Dryer problem

blmacias

I have a new dryer with the new power cord. Meaning it has 4 prongs on the connector. Yet, I only have a 3 hole receptacle on the wall (2 slanted and one "L"). What is best for me to do? The easiest for me is to replace the cord on the new dryer with a 3 prong cord. Can I do this? I would have to not use the terminal where the green wire is connected. Will this work?

joed

The dryer manual should have directions on how to connect a three wire cord. You are permitted to do this. The white and the green wires will need to be connect together inside the dryer. There is usually a strap or jumper wire that needs to be connected for a three wire cord.

JohnJ0906

Yes, it is still legal to use a 3-wire cord when you have an existing outlet. However, I would recommend changing the outlet if there is a ground already there.
Turn off the breaker to the dryer. MAKE sure there is no power there. Take out the outlet, and see how many wires are there. If you have Black, Red, White, bare-or-green, get a 4-wire dryer outlet and install.
If there are only 3 wires, you can just keep it in place, or run a new 10-3 romex cable to the panel, your choice. (Also depends how easy it is to get to the panel in your case)

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

JohnJ0906

I forgot.
If you change the cord to a 3 prong, make sure the neutral (white) screw is bonded to the dryer frame. This is VERY important!
The frame of the dryer still needs to be grounded, it is just that we are using the neutral to ground it.
If you keep the 4-prong cord, please double-check to make sure the bond strip in the dryer was removed. It is a small metal strip between the neutral screw (white or silver) and the green ground screws inside the rear of the dryer. There is an access panel right above the cord entry.

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

blmacias

The panel is quite far from the dryer plug. There are only 3 wires that feed this receptacle. If I replace the 4 prong power cord on the dryer with the 3 prong power cord will it be okay to not use the ground terminal? This seems to be the missing connector on the 3 prong setup. I could also just replace the 3 hole receptacle on the wall with the 4 hole receptacle and not have a wire connected to the ground terminal there. I can then leave the power cord on the dryer alone.

JohnJ0906

No, you cannot replace the receptacle. Sorry.

You will have to call the place you got the dryer from, and explain the situation. It is a small bonding strap, that goes between the silver neutral screw and the green screw in the dryer. This will properly bond the dryer frame to the neutral.

Have you checked to see that this is missing? Appliance guys often forget to remove it, even with 4-prong cords.

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

blmacias

The dryer has 4 screw terminals inside the access panel. 4 prong power cord red wire connects to one, black to another, white to one, and green to one. There is also a green wire jumper that is connected to the dryer frame and attached to the green terminal. If I understand you correctly I should be able to replace the 4 prong power cord to a 3 prong power cord and take that green wire jumper (connected to frame) and connect it to the white wire terminal to ground the frame. I would then not use the ground screw terminal on the dryer.

JohnJ0906

That sounds OK. Check the instructions if you have them, but I think that it is probably correct.
Make sure all connections are tight.

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

blmacias

Thanks, John you've been great help. I just gotta check to make sure the bonding strip that links the white terminal to the ground terminal has been removed.

JohnJ0906

No! If you are using a 3-prong cord you DO want the strip! The ground screw is usually directly into the dryer frame.
The main thing is that there is a connection between the neutral and frame if 3 wire, NO connection if 4.
Apologies for any confusion.

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

blmacias

On my way home yesterday I realized I needed the neutral and ground terminal linked together when I changed the 4prong power cord to the 3 prong power cord. Got it all done yesterday and the dryer worked like a champ.

JohnJ0906

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p...dryer%20cords/

I know you got yours done but for anyone following at home, I installed a range cord today and took some pictures. A dryer cord installation is identical, the difference is the receptacle and plug configurations

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

blmacias

The pictures explain a million words! Great shots!

JohnJ0906

I rarely install dryer and range cords, they are usually already installed. When I saw this one, the day after trying to walk you through it, I said "Aha!!" and ran for the camera!

__________________
John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

"Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else"
"The bitterness of low quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten"

hbsparky

GOOD GOD JOHN! Why are you working that early, hell I don't even crawl out of bed before then, haha

__________________
Well....Butter my butt and call me a biscuit!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.