Charger Adapters

A few relevant links
LPI to SPI adapters
Portable Gen 2+ project
Portable Tal project
Sweet 14-50 plug w/handle
NEMA graphics

My 220V adapter kit with labels. All common ends are L6-30. The one with the black cord at the bottom of the photo is the "Charger Adapter." It converts the 14-50 plug of the charger to the L6-30 twist-locks of the rest of the system. Since the L6-30 and the power cord are both three-conductor, and the charger is 4-conductor, the ground and neutral pins (normally corresponding to the green and white from the charger respectively) are jumpered together inside the 14-50 receptacle of my Charger Adapter. From there on down the line, I have only three wires, since ground and neutral are now one.

The bill of materials to make this set of adapters and two 35' extensions cords. All items here can be purchased at Home Depot. Stay away from anything made of Bakelite (hard, brittle plastic) and only consider the more pliable plastic units as shown here. Prices in parentheses are approximate cost of the individual items as of 2006. This is an expensive project as just the L6-30 units alone total about $300. All parts shown above were purchased at either Home Depot or Lowe's. Product changes at both locations (as well as stock) so it is somewhat of a crap shoot when shopping!

To make the charger itself portable, another 14-50 ($15) plug or a 6' 14-50 "range cord" ($18) needs to be added. At my last accounting (2006), the parts cost for a full portable Gen2+ with all adapters, extension cords, handles and carry bags is about $800. This does not include any labor.

The Avcon adapter converts an Avcon charging paddle into a 14-50 outlet. All the portable chargers that I've built are terminated with a 14-50 plug, so without any more adapters, the portable chargers can plug right into the converter box (or an RV park 50A outlet). Turnkey adapter boxes like this can be purchased from the EAA (scroll to the bottom).

I have added a Volt meter to my Avcon adapter now. This allows me to more easily check charging station Voltages for EVCN reports. The red switch with the PVC surrounding guard is the power switch for the meter. Meter runs on an internal Li 9V battery. I also have a quick-connect pig-tail inside the case that can be hooked up to a 14-50 plug to check Voltage from non-Avcon sources.

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