Quick Electrical Question

[ProgRocker]

So in our server room we have the following outlet, It says 30A but I think it’s a 20A. I’m not an electrician so I don’t know if that even makes sense:

Here’s the plug from the extender cable which is the same as the UPS:

We forwarded this to Schneider Electric/APC when purchasing out UPS. Unfortunately the plug does not fit. My questions are:

• Can we have an electrician replace the receptacle to fit what we need?
• Is there an adapter cable that goes from one to the other?
• What would you suggest?

<EDIT>
Found the receptacle is 125V and Cord is 250V…What should we purpose?

Oh and the UPS is all setup and rack mounted…don’t make me move it.

[02NismoSpecV]

the plug(in your hand) says 250v on the plug so that wont work in the receptacle in the wall regardless of what plug you get (since that is a 125v outlet). so i would verify the voltage on the UPS. if it is 250v youll need a new line ran from a 250v panel to supply power to that

edit: just saw you noticed the voltage difference. you need to verify the voltage on the UPS first off and then go from there. if its only 125 then get a new plug. if its 250 you need an electrician to come in and wire a separate outlet

[ProgRocker]

^Figured that would be the route we’d need to go:

Here is the UPS:
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SRT5KRMXLT&ISOCountryCode=us

And we also have a step down transformer that plugs into the UPS
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP9626

<EDIT>
Just went back to past emails. Not only did we Specify that we had an L5-125 receptacle, we sent a picture of the actual outlet and asked for a UPS solution to match. We got a L6-250V connector. Dey Done Goofed.

[cougarspeed]

@tpgsr

[tpgsr]

an L5-30 and an L6-30 dont work. How far from a panel is this? Also the breaker may be able to be swapped out and the wires coded to work.

[ProgRocker]

@tpgsr

an L5-30 and an L6-30 dont work. How far from a panel is this? Also the breaker may be able to be swapped out and the wires coded to work.

Maybe 25-30’ from the panel. It’s in the same room and there appears to be open slots on the panel for additional breakers.

[tpgsr]

The best case is that you will just need to change the breaker and the receptacle. not that big of a deal really.

[Spam16v]

@tpgsr

The best case is that you will just need to change the breaker and the receptacle. not that big of a deal really.

This. And maybe back tape the conductors for color if necessary.

[1QIKZ]

@02NismoSpecV

the plug(in your hand) says 250v on the plug so that wont work in the receptacle in the wall regardless of what plug you get (since that is a 125v outlet). so i would verify the voltage on the UPS. if it is 250v youll need a new line ran from a 250v panel to supply power to that

edit: just saw you noticed the voltage difference. you need to verify the voltage on the UPS first off and then go from there. if its only 125 then get a new plug. if its 250 you need an electrician to come in and wire a separate outlet

250 or 251, whatever it takes. Just wrap everything in electrical tape and don’t worry.

[TradersBASE]

@tpgsr

an L5-30 and an L6-30 dont work. How far from a panel is this? Also the breaker may be able to be swapped out and the wires coded to work.

This. Used to consult/quote out large UPS back in the day.

[Carbonfiberhooded]

Ha!

[ProgRocker]

Apparently we were told we could use a NEMA L21-20P to NEMA L6-30R adapter. Do you sell these @tpgsr?

Ultimately I’d like to just throw in the correct receptacle and call it a day.

[tpgsr]

Who ever told you that sucks.

Here is what is happening currently:

You have an L5-30R on the wall. That receptacle contains Hot - Neutral - Ground conductors. The hot wire will be terminated to a 30A single pole breaker. The ground and neutral to the neutral bar. Because you only have the option of going HOT to NEUTRAL you only have the potential of 120V, not 240.

The L6-30P That is pictured is made to work with HOT - HOT - GROUND. This would be terminated back to a 2 Pole 30A breaker and the green wire to the neutral bar. This is how you get 240. Two legs of the 120A 180* out of phase = 240V potential.

No adapter will ever work for the above reasons.

Here is the solution. You need to purchase an L6-30R, a 2p30A breaker for your panel, and some red tape. The cable should contain BLACK - WHITE - GREEN conductors. In the panel you will wire the black wire to one pole of the new breaker, and the white wire will be taped red and wired tothe other pole. The only remaining wire on the neutral bar is the green. In the junction box you will wire the black and “red taped white” wire to the hot terminals of the new receptacle and the green to the ground terminal.

Voila.

Also, DON’T DO ANY OF THIS. I am not responsible for you killing yourself when you touch the bus or something.

[Gus]

@tpgsr

Who ever told you that sucks.

Here is what is happening currently:

You have an L5-30R on the wall. That receptacle contains Hot - Neutral - Ground conductors. The hot wire will be terminated to a 30A single pole breaker. The ground and neutral to the neutral bar. Because you only have the option of going HOT to NEUTRAL you only have the potential of 120V, not 240.

The L6-30P That is pictured is made to work with HOT - HOT - GROUND. This would be terminated back to a 2 Pole 30A breaker and the green wire to the neutral bar. This is how you get 240. Two legs of the 120A 180* out of phase = 240V potential.

No adapter will ever work for the above reasons.

Here is the solution. You need to purchase an L6-30R, a 2p30A breaker for your panel, and some red tape. The cable should contain BLACK - WHITE - GREEN conductors. In the panel you will wire the black wire to one pole of the new breaker, and the white wire will be taped red and wired tothe other pole. The only remaining wire on the neutral bar is the green. In the junction box you will wire the black and “red taped white” wire to the hot terminals of the new receptacle and the green to the ground terminal.

Voila.

Also, DON’T DO ANY OF THIS. I am not responsible for you killing yourself when you touch the bus or something.

I haven’t heard from @ProgRocker all day…

[TradersBASE]

@tpgsr

Who ever told you that sucks.

Here is what is happening currently:

You have an L5-30R on the wall. That receptacle contains Hot - Neutral - Ground conductors. The hot wire will be terminated to a 30A single pole breaker. The ground and neutral to the neutral bar. Because you only have the option of going HOT to NEUTRAL you only have the potential of 120V, not 240.

The L6-30P That is pictured is made to work with HOT - HOT - GROUND. This would be terminated back to a 2 Pole 30A breaker and the green wire to the neutral bar. This is how you get 240. Two legs of the 120A 180* out of phase = 240V potential.

No adapter will ever work for the above reasons.

Here is the solution. You need to purchase an L6-30R, a 2p30A breaker for your panel, and some red tape. The cable should contain BLACK - WHITE - GREEN conductors. In the panel you will wire the black wire to one pole of the new breaker, and the white wire will be taped red and wired tothe other pole. The only remaining wire on the neutral bar is the green. In the junction box you will wire the black and “red taped white” wire to the hot terminals of the new receptacle and the green to the ground terminal.

Voila.

Also, DON’T DO ANY OF THIS. I am not responsible for you killing yourself when you touch the bus or something.

[ProgRocker]

@tpgsr

Who ever told you that sucks.

Here is what is happening currently:

You have an L5-30R on the wall. That receptacle contains Hot - Neutral - Ground conductors. The hot wire will be terminated to a 30A single pole breaker. The ground and neutral to the neutral bar. Because you only have the option of going HOT to NEUTRAL you only have the potential of 120V, not 240.

The L6-30P That is pictured is made to work with HOT - HOT - GROUND. This would be terminated back to a 2 Pole 30A breaker and the green wire to the neutral bar. This is how you get 240. Two legs of the 120A 180* out of phase = 240V potential.

No adapter will ever work for the above reasons.

Here is the solution. You need to purchase an L6-30R, a 2p30A breaker for your panel, and some red tape. The cable should contain BLACK - WHITE - GREEN conductors. In the panel you will wire the black wire to one pole of the new breaker, and the white wire will be taped red and wired tothe other pole. The only remaining wire on the neutral bar is the green. In the junction box you will wire the black and “red taped white” wire to the hot terminals of the new receptacle and the green to the ground terminal.

Voila.

Also, DON’T DO ANY OF THIS. I am not responsible for you killing yourself when you touch the bus or something.

Thank you sir! Doing an adapter was 100% not what I wanted to do at all. I’d rather have a licensed electrician come in and toss the correct receptacle into the ceiling an call it a day. The closest electric work I’ll be doing is plugging this thing in. We also are a tenant of a building so I gotta get it approved first (shouldn’t be a problem). The problem is/was that we sent them pictures and the specs of what we had and they send us the wrong plug. It’s also the biggest UPS they make before needing to A)hardwire it directly into the panel or B)Split the load (<lol) over 2+ UPS units.

Here’s some pictures of the setup to get a better understanding. I figured if I needed electric parts I’d throw some business your way @tpgsr and I could just swing by and pick it up. Again, I would rather not use any type of converters or adapters to jerry rig this thing to work.
http://imgur.com/a/Et0wS

[tpgsr]

Looking at the picture there is probably more than one load on the circuit and new wires will have to be pulled.