Sparkykc124 t1_ir1r18e wrote
I’m an electrician and what you’re doing is perfectly fine, provided the wiring is in conduit from the junction box to the charger. Is the 6-3 already at the j-box location? Do you have to re-route it? Honestly, even better is to bring the romex into a j-box and split out the conductors long enough to make it to the charger, splices are weak points.
eerun165 t1_ir1vim9 wrote
Not all jurisdictions require conduit.
Sparkykc124 t1_ir1w9o3 wrote
Well, no jurisdictions allow single conductors to be run outside of conduit/boxes. OP didn’t mention what type of #8 conductors would be used, so I assumed.
jkoudys t1_ir350h4 wrote
> no jurisdictions allow single conductors to be run outside of conduit/boxes
Wish the handyman who did half of the place I bought knew that. Nothing worse to see than thin black wire hopping between jboxes.
Sparkykc124 t1_ir36c4h wrote
Don’t look. I live in a 1911 built house and most everything in the walls and attic is knob and tube. What isn’t, was mostly done by 1950s and 70s handymen.
crankshaft123 t1_ir4zcb6 wrote
My first house was built in the 1930s. The guy I bought it from was an electrician. He was also a fucking hack. He replaced "all" of the original K&T wiring with romex and upgraded the panel from a 60A fuse panel to a 200A breaker panel. He did all of this work poorly, and very little of it was done to code.
All 2nd floor lighting circuits were still K&T. There were running splices in the basement and the attic. The main wire from the pole to the meter was replaced when the new panel was installed, but the penetration in the side of the house was never sealed, which meant that water collected in the bottom of the panel whenever it rained.
Over the course of 10 years, I spent countless hours discovering and repairing the previous owner's hack work.
Sparkykc124 t1_ir79ha7 wrote
Yeah, I can’t do things half ass, so sometimes it’s better if I just don’t do it. I actually have started rewiring but I will have to leave the first floor overhead lighting, which isn’t much, as it’s not worth putting holes in the plaster ceiling.
eerun165 t1_ir1xds0 wrote
True on the single conductor. The splice would also need to be in a box. Cable of appropriate type wouldn’t necessitate conduit.
Loon610 OP t1_ir2o3pi wrote
Thanks for the input. I have to reroute the 6-3. It’s about twice as much wire as I need. I managed to get a hold of the charger manufacturer and they said 6 gauge is okay. I was going to run the non metallic water tight flexible conduit from the vinyl siding to the charger about 2 feet. So no one would frown upon stripping the jacket on the NMD 90 at the start of the conduit and running it like that which would be more flexible. How tight of a bend radius could I put into NMD 90 6-3, I measured it slightly under 3/4 inch diameter, I read I could 5x the diameter as a radius. So I could put a 3.75” radius bend into wire? I know bending too tight can cause resistance to increase.
Sparkykc124 t1_ir32s5p wrote
> So no one would frown upon stripping the jacket on the NMD 90 at the start of the conduit and running it like that which would be more flexible
By code, the sheathed cable should enter a box with a connector before being stripped back. Though I’ve seen it done plenty like you’re saying. The other thing to consider is that NM is not listed for use in wet environments and sunlight will degrade the outer sheathing. You want to limit the amount of it that’s exposed to the elements. If it were me, I’d poke the romex through the sill plate, directly into the back of a 6x6 pvc box mounted to the siding, strip it back, roll and tape up the white, and come out of the box with non-metallic liquid tite into the charger. One thing to keep in mind is that it’s almost impossible to keep water out when you put a hole in the top of a box. If you can, come out the side of the box with your liquid tite, or even better, the bottom. Also, drill a couple small holes in the bottom, so when water does get into the box, it can drain out.
> I know bending too tight can cause resistance to increase
The electricity won’t care. Too tight of a bend puts strain on the jacketing and insulation. I don’t think you need to worry about that though, you have to try pretty hard to overbend wire.
Loon610 OP t1_ir3r8sl wrote
Thanks a lot for the info this has been very helpful. Just want to run one last thing by you. To clear two things up, the run from the panel to the charger will be up on wall of a garage, through the attic, down the other wall, so I will be going through the top plate not the sill plate. Also the junction box would be inside the garage, I plan on knocking out some drywall and having the junction box exposed to the inside of the garage, then running the conduit from there, so the only thing that should be exposed to the elements is the flexible conduit, the hole it passes though, and the charger what is suppose to be water proof when mounted in the correct orientation. So two questions, no problem going through the attic and down the walls right? Also the NMD being in the attic and on the interior of the garage wall would count as dry interior application, not a wet one right.
The company said 6 gauge is okay to run, and thanks to your advice I think, I will use this as my plan. Either keep the 40amp breaker or possibly upgrade to 50amp, NMD 90 6-3 wire to a junction box in garage wall just on the other side of charger carport location, strip jacket (not insulation)of wire, then from the junction box run wire through flexible non metallic conduit straight into charger through the wall into carport where charger is. What’s your thoughts? Thanks again for the help, you’ve been very informative.
Sparkykc124 t1_ir41s84 wrote
Yes, sounds like a good installation. Also, wouldn’t bother changing the breaker.
TiboQc t1_ir3xci6 wrote
Not the original commenter nor an electrician, but I did plenty of reading of the requirements here in Quebec before installing my Tesla charger with my electrician father-in-law. From my understanding: attic and wall absolutely count as dry environments, NMD is ok for those. Not sure why you need a junction box before going outside though.
About stripping the neutral wire before going into a conduit, I found this: "installing stripped Romex where the wire may be susceptible to damage is prohibited. This may include installation near sewage lines, bins, garage doors, and even those attached to the face of concrete walls!". Looks like it's ok to strip before going into a conduit, as long as the conduit protects well from environment, from external physical damage (animals, shovels) and is well waterproof (directly connecting to the charger or in a waterproof box).
You could also try to find a 6-2 wire, even better a NMWU so to avoid using a conduit and staying flexible, but those are pretty hard to find.
About the 40amp breaker, I know my Tesla model 3 can only take 32Amp so I kept my 8-3 with 40Amp breaker. Model Ys and some other cars can go a bit higher, but the charger can be configured to stay below 40Amps. If your charger doesn't go beyond 40 or you car use 32amp for example, no need to upgrade the breaker, but it's nice to have it easily upgradable when faster charging becomes available (e.g. your next car).
Anyways, just wanted to participate in the conversation, better have confirmation by a pro. Congrats on your EV, they are so much fun!
JerryfromCan t1_ir449st wrote
I have 6 gauge running into my chargers home/cottage Ontario. Wanted the additional in case we ever get to 80 amp (which requires a shut off right next in Ontario) which the Ford Lightning was supposed to be. Turning 6 gauge is not easy but I have learned that you can pretty much turn teck 3 4 wire 3 gauge on a dime if you work it hard enough in conduit so I will never complain about 6 gauge indoor wire again.
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