3 wire (washer/dryer) configuration question

mimino

Hey, all!

We bought a used stackable washer/dryer combo that came with a 4-wire power plug. However, our receptacle is for a 3-wire config. I hooked everything up (got the 3-wire power plug), but not sure if the unit is grounded. I know that the neutral wire should have a ground strap or a new wire grounded to the chassis. I'm attaching some pics for you to see. Is the green wire in the pic the ground or do i need to get the neutral/ground strap?
Thank you, all!

mpoulton

Where does the other end of the green wire go? What do the instructions say to do for a 4-wire hookup (where does the ground wire land)?

If you have a multimeter, test for continuity between the neutral terminal and the chassis - that will confirm whether it's grounded or not.

mimino

it goes behind the panel and branches off like the other wires do (that go to the terminals). somebody on the other forum said it was a ground for the machine, and that i still need the neutral strap. i think that makes sense. what do you guys think?
thank you!

mpoulton

That's correct then, you still need a neutral bonding strap. Often there's a little metal piece under the neutral terminal that does this. If not, you'll have to make one out of a spare piece of wire or something.

kbsparky

That green wire is the neutral bonding strap in most cases. A simple continuity test will confirm this.....

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mpoulton

That's what I was thinking - I expected him to say it's 6" long and has a spade terminal on the other end... but he said it disappears into the machine.

a7ecorsair

The pictures show a second green screw right below the terminal block that is partially backed out. Maybe there was originally a jumper here that was removed when the four wire cord was connected.

louo

What brand is it?

Check the dataplate and see if says 120/240 VAC- since it had a 4 wire cord on it I suspect it is a 120/240 unit. Meaning it uses both 120 and 240.

This happens a lot with electric clothes dryers where the dryer is basically 120 (including the smaller of the two heating elements). Sure it may run if you connect only one 120 line but you need the second 120 line for both heating elements to work (or the dryer will run but take forever to dry the clothes since only one heating element will work

If this is the case that would explain the 4 wire cord
black 120
Red 120 #2
white neutral
green ground

Probably via a NEMA 14-20P that would make sense.se
Runnning a 3 prong plug would obviously leave out the ground NOT A GOOD IDEA!

mimino

it's a GE

people on the other forum told me to unhook that green wire and hook it up to the neutral terminal, which i did. seems to be working just like it was before

it most likely is a 120/240v unit. dryer works real good

mpoulton

That's almost certainly not right, and just because it works doesn't mean it's safe. Chances are, by unhooking that green wire from the chassis, you have made the metal enclosure ungrounded. You should probably have connected a jumper from the neutral terminal to that unused green screw on the chassis.

a7ecorsair

In your original posting you were concerned about unit grounding. Well, your unit isn't grounded.
When you picked this unit up, was the power cord disconnected or did you disconnect it? Since the terminal block only has three connection points, the ground wire from the 4 wire cable had to be connected to the unused Green screw.
Do as suggested, place the green wire back to where it was and connect a grounding jumper from the unused green screw to the terminal block screw.

kbsparky

Not enough Amps. One would need at least a NEMA 14-30 on such a circuit.

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kbsparky

That wire IS your bonding jumper. Re-connect it to the green screw, when using a 3-wire cord.

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mimino

that's what they've said as well. that's why i hooked it up to the neutral terminal. so much confusion.

and add another neutral strap to the other green screw to go to the neutral terminal?

yup, the 4-wire config had the cord's green wire hooked up to the other screw.

thank you, all!

mimino

just update, i've added the extra strap (wire), and so far so good