Charging

[ricschug]

We are obviously have a failure to communicate here.

[jimball]

Circuit breakers are there to protect both the circuit & the device connected to it. If a 15 amp draw device on a 20 amp kitchen circuit such as a deep fryer or toaster oven develops a dead short condition, it will have a surge of current draw that will trip the breaker before either the device or the house wiring heats up enough to cause a fire. While a 20 amp 220-v battery charger will normally work just fine on a 50 amp circuit with no sign of overheating, the problem and danger exists if a dead short develops in the charger. The charger can catch fire without ever tripping the circuit breaker. That's why circuit breakers come in all different sizes - to match circuit protection to the expected current draw. In my kitchen I have a deep fryer and a toaster oven on the same 20 amp electrical circuit. Either will perform just fine by itself, but trying to operate both at once (each has about a 16 amp draw) results in a tripped circuit breaker. The NEC dictates an 80% application: The normal current draw on a circuit shall be no more than 80% of the rated capacity of the circuit. So, yes, that 16-20 amp draw charger will function just fine on a 50 amp dryer circuit with a pigtail adapter, but for safety the pigtail should incorporate a properly sized inline fuse or circuit breaker.