[ausev] plugs and adapters

[Brian Lasseter]

On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 8:33 AM, The Mullins <ckmullins at earthlink.net> wrote:
> In a recent post Brian Lassiter said that he uses a L6-30 plug on his car
> and has several adapters on hand. I understand that I should use a plug that
> matches up with my principal charging station (in my garage), and use
> adapters for other charging situations. I haven’t selected a charger yet. I
> guess it would be ideal to have a charger to handle both 110 and 220Volts.
>
> What plug would you people experienced in charging out in the real world
> suggest is best?

The Manzanita Micro Chargers can handle both any voltage from 60 volts
to 240 volts AC at either 50 or 60 Hz... So with one of those
chargers, you merely need to have plug adapters for the plugs that you
commonly encounter.  With other chargers, you may be limited to only
120VAC or 240VAC... so your selection of plugs could be more limited,
but you'd have to consult the instructions for your charger.

I nominally carry 4 adapters...
- L6-30 to NEMA 5-15/20   (Regular household outlet/plug)

- L6-30 to NEMA TT-30   (RV outlet/plug)
- L6-30 to NEMA 14-30/50/60   (Household oven outlet/plug)

- L6-30 to NEMA 10-20/30/50   (Household dryer outlet/plug)

You have to remove the Neutral pin on the NEMA 10 and NEMA 14 series
of plugs to get it to be compatible with the full range that I listed.
 Removing the neutral pin presents no problems as the Manzanita
Charger does not need Neutral.

As Ian said... it is not cheap to carry adapters, mine were probably
$40 each.  I saved some money by using L6-30 cables instead of buying
L6-30 plugs for each adapter.

I find it very useful to have that kind of charging flexibility,
though I have yet to ever have a need for the TT-30 plug.  If there
were one plug I would like to get in the future, it'd be an L6-30 to
L14-30 adapter.  I see those on some buildings for generator plugs or
high power golf carts.

-- 
TTFN,
Brian "Lasso" Lasseter

"No Sane man will dance."   -Cicero (106-43 B.C.)