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Is this a 6-20R socket?

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by Darien Day, Jan 27, 2022.

  1. Darien Day

    Darien Day Member

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    I thought it was a 6-20P. The L2 charger I was looking at has what the description says is a 6-20P plug, but the horizontal and vertical blades are opposite of my outlet's.

    I had an electrician come by to give me a quote for a 240V, 16A outlet. He said the pictured outlet is already a 6-20P and all he would have to do is replace the wires from the outlet to the breaker with heavier gauge wiring and add a 16A breaker just for that outlet.

    His price seems high ($900).
     

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  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    A 6-20P (Plug) is a thing that fits into a 6-20R (Receptacle). Which end are you looking for?
     
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  3. Darien Day

    Darien Day Member

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    The charger I'm looking at is this:
    www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PQ42SJ4/

    It looks like the vertical and horizontal blades on its plug are opposite of what they need to be to plug into my wall outlet.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    To be honest, the photo in post #1 looks to me more like a run-of-the-mill 5-20 (as typically used at 120 volts).
     
  5. Darien Day

    Darien Day Member

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    I'm not sure what it is. The electrician said it's a 6-20P. :confused:
     
  6. TerryM

    TerryM Member

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    A 6-20 receptacle will have the right blade slot horizontal when the ground plug is at the bottom. What you have is a 5-20 receptacle. They are different so that someone doesn't plug a 120V appliance into a 250V receptacle. Too bad they didn't make them more distinct so that you could tell the difference just by looking at them.
     
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  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Bumping the contrast on your charger plug, you can just barely make out the NEMA 6-20 up at the top. It sure didn't get stamped very sharply.

    s-l1600.jpg

    That receptacle in the wall is a 5-20. You can see the various NEMA shapes here.

    Kind of funny that an electrician would mix them up.
     
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  8. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Some additional input from someone who did this for a living even though the previous is all good stuff, @Darien Day. I suspect that your electrician might not be very experienced or maybe is a little sloppy since he was confused about your outlet. At a glance, the "T" shaped horizontal slot is a dead give away that it's 120V. (Edited to fix the brain fart that's crossed out above. Don't know why I did that. I know better. But it shows how easy it is to get those two things mixed up.)

    The receptacle in your first picture is a 5-20R (for receptacle) which is a 120 volt, 20 amp receptacle. It has one hot wire, one neutral, and one ground.

    The plug on your EVSE is a 6-20P (for plug) which is a 240 volt, 20 amp plug. It connects to two hot wires (that's how you get 240V) and one ground. That's why the blades and slots are opposite on the 5-20 and the 6-20. In many cases, you wouldn't want to plug into the wrong voltage.

    Also, there is no such thing as a 16A outlet and I've never seen or heard of a 16A breaker. What you need at minimum is a 20A breaker, 14/2 with ground Romex cable, and a 6-20R receptacle. For mine, I went with 12/2 with ground, a 30A breaker and a 10-30R receptacle since my EVSE has a 10-30P plug on it. In fact, many people like to really future proof it by putting in 50A wiring which would be 8/2 with ground. It won't help with your Prime, but it'll save time & money for when you eventually get an EV and want to charge faster.

    Edit to add: a big reason I upsized my wires and breaker aside from matching the plug is that breakers should not be asked to carry more than 80% of their rating for extended times. 16A on a 20A breaker is right at the limit. A 30A capacity will probably last longer.
     
    #8 jerrymildred, Jan 28, 2022
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
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  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    It seems, according to this chart, that a 6-20R also has one T-shaped slot. The biggest difference between it and a 5-20 is the orientation of the slot that's across from the T-shaped one.
     
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  10. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Exactly. It's so stinkin' easy to switch those differences in your head, especially when your fingers get going faster than your old brain. Both have the "T" but the 240V has a horizontal slot on the opposite side rather than vertical. I'll fix my boo boo. Thanks got catching that in time.
     
    #10 jerrymildred, Jan 28, 2022
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022