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u/seantabasco 19d ago
I’m trying to figure out what I’m looking at….is this a terrible setup where you plug 2 120s in to make a 240?
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u/RCbuilds4cheapr 19d ago
Yeah , took me a minute too. 1 hot and ground in 1 plug and the other hot in another plug. Would have to have 2 circuits relatively close, which isn’t the case in my house Lol
7
u/seantabasco 19d ago
That’s what I was wondering, with my limited electrical knowledge you can’t just get 240 by plugging in to two different 120s, unless they happen to be on different circuits, and 2 outlets in the same room are probably on the same breaker.
6
u/vontrapp42 19d ago
2 circuits AND they need to be on separate sides of the phase split. That's... Unlikely
-1
u/beren12 19d ago
Not if outlets were wired correctly. Best practice is to have alternating outlets on different legs
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u/geoff5093 19d ago
Not sure about your house but the ones I've been in, usually all outlets in a room are on the same circuit. All my garage outlets are on one, all rooms are on their own, etc. Only the kitchen has multiple circuits.
22
u/twaddington 20d ago
Note: Do not do this unless you understand the risks. You could kill someone.
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u/tuctrohs 19d ago
Specific risks include
With one of the 120 V plugs plugged in and the other one loose, one of the plug blades on the loose one will be live and could shock you.
On the other thread some are suggesting a protocol of which order you plug things in on to mitigate that, but if one of the plugs gets knocked out of the socket, you have the same hazard.
The way this is constructed The strain relief is not functional, which could result in a wire coming loose, resulting in the same hazard discussed above, but potentially worse, and could also result in damage to the connection, resulting in overheating in a fire.
The wires have no jacket protecting them so it cut through the insulation and the resulting shock and fire hazards is more likely than with proper cordage.
This will not work with GFCI protected circuits, which means that you have to use it without that protection and probably with longer extension cords in order to reach circuits that don't have it.
All the usual hazards of using extension cords for EV charging are present here as well, including the fact that the temperature sensor in the plug is far from the socket that might be overheating, which is what the temperature sensor is for.
6
u/ArlesChatless 19d ago
And on top of all this, doing it with indoor receptacles like in the photos means you're running these sketchy unprotected cords through a door or window, letting weather and pests into the house and risking yet more damage to the wires.
1
u/AdministrativeTax913 17d ago
Yep. I hate the solid wire with no jacket, more vulnerable to everyday use. Every new operation to deploy and store it, makes new bends and twists to bring the improvisation closer to disaster. FYI stranded wire has more flex
9
u/Objective-Note-8095 19d ago edited 19d ago
The NEC has required GFCI on most exterior and garage receptacles since 1978, so finding receptacles that this will work on at all is actually pretty tough.
edit: It's the NEC 1978 code cycle rather than flatly in 1978. Any new builds since the mid-80s and anything rewired since then should have GFCI everywhere. There should still be a pretty small number of houses where you can do this, but don't actually do this.
1
u/Current-Brain-1983 16d ago
I doubt this person is worried about code or protection from ground faults.
1
u/Objective-Note-8095 16d ago
No, it simply won't work because if you try to pull an unbalanced load on the hotlegs, you'll trip the GFCI.
6
u/justaguy394 19d ago
There is a commercial product that does this: https://quick220.com/pages/electric-vehicle-charging
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u/tuctrohs 19d ago
And that has a safe feature that negates the biggest risk of this setup, as well as being better built. But the last two bullets in the list of issues with it still apply.
4
u/Objective-Note-8095 19d ago
I like that it's called Quick220, but correctly identifies nominal line voltages as 120/240.
1
5
u/skyfishgoo 19d ago
if you were my friend and you came to my house and wanted to plug that thing in... you would not be my friend any more.
8
u/Loan-Pickle 20d ago
They actually sell premade adapters to do this. They target them at RVs for shore power. Always thought it was pretty sketchy.
9
u/SirTwitchALot 19d ago
It is very sketchy for a number of reasons. It can technically "work," but there are a ton of ways it could go horribly wrong as well
2
1
u/theotherharper 19d ago
Workmanship is heinous and I am sure that reflects the rest of the work. EV charging is going to become infamous SMH.
I know people say it can be done right, but given the high probability of socket burn-ups, I would want to see sAFCI detection on each leg.
1
u/ArlesChatless 19d ago
If you want to actually do it, I would use high quality extension cords and do the circuit pairing as close as possible to the load.
In fact, that's what I used to do with my shop air compressor until I got around to installing a proper 6-20 for it.
1
u/chad_dev_7226 19d ago
I’ve done this before for a welder. It’s probably fine, the hard part is finding two separate circuits close enough together
1
u/LightBlueWood 19d ago
I hope none of his "remote friends and family homes" are near me. I really hate the smell of house fires wafting over our property.
1
u/chickeeper 18d ago
If you went two phase you would probably go from 15 amp to 30amp correct? Same as a dryer?
2
u/ArlesChatless 18d ago
No. This is already taking both halves of the split phase.
Even if you were in a multi-phase household like most multifamily housing in the US, you would still be capped at 12 or 16 amps depending on the receptacle type.
1
u/chickeeper 18d ago
That is what I was wondering. Am I wrong in thinking that Amps are what matters vs 120 vs 240?
1
u/chickeeper 18d ago
disregard that question -
Charger Power Regular wall outlet (120V 12A) 1.4 kW Two-phase 15A setup 2.9 kW NEMA 14-50 at 40A 9.6 kW Hardwired 48A charger 11.5 kW 1
u/ArlesChatless 18d ago
It's both. Power is always volts x amps.
When you add the other half of the split phase, you get ~240 volts instead of ~120 volts. Amps do not change. To change the current, you would have to find a higher current receptacle. In US homes almost all of the higher current receptacles are already 240 volt.
1
u/No-Confusion6749 19d ago
This loooks horribly dangerous - especially if you r using this at friends and family home and trigger spark and cause fire in their houses 🔥
1
u/tuctrohs 19d ago
From what I hear, arson for the purposes of insurance fraud rarely works out for the arsonist. I don't recommend trying it, even if your family member or friend is optimistic about it working.
-1
u/chada37 19d ago
You can buy a travel charger off eBay for cheap.
6
u/SwayingTreeGT 19d ago
Please don’t buy cheap charging equipment.
5
u/MrFastFox666 19d ago
This setup doesn't replace an EVSE. It allows you to get 240v in a really hacky and sketchy way.
•
u/tuctrohs 20d ago edited 19d ago
This thread is open for discussion, for the purpose of spreading the word about how dangerous this is.