OT - 220 V Dryer Plug - OT

[randroid]

Gents,

We bought a clothes dryer today because it came with a washer, which is what we really were looking for. Both are immaculate, relatively new, and work well but the plug from the dryer to the wall has a fourth prong and an extra ground wire and that's new to me. My multi-meter says the other plugs are just what they're supposed to be (two hot and one ground), which indicates to me that the fourth plug\wire is superfluous, and that's no biggie because I'll simply replace it with the standard three-prong plug from the old machine but before I replace the plug I thought it might be prudent to ask. Whirlpool is closed for the night and I'd like to do a load of clothes before they open tomorrow, so does anybody in the forum know anything about this sort of plug? By the way, there's no conductivity between the extra wire and the extra plug.

-Randy

[55 Fargo]

2 wires are hot, 1 is neutral, 1 is ground.

If you have a 4 wire plug, and a 3 wire recepatcle, you must change the receptacle to 4 wire to accomodate the 4 wire plug.

You would run a ground wire from the ground terminal of the new receptacle to the receptacle box, thus the ground circuit would continue throught the armor cable to the panel.Or run a new 4 wire cable to the panel, and use up to date 4 wire recptacle. It was common years ago to use a 3 wire for ranges and dryers, the neutral would act as a gound, and the dryers and ranges would be grounded to the receptacle box itself, using the armor cable as a conductor for ground

Hope this helps..........

Edited April 29, 2010 by Rockwood

[Captain Neon]

It's easier to change the four-prong plug to accomodate your three-prong plug. Like you said the fourth prong is neutral. New washers and driers now do not come with power cords. One buys the power cord separate for the receptacle in the house. It's an easy fix. My wife changed ours out when we moved into our house in just a few minutes. Swap out with your old three-prong cord to night and you'll have dry clothes in no time.

Edited April 29, 2010 by Captain Neon

[randroid]

Fred,

First, thank you for your timely and informative reply for I know you to be a man who wouldn't lead anyone astray.

The washer and dryer are located smack-dab in the middle of the house so retro-fitting any wiring would be entirely out of the question. It got to the point that I cracked my first beer and realized that the cheapest, easiest, safest and fastest way to install an additional ground would be to drill a hole in the floor and drive a new ground rod into the dirt beneath it, and that wasn't going to happen because I doubt the landlord would approve of it even if my wife is his daughter. I then began another tour of the dryer and realized that the 'superfluous' wire had been dangling in the air all the time and didn't do diddly for anybody's electrical system. I installed the three-prong plug as I had originally intended and could find no conductivity anywhere it wasn't supposed to be, and am happy to say the dryer works like a charm.

Lady Lynn completed our move today while I was in Ft. Collins at a job interview so the switch of houses has been completed other than finding room in the new place for our old stuff, and we're dead tired and have been for almost a week. On a good day I might have looked around a little more first and the question would never have arisen

Thanks again for your input and I hope you don't feel I was wasting your time.

-Randy

[faucet47custom]

All you need to do is look online to verify the wiring. I believe when putting on a 3 prong you ground and neutral wires go together. Simple to lookup online for verification to replacing 4 prong wire/plug with the 3 prong.

[Brad Lustig]

Most likely when you remove the panel to replace the plug there will be a wiring diagram for 3 & 4 prong plugs. If not there will be one in the manual.