Dryer wiring

tmiles2246 · 05-09-2009, 10:18 PM

My new dryer just burned up my wire at the receptacle and I'm rewiring and relocating the wall plug so to stack the dryer on the washer for front load machines. The old wall plug was a 3-prong with a 10 gauge wire with three wires no ground (red/black/white). Can I use a 10/2 with ground as I bought the wire already and ran the wire through the wall? Or should I start over with the 10/3 w/o ground and match them up?

Any idea what would cause the receptacle to heat up to burn the receptacle and wall box? The dryer was hot to the touch as well during drying. The dryer wasn't working at all after delivery and a repair guy came out and said he had to rewire the dryer. He got it going, though almost burned the place down.

kbsparky · 05-09-2009, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmiles2246

...Can I use a 10/2 with ground as I bought the wire already....

Nope. Violation big time.

Quote:

... Or should I start over with the 10/3 w/o ground and match them up?...

Nope again.

I'd start over with some 10/3 w/ground.

Quote:

...Any idea what would cause the receptacle to heat up to burn the receptacle and wall box? The dryer was hot to the touch as well during drying....

I'd guess loose connection(s), and possibly clogged vent system.

Speedy Petey · 05-09-2009, 10:45 PM

Since you are now in this unfortunate position you have no choice but to do it right and safe and use new 10/3 WITH ground and a 4-wire receptacle and cord.

Speedy Petey · 05-09-2009, 10:46 PM

The burned receptacle/plug was because of age and a loose connection between the two. This is a VERY common problem with old 3-wire receptacles.

InPhase277 · 05-10-2009, 12:39 AM

I have nothing to add. But I would like to know why you decided to by the wire, install it, THEN ask whether it was the right thing to do?

frenchelectrican · 05-10-2009, 02:45 AM

The best thing you can do is run 10/3W/G and get 4 wire receptale and cord for dryer this is the safest way to do this.

It pretty common to see some of the dryer receptale get burned up like that over the time { useally caused by connection get loosen up over the time }

Merci,Marc

tmiles2246 · 05-10-2009, 07:59 AM

Thanks to all. 10/3 with ground from panel to receptacle and 4-prong cord it is. With a walkout basement and accessible ceiling the job won't take too long. The house is 13 years old with a 4" PVC pipe as an exhaust vent pipe, so I'm thinking less likely for clogging. Though interesting fact on the common loose wires at the receptacle.

"InPhase277 I have nothing to add. But I would like to know why you decided to by the wire, install it, THEN ask whether it was the right thing to do?"

The reason for going with the 10/2 w/grd wire is due to the handy man in the Home D. electrical isle recommendation for a 3-prong set-up!! The burned wires sheathing on the red wire was burned back far enough that looking at the damaged wires, it looked like black/white/ground, so I went with his suggestion. I started the new wire from the new receptacle box and ran the wire down under the floor to a good spot to spice the two wires together in a handy box. It wasn't till then I noticed the actual wire was indeed 10/3 wire and began to consider shopping at Lowe's again.

Thanks again....

InPhase277 · 05-10-2009, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmiles2246

The reason for going with the 10/2 w/grd wire is due to the handy man in the Home D. electrical isle recommendation for a 3-prong set-up!!

Gotcha. Was this a customer at Home Depot or the guy who works the isle? If it is the "electrical pro", do us a favor and go back and tell him what a jerkwad he is. Explain to him that a bare ground in romex cable cannot EVER be used as a neutral and that he is giving bad advice.

And then he'll tell you that it isn't a neutral. Then you pop him in the mouth, and while standing over him, tell him it IS a neutral and that a 3-wire dryer circuit has no ground...

Scuba_Dave · 05-10-2009, 09:31 AM

Many Lowes & HD employees have very minimal knowledge
And most do not know the electric codes
There are some exceptions as I have run into a few employees who really know what they are talking about

tmiles2246 · 05-10-2009, 10:11 AM

inphase227, I do plan to let the H.D. Sales person know his mistake in wire choices.

Scuba_Dave, your right about the different circumstances of employees. It's nice when you can find one that can be relied on over and over.

SULTINI · 05-10-2009, 11:35 AM

looki here, I got a neighbor that works for HD in the Electrical department

he is the extension cord man of America, his electric at his house is really unbelievable, I wouldn't stay in the house one night.

He is the greatest easiest person to talk to quite low keyed you would take any advise this guy says.

BEWARE of HD and LOWE'S employees for advise.

Stubbie · 05-10-2009, 07:47 PM

I'm a little late on this response but thought I should put in a reminder that if your going to 4 wire from a dryer that was wired for 3 wires you will need to remove the neutral to metal frame bonding strap or jumper wire at the neutral terminal of the dryer. This should all be spelled out in your new dryers instructions. I'll attach a generic drawing to give you an idea of what you will need to do if the dryer was wired 3 wire correctly before going to 4 wires and don't forget the repair guy screwed this up so look carefully.

tmiles2246 · 05-10-2009, 08:27 PM

Stubbie, thank-you for the info. Sears is bringing out a new dryer as the the dryer delivered also had a dent on the top. I'm going to ask for the 4-prong set-up after running the new wire and receptacle.

220/221 · 05-10-2009, 09:14 PM

The appliance guy the delivered my stuff had NO clue what the 3wire/4wire thing was. bHe had been installing them fr TWO YEARS, leaving the bonding strap in place when using a 4 wire cord.

Kinda defeats the purpose huh?

In my opinion, extending the 3 wire ungrounded cable with a 2 wire grounded cable is only a technical violation. It's still a 3 wire circuit but the ground is bare....like SE cable..... which is approved.

That said, running a new circuit is a really, really, really good idea, especially with a splice involved because the dryer motor pulls about 5 amps on that neutral/ground. If you lose the return path for the neutral via a loose wirenut, you could very easily die by touching the running dryer and the grounded washer at the same time.

Bigplanz · 05-10-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmiles2246

The house is 13 years old with a 4" PVC pipe as an exhaust vent pipe, so I'm thinking less likely for clogging.

That's a violation of the residential building code (at least here in Louisville). Dryers can only be vented with 4 inch smooth sided metal rigid tube or the 'flex' aluminum vent tube. The accordion aluminum and ESPECIALLY the plastic vent hose is not code compliant.

Particularly with a gas dryer, the plastic vent tube is asking for a fire. PVC pipe is not listed as an approved method for venting a dryer.

A couple of months ago a lady called me, from Lowes, and said she was buying a new dryer and wanted to know if she could vent it to her attic. She said the Lowes people didn't know and suggested she call Metro Codes and Regulations. I told her, "Uh, no. The only place a dryer can be vented is outside."

I was amazed that Lowes personnel didn't know somthing this basic. Beware of any advice from Lowes or Home Depot sales associates.

I did a little research on why PVC can't be used for a dryer vent. It should be perfect, rigid and smooth on the inside. It seems that PVC has a static electricity problem and lint will stick to it and eventually clog it. This may be part of the OP's problem.