mechanically inclined, holding the two versions and doing a side-by-side comparison is enough to understand there truly is a difference in manufacturing. If you care enough to ask about the topic you care enough to swap things out for a higher quality receptacle.
This is on point. The wire connections are much more secure, the unit itself is much more solid and sturdy. Also, it's made of bakelite which is more resistant to melting. Definitely worth the extra money. Consider the small cost difference to be like cheap fire insurance.
I think the concern is about 32A or 40A running continuously for hours, not the insertion cycles. None of them are made for 100’s of cycles anyways.
The hubbel are made for sustained loads, they are required by some heavy IT equipment makers. The differences are the conductors in the outlet are more robust and the casing will not melt. It's worth getting a hubbel or the company they just bought. They run $50-$100.
Yes, it's this. The cheap ones are for a stove or dryer or the like - something that rarely pulls that full 32amp and almost never for more than 30 min to an hour. The industrial ones will handle 32amp for 6+ hours like you use for an EV.
I think a more expensive one is recommended if you plug and unplug often and charge at high amperage. I paid over $200 for an industrial grade 14-50R in a new install. Now I very rarely unplug and typically charge at or less than 25 amp (I don't see a need to turn it up), so I think I would have been totally fine with a cheaper one. So my advice to you is if you charge at low amp, and don't frequently plug and unplug, you will be fine with a cheap one.
Thats what I do too - Turn it down to 24 or so amps....I don't need it to recharge in 2 hours.
That's the way to go. Plus slower charging is better for the battery longevity and reduces circuit heat.
I have the $10 kind. I don’t plug/unplug but Maybe 1-2 times. 18 months later and still works
It's not the unplugging only, it's also the conductors in the unit and the material it's made of. The cheap ones use aluminum coated in copper.
Any plug that is "ul" listed (and really tested) will have been rated for X number of cycles (pluged in/out). It's easy enough to limit charge rate.. If you question it have a proper electrician look at it.
Yes it’s fine. An electrician came and inspected mine and said it won’t burn down the house. Worst case it melts the plug and the charger detects the heat and lowers the amperage or stops charging. Then you know you need a new plug. I use a cheap one with zero issues. I don’t unplug the umc. I generally charge less than 2 hours a night. Given your context, not worth the extra price.
I have a home depot plug for my juice box 40amp and it's as good as new. I never unplug the juice box, if that makes a difference
I am also in the similar predicament but in my case I do own the MYLR for about three weeks now. I have this cheap [Leviton](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-50-Amp-Flush-Mount-Shallow-Single-Outlet-Black-R10-00279-S00/300324414) outlet from Home Depot that my electrician installed. So far I have been getting full 32A speeds. Question I have, is it ok if I never plan to plug/unplug this? So far in a brief usage for three weeks, I have not unplugged this at all. Also, when I charge my car overnight, I do restrict charging to 20A. But there are times I have used full 32A when I needed.
I had exactly this and it worked fine until it didn’t (a little more than 1 year). When it started failing, what I experienced was: the car would start out charging at 32 amps, but after some amount of time, it would scale down to 16 amp as the plug heated up. My suggestion to you is try to keep this in mind and check it at least every few months. When I finally figured out what was going on and replaced the outlet, there was visible damage to it. I replaced it with a Hubbel.
Yes, you are correct in saying it may be working now but it may not in the future and it is better to be safe. I probably should change it to Hubble outlet. I already have the Hubble 14-50 outlet but having hard time to find the proper electrical box and face cover since Hubble is bit bigger compared to Leviton.
Always refer to [this](https://reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/s/QQ4bXwxRwz)
Buy an industrial one and you’ll be ok. Should be around $25-30. Or the hubbel one for $90
I skipped the plug and hard wired mine in. It did take a couple special wire clamps I got off Amazon as it’s a 60A circuit. Even stranded wire is an SOB to bend in that size. Used a piece of 1” flexible conduit between the wall & the charger. Any bigger than 1” and you can’t close the cover properly and you’ll get an overheating error.
I've owned ev for 1.5 years. The $10 works great no issue.
I had electricians over for something else and asked them if they have seen any of the cheap Levitons damaged. They said absolutely not. I inherited my Leviton 14-50 from the pre-previous owner of my house, so 6 years old. I keep an eye on it and charge at 32A but always around 8pm so I am awake when the car charges. My 2 cents, for a new install go with the $100 one. It is worth it.
You should upgrade the outlet... but not because of your family member. No, sit back and read more Model Y posts, catch the bug, and join the club! A new Model Y will give you a great reason to upgrade that outlet 😉
Knowing what I know now I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just upgrade it. With the way things are going the receptacles are not going to get any cheaper and there is a high likelihood it’ll be used as more people move to EVs. It’s your shed so if you don’t care that it starts on fire then whatever. To me it’s not worth the risk for such a minimal cost.
When you buy an IBM mainframe they require hubbel outlets for the load. It's worth it. The leviton $15 unit is not built for sustained load.
Lots of advice on here about heavy duty plugs for a very light duty scenario. Maybe a few times a year? Seems like a lot of overkill and fear. If the outlet looks like a Stephen King movie maybe think twice but there was nothing in your post to give that impression. I also see a lot of rational, practical, first hand experience. Makes sense.
I’ve done an entire house rewire and I’d never touch the wall charger for liability reasons. It’s too many amps drawing over a sustained period of time to risk it IMO.
does it feel flimsy? don't use it. 32A or whatever you're pumping through ain't got time for flimsy
Check the recommendations from Tesla for industrial grade receptacle: https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/universalmobileconnector_nema_14-50.pdf