Then go to the panel and change the 50A breaker to a 30A. This applies to dryers and ranges so make sure you get the cordset right.Īs others have said, just replace the 50A receptacle (outlet) with aģ0A type. In older work, the older 3 wire installations were all grandfathered to be OK (where the neutral served as a ground). I believe the requirement is all new installations need to be 4 wire (Ground, Neutral, hot, and hot). It was easy enough to change out though and thus I did not have any problems with the installers.Īnother issue these days is the 4 wire vs.
Sure enough, I had one of those 50A sockets in the laundry room. I was surprised when I bought my dryer at Sears and the salesperson brought up the issue.
The problem was apparently so widespread that Sears made an official issue of it and would not allow their dryer installers to finish an installation until the outlet had been replaced by a qualified electrician. The dryer outlet however, was wired with a 50 Amp Range Socket.Īpparently, the electricians in this part of the Pacific Northwest thought they could save money by stocking just one type of 240V plug (the 50A range socket) and 50A cordsets during that period of time. The dryer circuit was properly wired with a 30 amp dual breaker set and #10 wire. Such was the case when I moved into my house (built around 1990-91). Most electricians would not logically incure the extra expense to wire a dryer with a non-code, higher capacity circuit unless they had some really compelling reason to do so. It cost additional dollars for the higher capacity wire and a 50 A breaker. Where you can read a more detailed explanation.You don't say for sure, but it is possible that the dryer is on a 30A circuit but wired with a 50A plug. Alternately adding GFCI protection to the circuit by replacing the breaker in the panel would make it safer and usually dryers are pretty GFCI compatible. Upgrading to a four-wire circuit would make this safer, but it's very common on older homes and not a major hazard. In the picture below, there is a ground strap that you remove when you have four wires. The exact details of the connections will differ from appliance to appliance, it will depend on how the terminal block inside the dryer is wired. When 240/120V appliances are connected without the fourth equipment grounding conductor, the connections are done such that the dryer's metal frame is bonded to the neutral (white) wire. There is a simple principle that determines how you'll make the connections. BUT, please make sure the spade terminal is straight and the bare metal is well clear of the terminals on the left and right, you do not want to create a short. There is no "definitive" answer, or standard hookup You have to follow the manufacturer's instructions but the manufacturer has dropped the ball if they have contradictory instructions out there. This is labeled "GFCI Protected / No Equipment Ground". If it is infeasible to retrofit a ground, you can change the receptacle to 4-prong anyway, wire the appliance for 4-prong anyway (meaning: isolate neutral from ground, very important!), and then use a 2-pole GFCI breaker to feed it. If your installation is old and uses a legal cable type (/3 noground or SE), then it's legal to retrofit a ground from the socket to anywhere that has a #10 or larger ground back to the panel - water heater, grounding electrode wires, any metal conduit, or back to the panel. That will give you a separate neutral and ground. You are really, really better off upgrading to 4-prong receptacle and plug ASAP. or they are using a cable type that was always illegal (/2 + ground NM or UF). However in my experience many installations either have a 3-wire receptacle needlessly because they actually do have ground behind the receptacle. So it is leeeegal to jumper the appliance chassis to the neutral wire and then call it a day. and loose connections are unlikely since these plugs and wiring are rarely disturbed. as long as there aren't any loose connections.
The concept is that neutral is supposed to be safe. What they are actually doing is connecting chassis to the live neutral. It's only legal on a legacy basis, with certain cable types because the appliance industry complained and moaned that they'd lose appliance sales if it was outlawed. There is no way to make a 3-wire connection safe.
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