Need to wire Fuse Box for 220 (Electric Dryer) 2 open fuse holes available. What is the best way to do this?

Answer 1

It is difficult to say with the information you gave. Your 2 open fuse holes need to be on separate phases of your fuse box. If they are on the same phase, you will only get 120 volts.

To test this, install a couple of fuses and measure the voltage across each terminal. If you have 220 - 250 volts you are good to go. I would also test between each terminal and the neutral and also the ground. Here you should have 110 - 125 volts.

Before I can say if you can do this or not, I would like to see a picture of the inside of the fuse box.

A dryer requires 30 amps of power at 240 volts. For this you need a #10 AWG wire. I suggest installing a 10/3 NM cable with ground. However, NM cable or romex can't be installed where subject to physical damage. If you are installing your dryer in the basement and you plan to run the wire along the concrete wall, romex will not work. Here you would need to install conduit and individual #10 AWG conductors.

You should wire this per the 2005 NEC. This requires a 30 amp, 250 volt, 3-pole, 4-wire (4-prong) receptacle. This will also require a 4-wire dryer cord.

When installing your dryer cord, be sure to remove the bonding strap or wire that connects between the dryer's frame and the neutral terminal on the dryer. This step is very important when changing to a 4-wire dryer cord to prevent electrical shocks.

Use the contact link to email me a picture of your fuse box. I also need to know how you are going to install your wiring for the dryer. For example, run wire out of fuse box and up 5 feet to floor joist, over 10 feet and up through the floor into your laundry room. This will help me determine what type of wire or conduit you need.

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Answer 2

First question - do you have sufficient amperage coming in? If you have an older house with 60 amp service you will be running into problems.
Second problem - you said fuse. You should have that replaced with a panel box as it is much safer. If you have to update, go for 200 amps.
Assuming you have sufficient amperage, pick up a 30 amp breaker for 220 - note that it spans 2 openings as it pulls from both legs on the box. Wire the 2 hots, one to each and the neutral wire to ground. A lot of time aluminum wiring is used for this - don't be cheap, go copper (or at least copper-clad).
Lastly, if you do have fuses and don't want to have a panel box put in you can have a subpanel installed just for the dryer. You, as the homeowner, can run the wiring from the socket all the way back to the panel but I would strongly suggest having an electrician install the subpanel and do the final hook-up.

Answer 3

fuse box?
are you sure your electrical system can handle any electric appliance upgrade?
Most fuse boxes rarely are good for more than 60amps.

Call an electrician if you do not know how to determine the ampacity of your electrical service
you are probably in need of a panel upgrade.

However if you can do this, you need 2 conductors, one from each fuse holder to the dryer outlet location + a grounding wire.
If you are using romex(10/2) bond the bare copper wire in the romex to the ground buss. Make sure to paint or otherwise permanently mark the white wire either black,red or blue(just not white) at each termination point of the white conductor.
If you do not have ground buss at the panel you will need to:
A. sink a ground rod and run a clad(protected)grounding conductor to the ground rod and bound to it.
B. Bond the ground from the dryer to the COLD WATER PIPE.
BUT ONLY IF IT IS CONTINUOUS TO WHERE IT ENTERS THE HOME AND REMAINS METAL(copper or steel) FOR TEN FEET IN THE GROUND.

Answer 4

My first question would be upon reading that:
Why not use 2-30 amp breakers in your box?
1-30 amper for tumbler and the other 30 Amper for the heat.
Most 100 and 200 Amp boxes use this now.
I wired up my box with 2-30's for the dryer and 2-40's for the oven in a 200 Amper box.

Answer 5

What size ( electrically) is your fuse box? Do you have enough available power for a dryer? The heating elements in the dryer are 240v and it is a resistive load. You may want to hire a professional.

Answer 6

get 220 breaker
connect 2 hot wireds to breaker
connect neutral wire
then connect ground wire

Answer 7

I can tell you but if you touch wrong thing while power is on you could be electricutedcall a electrical teck.

Answer 8

You need to make sure you have a breaker on each leg to get 220V

Answer 9

There are two primary type of fuse boxes in older houses, and breaker boxes in newer houses.

The most common type of fuse screws into holes in the front plate of the box. The other type has has plug in fuses. Most modern electrical service boxes use breakers. I will address screw type fuses first, then plug in, then breakers.

Screw type fuses: Usually different amperages have different colors. An electric dryer typically uses a 30Amp, 230volt circuit. A #10 gauge copper wire will carry 30 amps. Don't use aluminum, it's too much trouble and would have to be a #8 gauge wire.

Make sure the fuse holes are on different phases. Use an inexpensive multitester or voltmeter capable of measuring 230voltage, and touch the two probes to the place the fuses would plug into. If you read 230 volts(sometimes called 220 or 240 volts) then you can use those two fuse spaces for the dryer.


Test each fuse spot for voltage, by placing one probe in one fuse spot and one on the ground buss. If both fuses individually produce 117 volts, but together read no voltage, they are on the same phase, and you will need to move a different circuit to one of the empty spaces to have both phases of electricity. Try not to use a leg from another 230v circuit.

Cylinder shaped fuses are usually fed with power from the top, Use a multitester to test the bottom of the fuse spot(ordinarily load side) against a ground. The fuses already in place should show power top and bottom. The empty spots should show power only on one end. There should be a screw on the load side, where the other fuses have wires connected. Loosen this screw and install the wire. Don't install the fuse until the job is finished. Use a fuse puller or insulated pliers to install cylinder type fuses; don't touch any part of the fuse with your bare hands. You still have to make sure the two vacant spaces together produce 230volts(plus or minus 10 percent), or move a 117 volt(sometimes called 110v, or rarely 120v) circuit to one of those places.


You should have at least one ground buss, possibly two. The ground busses are usually separate from the power inputs, and often have bare wires attached to either one or both of them. Typically, a ground buss looks like a piece of aluminum with several screws attached to it.

Disconnect power to the fusebox, there is usually a switch just below the electrical meter. Use voltmeter to make sure power is off both legs. The switch may be on the fusebox. Remove the fusebox cover. If you must remove the fuses to do so, write down with fuse was in which place. You will see wires near the fuse spaces, except, possibly, the two empty spaces. You will want to hook up the new power wires in a similar fashion to the two vacant spaces.

If you fusebox is mounted to the surface of the wall, it is probably outside, and you have a little bit of an advantage. Look for a knockout, which is how the other wires were put in. It is typically 1/2 or 3/4 inch knockout. Outside, you must use either conduit. I recommend electrical non-metallic conduit(ENT). The two major types are PVC and flexible conduit. I would recommend the flexible as the easier type to use. You must also use a conduit terminal adapter to go through the knockout and into the fuse box. Some people would use UF wire, which would simply require a romex connector, but that may not be legal in your situation. Then run the conduit to a place near where the dryer is to be, or you can choose to run it through the attic. Secure conduit with conduit clamps about every four feet, and at any coupler or LB. An LB is a device with a right angle.

Inside surface mount fuseboxes are largely treated the same, though you may want to run up the wall into the attic. Conduit is not required in the attic, but is required anywhere wire is exposed, you should use conduit. Make sure to use a terminal adapter to connect the conduit through the knockout into the box.

If the fuse box is flush mounted, ie., in the wall, this complicates the situation slightly. Inside, if you have regular paneling, simply remove that entire piece of panelling, and place it some where safe until you finish and are ready to re-install it. You may also have to remove parts of the baseboard and crown molding to remove this piece of panelling. If you don't use conduit because the wire stays inside the wall, you must use a romex connector to make sure the wire is not rubbed through. Houses vibrate, and even if your wire is touching the box, the house may vibrate enough to damage the wire over a period of time, creating a fire hazard. If your house is on piers and you run the wire under the house to the location, you must use either one of the forms of conduit or UF wire under the house. Flexible conduit, especially the electrical non-metallic is easy to work with. It is often referred to as ENT, or electrical non-metallic tubing.

If you do not have panelling, select a spot about 6 inches above or below the box, and delicately cut out that piece of drywall or outside wall. Cut this piece out from stud to stud, making sure you don't cut deep enough to damage existing wires. You may need a couple of pieces of 2x4 to reattach this part of the wall while reinstalling. Do not saw any deeper than the wall is thick, to avoid running into existing wires or pipes. Most circular saws allow this adjustment. You can use a utility knife(boxcutter) if you have either sheetrock or a lot of patience.


Breaker boxes also require that you catch two different phases of electricity, usually side by side. A 230 breaker must be installed so that if one leg trips, the other one will also. You may have to move a 117 volt breaker to achieve this also. Typically, the two phases of a 230 circuit are separated by a small piece of bakelite, which insulates the two phases and helps secure the breaker.

Those are the power legs. Grounding is required, and sometimes double grounding is required, depending on the age of the dryer. If your dryer plug has four terminals, you need double grounding, and will use a 10-3 wire with a separate ground. If the plug has three terminals, you will need either a 10-3 wire, or a 10-2 with a ground. 10-3 with a ground ordinarily connects the red and black wires to power, and the white wire to the insulated side of the ground buss, if any, and the bare ground to the same ground buss and the ground rod wire. If your dryer requires a four hole plug, and there is only one buss, both ground wires can be connected to the same buss A ground rod wire is usually a bare copper wire slightly smaller in diameter than a pencil, going to the physical ground, hopefully connected to a rod driven 8 feet into the ground, but some older houses connect it to a cold water pipe(NEVER A GAS PIPE!)

Install your ground(earth) or grounds first. If your fuse box has two ground busses, one of them will largely be insulated grounds, and the other will largely be bare grounds. Before installing a ground wire, use the voltmeter to ensure that the buss bar(s) are not energized. There should be a bare copper wire running from one of the busses to the ground rod. That is your only certain ground, and it should be connected to a buss that is the buss bar for ground. If there are two bars that appear to both be grounds, crosscheck them to make sure.

Then hook up the ground or grounds, and install the power conductor wires to the vacant spaces. Again make sure the power is off. If you are unable to disconnect the power, and are willing to take a chance and be careful, you can strip the conductor insulation back about 1/2 inch, you can use a screwdriver with an insulated handle to loosen the terminals, and slide the wire under, preferably using insulated needle nose pliers. Insulated DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING METAL IN THAT BOX WITH YOUR BARE HANDS. IT WOULD ALSO BE HELPFUL IF YOU ARE ON A DRY SURFACE, PREFERABLY WITH AN INSULATING PAD UNDERNEATH YOUR RUBBER SOLED SHOES. If you had a breaker box, move the breaker to the off position and connect the wires up to the breaker before you plug in the breaker. Don't force a breaker. It should plug in at the side away from the power buss(not to be confused with the ground buss), and simply push in.

Connect your wires to the receptacle first, and run backwards to the power source, but do not plug in the dryer or anything else into that receptacle until you are finished. This includes replacing outside wood to the wall. You may have to nail a couple of short 2x4s to the studs to provide something for the previously removed piece of wall to the studs. Then connect your wires to the fusebox, and screw in, or plug in the fuses. Or if you had a breaker, simply turn it on. You may wish to leave the wall off to check the circuit before replacing wall, but if you do, make sure to remove the fuses before replacing the wall.