Leviton L6-30 vs. NEMA 6-20P

May 03, 2007 2 Replies
J

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question... I'm treading into an area where I not at all knowledgeable, and my attempts to find an answer to this question have not been successful.



We have a dedicated circuit in our machine room, currently unused, with a Leviton L6-30 plug. We want to use that circuit for a portable air conditioner with a NEMA 6-20P connector. The air conditioner expects 250V, 60Hz, 1-phase,



20A. As far as I can tell, the L6-30 plug implies that the circuit is 230V and 30A, so it should be more than adequate for the portable air conditioner. The first question is, am I right about that? And the second question is, how do I plug a cord with a NEMA 6-20P connector into a circuit with a Leviton L6-30 connector? Is it simply a matter of buying a converter to go from one to the other, or do we need to remove the connector from the end of the cord and install a new connector, or what?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.


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G

Electrically you could just make up an adapter and it would work fine but you really need to look at the manufacturer's instructions to see if this will provide sufficient over current protection. They probably say you need to use a 20a max circuit. You can always swap out the breaker and install a 6-20 receptacle. In the long run that might be cheaper than buying the parts to build the adapter. L6-30 plugs cost more than 2 pole 20a breakers. It also makes you "legal" and the fire marshal won't be tagging you if you get inspected.

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O

To do it legally may also require a licensed electrician.

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