[theoutsyder83]

Hi everybody,

I just bought a house (1948 construction) and tried to connect the dryer. It won't turn on... doesn't seem to be getting any juice at all. The dryer is brand new, so the appliance shouldn't be the issue. The outlet is an older one with three prongs.

I've been working on this all morning trying to figure out what the problem could be, and I stumbled on this weird little detail. As I'm checking all the connections with my multimeter, I noticed this detail.

Connection A (wire left of neutral), Connection B (center wire), Connection C (wire right of neutral)

A + B = 25 volts
B + C = 225 volts
A + C = 250 volts

Honestly, I don't know enough about this stuff to know what that might mean. Can somebody help me understand this? My next step is calling an electrician, I think, but I'd love to know a little more about what I'm talking about before I contact them.

Thanks ahead of time for any help you can provide!

 

[Jim Port]

A new house to you or brand new? A new home should have a 4 wire receptacle for the dryer.

Any other electrical issues with the house? Dimming or brightening lights?

 

[theoutsyder83]

A new house to you or brand new? A new home should have a 4 wire receptacle for the dryer.

Any other electrical issues with the house? Dimming or brightening lights?

1948 construction, so I'm sure the three-prong outlet was installed before the update.

We've had no other electrical issues thus far.

 

[zhawkeye]

An old dryer didn't have electronics to control it...but new dryers do. It's imperative that the dryer is connected correctly for the electronics to work.
The outlet should have 120V from each leg to ground/neutral, and 220V when reading the two hot legs.
I imagine that the outlet is miswired and likely missing the ground/neutral leg...the 25V measured is likely a false reading due to one of the meter leads floating.
The old style dryers wouldn't care as long as they received 220V...but the newer dryers electronics will require 120V to operate correctly.

 

[brric]

Old driers as well as new driers require 120/240 volt circuits. The third wire of an old drier circuit IS the neutral.

 

[surferdude2]

You have a problem with the way that receptacle is wired. You may also have some neutral problem or line voltage drop that needs looking into.

It's time to upgrade that dryer receptacle to a 4-wire circuit and a 4-pole receptacle.

SD2