I'm moving to a house that has a three prong receptical for the electric dryer. My dryer cord has 4 prongs. Can the cord be changed or do I have to run new wire in the house?
2006-09-27 16:56:53 · 7 answers · asked by ? 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The simplest thing as others have said (though some of the details aren't quite right) is to change the cord on the dryer. You never have to change the outlet of an existing house to match the dryer. When you change the cord, the 4 wire cord has a green wire connected to the frame of the dryer. There may be a strap to use, but you must connect the frame of the dryer (probably a green screw) to the neutral (white) on the 3 wire cord. Get an electrician if you have any doubts. Screwing it up is a safety issue.
A note to some other answers, yes if you have 10-3 w/ground wiring you can change the outlet easily, but I would not expect that to be the case (would have cost more when put in). Romex 10-2 with ground is NOT legal for a dryer, and I don't think it ever was. You will most likely find the wire used for the 3 prong plug is SEU cable or 10-3 without ground. It may even be 8 AWG aluminum instead of 10AWG copper.
2006-09-28 03:17:48 · answer #1 · answered by An electrical engineer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you change the dryer whip...just go to ace hardware and get this. MUCH easier than running new wire in the house LOL
oops, that was 4 wire link I originally posted. you need a 3 wire cord like this http://www.acehardware.com/sm-ace-and-reg-3-wire-dryer-cord--pi-2092750.html
btw, newer homes have 4 wire dryer outlets, older homes have 3. you must have moved into an older house. in the 3 wire setup the ground and the neutral are the same. you'll have to make sure that the ground wire on the whip is conected to the neutral on the dryer aswell as the ground lug on the dryer. when you take the 4 wire whip off you'll see, get a wire nut and cut some of the old whip and have two leads come off the ground, one going to the ground lug and one to the neutral terminal. OR if the ground is long enough, you can just strip some back to wrap it around the neutral terminal, and then go to the ground lug. be creative.
2006-09-28 00:08:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The outlet for an electric drier should be 220 volts, that means, you will have 2 hot wires (2-110), 1 white (neutral) and 1 ground. that makes a total of 4. I would rather doubt if the outlet you have in your new house is 220 if it only has 3 prongs. It may not be able to service your electric drier.
2006-10-01 23:10:58 · answer #3 · answered by BOBBY 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can change out the cord to the type of the house. The cord on the dryer sounds like it was for a trailer or mobile home, they require a extra ground wire.
2006-09-28 00:03:54 · answer #4 · answered by elkhunter1956 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be just as easy to change the receptacle as it would be to change the cord if the wire going to the receptacle is 10/3 w/ground. If 10/2 w/ground was used it should be changed to the 10/3 for safety sake since the motor runs on 120Volts and utilizes the white(line neutral) wire. 10/2 wire only supplies line neutral on the bare copper ground wire and according to the National Electrical Code is not permissible anymore.
2006-09-28 00:37:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it can be changed fairly easily, call an electrician if your not sure how to do it though and always work with the power off
sometimes you can also look at the rear of the drier and it will let you switch to another type cord.
2006-09-28 01:15:50 · answer #6 · answered by D S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would guess you only have to change the outlet. Probably the wiring is already 4-wire (two hots (red and black), a neutral (white), and safety ground.)
2006-09-28 00:03:39 · answer #7 · answered by Slake 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋