Hooking up 3 wire range to 4 wire power?

[Honda-Guy]

I have a old range that will be used for powder coating that is 3 wire and my 220 power is 4 wire. Right now I have wire ran to a empty box and want to hook it up.

Here is my question - Can I use the old 3 wire range power cord and get a 3 wire outlet hook up the power and neutral and not use the ground? I know everything is now 4 wire but I already have the cord and don't want to get a new cord and outlet if its not needed.

 

[The Cobbler]

edit

 

[mrobins297aaa]

you only need the neutral if you have 120v clock or outlet on the stove

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I have a old range that will be used for powder coating that is 3 wire and my 220 power is 4 wire. Right now I have wire ran to a empty box and want to hook it up.

Here is my question - Can I use the old 3 wire range power cord and get a 3 wire outlet hook up the power and neutral and not use the ground? I know everything is now 4 wire but I already have the cord and don't want to get a new cord and outlet if its not needed.

Does this range have controls such as a clock, timer etc?

If so, then u should change the cord to a 4-wire version and remove the bonding strip on the terminal blok behind the cover plate.

Code no longer allows new 3-wire dryer or range circuits. This changed back in 1999...

you use the 2 hots and the ground, no neutral

if there is 120v controls, then this is incorrect...

 

[The Cobbler]

......


if there is 120v controls, then this is incorrect...

Thanks, I assumed with the 3 wires there is no 120, but as they say when you assume....

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Thanks, I assumed with the 3 wires there is no 120, but as they say when you assume....

3-wire stoves and ranges most definitely had 120v controls. The neutral in that case was also used as the EGC via a bonding strip @ the terminal block in the back of the range....

Almost any 3-wire stove is able to be changed to 4-wire by removing bonding strip and connecting 4-wire whip or cord and plug....

 

[Honda-Guy]

its got a clock so I need 120

 

[Aceman]

Replace the cord on the range with a 4 wire, remove the neutral to ground jumper on the terminal block in the back of the stove.

 

[Honda-Guy]

Right, but the question is do i need to convert it?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Yes. As i said, code no longer allows 3-wire range circuits. This isnt just a design issue but a safety one.

Should u loose the neutral connection, there is the potential to be shocked since the chassis on a 3-wire is bonded. Say the neutral becomes corroded, u touch the range with one hand, realize u need to wash your hand and thus reach for the grounded metal faucet. U have now inserted yourself in series with the neutral in the circuit and could be shocked...

Converting is so easy its not even worth wasting time talking about. Convert it and move on....

 

[Norcal]

I have a old range that will be used for powder coating that is 3 wire and my 220 power is 4 wire. Right now I have wire ran to a empty box and want to hook it up.

Here is my question - Can I use the old 3 wire range power cord and get a 3 wire outlet hook up the power and neutral and not use the ground? I know everything is now 4 wire but I already have the cord and don't want to get a new cord and outlet if its not needed.

It's simple to convert from 3 to 4-wire, remove the bonding jumper from the neutral & frame, connect L,N,L to terminal block & connect the grounding conductor to the screw where the bonding jumper connected to the frame, the result is a code compliant, safer range.

 

[sberry]

Agree, the hard part is done and free, change it.

 

[prostreetamx]

After hooking up dozens of brand new ranges and other appliances recently for the Home Depot show, I can state that while the code has changed, the method of wiring them has not.Even the 120v units shared the ground and neutral with a bonding jumper or in some cases used the same terminal for both. Some of these were prewired by shop rats who cut off the ground in the supply cord and used the hot conductor on the bonded terminal. Last year a coworker and myself got hit with 120v by these morons so this year we checked ever appliance first. We found a few this year also. I see no reason to ever cut off a perfectly good ground conductor and many guys don't even know that the smooth wire is the hot and the ribbed wire is the neutral. Even if you add a 4 conductor power cord you will probably just end up hooking the ground and neutral to the same terminal anyway unless you can find and remove a jumper somewhere. Otherwise it's just a waste of a conductor.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

After hooking up dozens of brand new ranges and other appliances recently for the Home Depot show, I can state that while the code has changed, the method of wiring them has not.Even the 120v units shared the ground and neutral with a bonding jumper or in some cases used the same terminal for both. Some of these were prewired by shop rats who cut off the ground in the supply cord and used the hot conductor on the bonded terminal. Last year a coworker and myself got hit with 120v by these morons so this year we checked ever appliance first. We found a few this year also. I see no reason to ever cut off a perfectly good ground conductor and many guys don't even know that the smooth wire is the hot and the ribbed wire is the neutral. Even if you add a 4 conductor power cord you will probably just end up hooking the ground and neutral to the same terminal anyway unless you can find and remove a jumper somewhere. Otherwise it's just a waste of a conductor.

The jumper should be on the neutral terminal and goes to a green ground screw. The factory jumpers are accessable...

 

[sberry]

I have seen this ****** wiring from appliance stores, the help obviously hasn't been trained in the least.
This is a classic case of no good reason not to do it right and as part of any upgrade work I change from 3 to 4 any chance I can get. It is so far superior and exactly why they made the code change.
There are a few things that are hard to work around and don't have perfect solutions, the hoist or a chop saw tripping a 20 for 1. I believe there may even be a provision for small welders, there is just no great way to do it and about the best is to dedicate a recept for it and change the breaker, kept to itself its not a dangerous deal but this is totally solvable the correct way and a guy should grab a chance to fix it.