3 wire dryer plug. new tenant has 4 wire dryer??

mitusa · May 8, 2017

Our rent house has a 220 dryer with a 30 amp dryer receptacle. It has 3 prongs.

The new renter has a 30 amp dryer receptacle with 4 prongs.

Can I change the receptacle to a four wire receptacle and leave one of the prongs without a wire???

How do I fix this?? My fil used to take care of these things for me. He passed a couple of months ago and I'm not sure how to fix it.

TIA!

p_mori7 · May 8, 2017

4 prong is what we use here in Canada.

He can get the plug on the dryer changed to a 3 prong.

grantw · May 8, 2017

p_mori7 said:
4 prong is what we use here in Canada.

He can get the plug on the dryer changed to a 3 prong.

Maybe. Most appliances like dryers are interchangeable to a point. The manual will have the final say. Get the model # of the dryer and look up the compatibility. The dryer should adapt to the receptacle style, as you can only provide 3 prong. Providing 4 prongs with a missing wire is a no-no.

If the appliance has provisions for a 3 prong outlet, the appliance cord needs to be changed.

larry4406 · May 8, 2017

Change the dryer to 3-wire to match the house. Read the manual on the dryer for know-how. Dryers are one of the few appliances sold without a plug for this reason. Code change several years back.

My 1987 home is 3-wire dryer wiring.

RCPro87 · May 8, 2017

It is super easy to go get a different dryer plug from a hardware or big box store and simply change it out to a 3 prong cord.

Dagny · May 8, 2017

Sooner or later your going to have to change it to 4 wire. Do the range too.

ard · May 8, 2017

If you really want to be sure (or have someone here be sure) find out make and model of the dryer and post that....

yeldogt · May 8, 2017

Is it not the case that the 4th wire is the ground? The old 3 wire needed the white for the 110 motor .. it's not a ground. In NYC we always had to run a separate ground to the water line of the washer -- from the dryer case. I know this is allowed -- too many building are wired this way.

EOC_Jason · May 8, 2017

yeldogt said:
Is it not the case that the 4th wire is the ground? The old 3 wire needed the white for the 110 motor .. it's not a ground. In NYC we always had to run a separate ground to the water line of the washer -- from the dryer case. I know this is allowed -- too many building are wired this way.

3 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND (220v only)
4 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND, NEUTRAL (110V/220v capable)

As they said, check the manual. Most will work with either and only require 3 wire.

sberry · May 8, 2017

3 wire is hot hot neutral/ground. If you have 3 wire recept you need to change the cord and follow the bonding . A great upgrade is to replace the old 3 wire eith a new 4 wire and recept.

zmaxmotorsports · May 8, 2017

Is it wired through conduit or romex?

exranger06 · May 8, 2017

My house had a 3 wire receptacle, but the Romex connected to it was 4 wire. They just put the neutral and the ground wires together on the 3rd prong of the receptacle. So changing the receptacle to a 4 wire was easy.
Maybe your house is the same way. You might already have the wiring there to convert your receptacle.

Richard Cranium · May 8, 2017

this is normally a easy fix.

Norcal · May 8, 2017

EOC_Jason said:
3 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND (220v only)
4 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND, NEUTRAL (110V/220v capable)

As they said, check the manual. Most will work with either and only require 3 wire.

Not correct, 3-wire is line, line, NEUTRAL, 120/240 volts, it was allowed to ground the frame to the neutral.

A 4-wire adds a grounding conductor & is still a 120/240 volt circuit.

CNGsaves · May 9, 2017

OP . . . . you . . . . ARE . . . in OKLAHOMA !!!!

. .

. .

What the hell are you doing using Electricity for a dryer ?????

You should be using a . . . wait for it . . . . . NATURAL GAS . . . . dryer !!

Heck, you can get subsidy from Okla Natural Gas to assist in purchase of NG dryer.

As "helpful landlord" to your tenants, just bite bullet and put in NG dryer. That way you don't have to spend money on the dryer electrical improvements.

wyliesdiesels · May 9, 2017

mitusa said:
Our rent house has a 220 dryer with a 30 amp dryer receptacle. It has 3 prongs.

The new renter has a 30 amp dryer receptacle with 4 prongs.

Can I change the receptacle to a four wire receptacle and leave one of the prongs without a wire???

How do I fix this?? My fil used to take care of these things for me. He passed a couple of months ago and I'm not sure how to fix it.

TIA!

NO definitely not.

The only way to change to 4-wire receptacle is if there are 4-wires in the j box...

Otherwise, he should convert his dryer back to 3-wire making sure to bond the chassis to the neutral terminal...

and its 120v/240v NOT 220....

grantw said:
Maybe. Most appliances like dryers are interchangeable to a point. The manual will have the final say. Get the model # of the dryer and look up the compatibility. The dryer should adapt to the receptacle style, as you can only provide 3 prong. Providing 4 prongs with a missing wire is a no-no.

If the appliance has provisions for a 3 prong outlet, the appliance cord needs to be changed.

I have never seen a dryer that couldnt be changed from 4-wire to 3...ll it takes is a bonding strip at the terminals...

Dagny said:
Sooner or later youre going to have to change it to 4 wire. Do the range too.

Why?

3-wire dryer and range outlets are grandfathered in.

yeldogt said:
Is it not the case that the 4th wire is the ground? The old 3 wire needed the white for the 110 motor .. it's not a ground. In NYC we always had to run a separate ground to the water line of the washer -- from the dryer case. I know this is allowed -- too many building are wired this way.

yes the 4th wire is the EGC.

On the old 3-wire outlets the neutral acted as the ground as well....

EOC_Jason said:
3 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND (220v only)
4 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND, NEUTRAL (110V/220v capable)

As they said, check the manual. Most will work with either and only require 3 wire.

Not on a dryer.

Youre thinking of a 240v(there is no such thing nowadays as 220v in the states) only appliance which IS hot hot ground.

A 3-wire dryer or range outlet is hot hot neutral(acting as both neutral and ground) and 120v/240v....

exranger06 said:
My house had a 3 wire receptacle, but the Romex connected to it was 4 wire. They just put the neutral and the ground wires together on the 3rd prong of the receptacle. So changing the receptacle to a 4 wire was easy.
Maybe your house is the same way. You might already have the wiring there to convert your receptacle.

yeah my house built in 96 was wired the same way. Some ***** wired it...

CNGsaves said:
OP . . . . you . . . . ARE . . . in OKLAHOMA !!!! . . . .

What the hell are you doing using Electricity for a dryer ?????

You should be using a . . . wait for it . . . . . NATURAL GAS . . . . dryer !!

Heck, you can get subsidy from Okla Natural Gas to assist in purchase of NG dryer.

As "helpful landlord" to your tenants, just bite bullet and put in NG dryer. That way you don't have to spend money on the dryer electrical improvements.

Im sure it would cost way more to run gas plumbing than it would be to buy a 3-wire dryer cord($20)...

EOC_Jason · May 9, 2017

Norcal said:
Not correct, 3-wire is line, line, NEUTRAL, 120/240 volts, it was allowed to ground the frame to the neutral.

A 4-wire adds a grounding conductor & is still a 120/240 volt circuit.

Yep, you are right... Should have googled it before I posted...

Learn something new every day...

sberry · May 9, 2017

I ran in to one recently that had 4 wire bonded neutral. Come from some appliance store, got to wonder how many of them some dope installed. Company owners don't care, turn someone loose with a screwdriver, no training. No worry, a good share of auto work done by the same types.

yeldogt · May 9, 2017

EOC_Jason said:
3 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND (220v only)
4 wire is HOT, HOT, GROUND, NEUTRAL (110V/220v capable)

As they said, check the manual. Most will work with either and only require 3 wire.

The old way to wire had to have a neutral - it's not a ground on a 3 pronged drier. The motor is 110v and needs the neutral.

bubinga · May 9, 2017

If the panel is not that far away, I would just run a new 4 wire plug. Just need the wire.
will use same breaker.

bwringer · May 9, 2017

Get a three wire cord and follow the directions. In most dryers, there's a diagram stamped or printed on or near the cover over the connection.

Crikey, some of you guys could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich complicated.

Lassen Forge · May 9, 2017

Crunchy or Creamy? Jelly, jam, or preserves? Butter or no butter? And we're not even to what kind of bread... Fold over or sliced? How about a tortilla... :lol:

We got a new dryer that needed the 110 for whatever onboard electronics it had as well as the 220, so we ended up changing the outlet. A little more complicated, but still, not even a big deal.

bczygan · May 9, 2017

bwringer said:
Get a three wire cord and follow the directions. In most dryers, there's a diagram stamped or printed on or near the cover over the connection.

Crikey, some of you guys could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich complicated.

Smooth?

Crunchy?

Natural?

What kind of jelly?

And the bread?

What is the correct ratio of PB to Jelly?

Which goes on top?

Add jelly to PB? Or spread each on separate pieces of bread and clamp together?

Plain or toasted?

Cut diagonal, straight or eat whole?

Oven toasted bread or toaster?

Marmalade or apple butter?

This is NOT as simple a matter as one might think.....

Don't get me started on bread choices.....

Bill

ard · May 9, 2017

bwringer said:
Get a three wire cord and follow the directions. In most dryers, there's a diagram stamped or printed on or near the cover over the connection.

Crikey, some of you guys could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich complicated.

So every single dryer ever made, along with all currently on the market (Bosch, Haier, Miele,etc) **ALL** of these can use 3 or 4 wire cords? Interchangeably?

Good to know.

Why the edit from 'Ham" to "PB&J"??

Too complicated?

LB-1911 · May 9, 2017

bwringer said:
Crikey, some of you guys could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich complicated.

Looks like we might find out.

Complex PB&J...

AntonLargiader · May 9, 2017

Given the choice, I don't see why you wouldn't want to go 4-wire. The safety advantage of separating neutrals and grounds has been extensively discussed here.

sberry · May 9, 2017

Last house I rewired it was part of the upgrade to change the wire out for new. I did it to my folks when I was working on it or when we got a new dryer. I was going to be done with it, a 4 wire circuit is a good property upgrade.
I pointed it out in an audit, wire has been replaced with modern circuit. People often argue insurance wont pay for unpermitted work, actually permit of not they aint got nothing against replacing an old wire with a new one if its terminated right and stapled up. Never had one ask when I point out,,, all piped wire, all underground etc.

mitusa · May 9, 2017

Thanks for all the replies.....

The dryer is a frigidaire GLER341ASO

I will go look today to see if the rent house might already have four wires running to the plug and/or if I can find a three wire plug for the dryer.

Will a 3 wire plug be ok to hook up to this dryer? I see where some say the instructions will be on the dryer......

EOC_Jason · May 9, 2017

mitusa said:
Thanks for all the replies.....

The dryer is a frigidaire GLER341ASO

I will go look today to see if the rent house might already have four wires running to the plug and/or if I can find a three wire plug for the dryer.

Will a 3 wire plug be ok to hook up to this dryer? I see where some say the instructions will be on the dryer......

I looked up the manuals and well they were pretty basic and sucked. The wiring diagram though showed just a L1,N,L2 typical setup so yeah I would say a 3-wire plug should be okay to hook up.

mitusa · May 9, 2017

EOC_Jason said:
I looked up the manuals and well they were pretty basic and sucked. The wiring diagram though showed just a L1,N,L2 typical setup so yeah I would say a 3-wire plug should be okay to hook up.

Jason,

Thanks very much!

A lot of stand-up guys on this forum!
:rocker:

KRB52 · May 9, 2017

Have the tenant(s) save electricity and do this:

bubinga · May 9, 2017

Make sure the bonding strap mentioned above in hooked up, if going with 3 wire/prong plug.
There should be instructions on the dryer.

wyliesdiesels · May 9, 2017

sberry said:
I ran in to one recently that had 4 wire bonded neutral. Come from some appliance store, got to wonder how many of them some dope installed. Company owners don't care, turn someone loose with a screwdriver, no training. No worry, a good share of auto work done by the same types.

yup

Theyre Gonna kill someone one of these days...

ard said:
So every single dryer ever made, along with all currently on the market (Bosch, Haier, Miele,etc) **ALL** of these can use 3 or 4 wire cords? Interchangeably?

Good to know.

Why the edit from 'Ham" to "PB&J"?? Too complicated?

yes as long as there is a neutral to ground bonding strap

EOC_Jason said:
I looked up the manuals and well they were pretty basic and sucked. The wiring diagram though showed just a L1,N,L2 typical setup so yeah I would say a 3-wire plug should be okay to hook up.

The OP then needs to make sure the bonding strip is hooked up from the ground screw on the chassis to the neutral lug on the terminal strip...

prostreetamx · May 11, 2017

Just did a show for Home Depot. Every brand of dryer we hooked up was only set up for a 3 wire cord and we just put both the ground and neutral wires on the same screw in most cases. Even the ones with 4 screws had a bonding jumper anyway. One issue we did have was the 120v appliances. Their people tried to save some money and just installed their own 3 wire pigtails. The problem was that they cut off the ground wire and hooked the hot conductor (smooth wire) to the bonded chassis terminal. They hooked the ribbed conductor to the hot terminal. This energized the chassis. Two of us got bit 2 years ago before we discovered this system. This year we checked every appliance before plugging them in. Most of this stuff is still made to world wide specs and it must be pretty common to bond the neutral in that industry.

grantw · May 11, 2017

prostreetamx said:
...The problem was that they cut off the ground wire and hooked the hot conductor (smooth wire) to the bonded chassis terminal. They hooked the ribbed conductor to the hot terminal. This energized the chassis. Two of us got bit 2 years ago before we discovered this system. This year we checked every appliance before plugging them in. Most of this stuff is still made to world wide specs and it must be pretty common to bond the neutral in that industry.

OMG

6768rogues · May 11, 2017

Here dryers come without a pigtail. Then the pigtail that matches the outlet is purchased and installed. I have never seen one that was limited to only 4 wire, but anything is possible.

AntonLargiader · May 11, 2017

This thread prompted me to get off my **** and do the 4-wire upgrade to my shop oven that I'd bought parts for. Just so people can see what we're talking about, my old oven seemed to have exactly what is described in this thread: a bonding strap from the neutral to the chassis.

The strap is simply removed and the new ground wire attached to the chassis.

My wall box already had 4-wire, as the circuit was installed only a few months ago, so I only had to swap the receptacle.

Bert_ · May 11, 2017

prostreetamx said:
Just did a show for Home Depot. Every brand of dryer we hooked up was only set up for a 3 wire cord and we just put both the ground and neutral wires on the same screw in most cases. Even the ones with 4 screws had a bonding jumper anyway. One issue we did have was the 120v appliances. Their people tried to save some money and just installed their own 3 wire pigtails. The problem was that they cut off the ground wire and hooked the hot conductor (smooth wire) to the bonded chassis terminal. They hooked the ribbed conductor to the hot terminal. This energized the chassis. Two of us got bit 2 years ago before we discovered this system. This year we checked every appliance before plugging them in. Most of this stuff is still made to world wide specs and it must be pretty common to bond the neutral in that industry.

This is the kind of stuff people should be more informed about before hooking up appliances. All of those dryers could have been connected to a 4 wire cord CORRECTLY. All it would have taken was removing the jumper.

Part of the problem is many appliances do not make it clear where or what the jumper is. Many simply have a white or a green wire that disappears into the the chassis and it's impossible to tell that it is the bonding wire without some disassembly.
There needs to be some standardization between manufactures.

3 wire dryer plug. new tenant has 4 wire dryer??

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