4

My shop is wired with a whole bunch of 6-50r plugs around the walls running 220v AC. I just picked up a dust collector with a 6-20p plug on the end. I believe it is rated to pull 13 amps at 220v Single Phase AC.

In a perfect world I would be able to use all of the 6-50r receptacles for both the welder or dust collector.

With that in mind, is this sort of adapter with a breaker on it up to code?

Adapter

https://www.lowes.com/pd/AC-WORKS-1ft-6-50P-to-Breaker-6-20R/5013540313

Machavity
  • 24,153
  • 7
  • 42
  • 92
TheReaperOfMars
  • 41
  • 3

2 Answers2

7

Avoid.

The "specifications" section says "safety listing - not listed" and the device label is distinctly lacking any official mark from ETL, UL, CUL or CSA. There's a difference between "claiming it meets" and "actually being tested and listed" and they hope you don't notice that.

enter image description here

Doesn't have this official mark, which it surely would if the alleged CSA certification was done by CSA, not random third parties:

CSA mark

Also missing the UL mark, but they only claim "conforms to" not certified or listed for that. Weasel wording of the finest order.

The sort of device can be fine. That particular instance of it - not fine.

Seems odd for a brick and mortar store, but perhaps Lowes has piled on the "list direct import stuff that's not sold in stores and not really sold or imported by Lowes" train.

Given that a 6-20 is not going to be a mass-market adapter, you might consider putting a small subpanel on the dust collector body with a two-pole 20A breaker in it - build your own from known good parts.

Ecnerwal
  • 201,085
  • 10
  • 245
  • 533
  • This almost exactly sums up my thoughts. I saw it on Lowes and Home Depot but the wording made it clear it wasn’t actually UL listed. Do you have a recommendation for what a small sub panel build like you described would look like? I am reasonably comfortable doing my own electrical work, but I like to see examples before I venture out on my own – TheReaperOfMars May 02 '23 at 23:18
  • 1
    Just took a quick look - Homely Despot has several small subpanels (2 or 4 space) on offer for ~$20+ bucks, similar or slightly lower cost for a 20A two-pole breaker to go in it, then you just need the cable gland and 50A plug and you may be very much in the same cost ballpark (and another cable gland for the tool cord, but you don't actually need a receptacle for that unless you want to preserve the plug - if you do want a receptacle you just need a conduit nipple and a box, not a second cable gland. – Ecnerwal May 02 '23 at 23:23
  • 1
    This was for the more common case, but the general idea is entirely transferrable to your specific case: https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/210081/18078 - if you already have a 50A extension cord, you can use an inlet and no cable gland as in that case. – Ecnerwal May 02 '23 at 23:29
  • 1
    Actually this is UL rated and listed. It's weird they didn't put the UL symbol on the prominent label. You have to look closely (shame on them for not making it clearer), but [the UL mark is there between the blades on the 6-50 end](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bfy7g.png). I was going to be shocked (no pun intended) if any big box would sell something **not** UL/ETL listed – Machavity May 03 '23 at 14:53
  • 2
    I was thinking that the UL mark between the blades only applied to the plug and not the entire devices. They most likely didn’t mold and certify their own plug ends, so I have to imagine the plug manufacturer got it UL certified and this company added it to their product. – TheReaperOfMars May 03 '23 at 15:54
  • @TheReaperOfMars - Really? I would think that molding it onto the pigtail could/would only be done with final assembly, so that if the plug is molded on, it's "manufactured" on that cable. I suppose the final manufacturer *could* buy a pigtail with a 6-50 on a 1-foot cable, and mold their own 6-20 onto the bare end; in that case the original pigtail could be UL certified. Is that what you meant? – Jeffiekins May 03 '23 at 17:22
  • 1
    @Jeffiekins my implication here is that this company probably bought the plugs and wire and assembled them into a final product. Something like this plug is UL listed, but buying it and assembling it into a power cord doesn’t make the cord UL listed. Just the individual component. – TheReaperOfMars May 03 '23 at 18:33
5

Ecnerwal's advice is generally correct. But the key issue, aside from actual certification, is whether the cord includes a fuse or breaker. According to the description, it does include a breaker. Without that breaker, this would be trash. It has the breaker and the description actually says "The Breaker is Designed to Trip Power when Drawing More than 20 Amps" so the next step is to go to the AC Works company web site. They are a US company, which is a good thing when it comes to electrical product safety.

A bit of searching on the AC Works site shows that some of their products are UL or ETL listed. My hunch is that they have so many different products that they decided to not bother with getting full testing/listing for each one due to the costs involved.

Home Depot has the same product available which is another good sign.

So while I agree with Ecnerwal that you have to be extremely careful with these types of things, in this particular case I think the product is legitimate and reasonably safe to use.

But definitely do not get this type of thing from Amazon or other online stores that drop-ship from other places ("Ships from Amazon" but "Sold by some random other company").

manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
  • 105,505
  • 9
  • 125
  • 304
  • 1
    The 20 amp breaker is what made me look at this product. The welding receptacles are all on a 50 amp breaker which I’m not comfortable directly running a 13 amp appliance on. – TheReaperOfMars May 02 '23 at 23:32
  • 1
    I agree with Ecnerwal that their inability to state which aisle and shelf location the unit can be found on, suggests they're *not* offering it for retail sale. They may have been talking with Amazon's lawyers about how far they can push "only a marketplace + only a warehouse + only a shipping company; we are not the seller here". However I agree with you that UL would likely approve this thing, if asked. – Harper - Reinstate Monica May 02 '23 at 23:56
  • @Harper-ReinstateMonica home depot has it as ship to store or delivery. Can't pay to stock every oddball part in every store. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact May 02 '23 at 23:59
  • 2
    Per my comment above, this adapter does have a UL stamp, it's just hard to see and in an odd location. I'm not surprised this isn't in every store either, as this is a most unusual adapter – Machavity May 03 '23 at 15:14
  • As a side note, in the US (and probably many other places) the listing stamp is incredibly important. For every insurance provider I'm familiar with, damages from a fault in a non-listed device may not be covered by your insurance policy. – psaxton May 03 '23 at 15:18