Dryer problem

JohnJ0906

7:00 am to 3:30 pm. I would start earlier this time of year if I could. I'ts one thing I enjoy about new construction.

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John from Baltimore
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"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"

LostShooter

So I purchased a used dryer today and found that it presently has a 4-prong cord attached. This had been upgraded from a 3-prong by the previous owner because that's what their apartment building required.

It turns out that my apartment building has a three prong outlet . The 4-prong is still hooked up and I can see the red, white, black and green cords and where they go. The snag is that the three prong cord that I have isn't colored . Thus my question: How do I hook up the 3-prong to replace the 4-prong? How do I hook up the ground properly?

In the picture you can see the present hook-up and my 3-prong un-colored cord. Thanks!

Attached Thumbnails

 

JohnJ0906

In that cord the neutral (white) is the center conductor. The other 2 go to the black and red, doesn't matter which.

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John from Baltimore
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"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

To be honest, I'm not sure about bonding the dryer frame to the neutral. Do you have anything to test continuity?

If so, after you remove the old cord, leave the green lead loose. See if you have continuity from the lead to the frame. If you do, you can put the green lead right to the neutral screw.

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John from Baltimore
One Day at a Time
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"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"

LostShooter

So my understanding is that I basically just hook the left wire to the left side, center to center, right to right. Yes?

I don't have anything to test continuity - indeed I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure what testing continuity would tell me ... Tell me what to get to test continuity and I'll be happy to get it though. In my limited technical understanding I'm going to NOT want to ground the neutral (use the green wire to connect to the center wire) so as to avoid shocks. Correct? Thanks for your help.

LostShooter

After doing further research and better utilizing google I found this:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrica...er-dryer-2.htm

Which indicates that I DO indeed want to connect the ground to the neutral since that will be how the dryer is grounded. On a 4-prong there is a dedicated ground but on the 3-prong there is a neutral but no ground per se. Therefore you use a connect the ground to the neutral.

Interestingly in the image I uploaded the 4-prong ground wire is attached to the ground terminal but then the ground terminal is also connected to the neutral - which means the previous owner incorrectly hooked up the dryer. Which explains some of my confusion.

Anyone lend any expertise?

jwhite

In my expert opinion, this is what we have been trying to tell you.

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Master Electrician