Dryer Wiring 10-30R to 14-30R

[olds]

Just moved into a new place that is wired with a 10-30R outlet for the dryer. 3 wires to outlet: white/red/black. No ground.

Our dryer has a 14-30R cord. Can I replace our cord with a 10-30R cord or does the outlet need to be replaced? If I replace the outlet, what do I do about a ground?

The manual does say (Greek to me):
The dryer MUST employ a 3-conductor power supply cord NEMA 10-30 type SRDT rated at 240 volt AC minimum 30 amp, with 3 open end spade lug connectors with upturned ends or closed loop connectors OR a 4 conductor power supply cord NEMA 14-30 type SRDT or ST (as required) rated to 240 volt AC minimum 30 amp, with 4 open spade lug connectors with upturned ends or closed loop connectors and marked for use with clothes dryers.

 

[minendo]

Just replace the cord.

 

[BoomerD]

I went through this a few months ago. Bought a dryer that came with the 4 prong plug, my house is wired with a 3 prong plug.

Here's the installation manual for the one I have (wiring starts at page 3)

http://shared.whirlpoolcorp.co...ions%20-%208535914.pdf

Gives good detailed instructions for wiring the dryer.

 

[olds]

BoomerD's manual

So I just buy this cord?

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
BoomerD's manual

So I just buy this cord?

That looks like the same one I bought at Home Depot.

I asked the appliance guy about this to make sure I had the right cord and he told me I had to have the right outlet installed...and wired from the breaker box to the outlet. :roll:

I showed him the manual and got the following response:

"I'll be dammed. I've been telling people they have to have their outlet rewired for a couple of years...I guess I learned something today."

I guess that's why he works for HD instead of an electrical contractor...

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
BoomerD's manual

So I just buy this cord?

That looks like the same one I bought at Home Depot.

I asked the appliance guy about this to make sure I had the right cord and he told me I had to have the right outlet installed...and wired from the breaker box to the outlet. :roll:

I showed him the manual and got the following response:

"I'll be dammed. I've been telling people they have to have their outlet rewired for a couple of years...I guess I learned something today."

I guess that's why he works for HD instead of an electrical contractor...

Quoted for insurance purposes....


:laugh:

 

[BoomerD]

Hey...IANAE, nor do I play one on television, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night...

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd change the cord, 14-30R is the better/newer standard afaik. I can't say I've ever seen 10-30R in actual use. When dealing with 240 volts you WANT a ground, and even though neutral is bonded to the ground at the panel you don't really want to treat it as a ground, it's still not a ground.

Just make sure you keep track of what bolts are neutral and which ones are hot before you remove the old cord. The two hots can be interchanged with no issues but the neutral cannot! Ground will probably need to be added to the dryer, just bolt the wire to the chassis unless there's already a ground terminal.

I am not an electrician so don't take this advice as being professional.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I'd change the cord, 14-30R is the better/newer standard afaik. I can't say I've ever seen 10-30R in actual use. When dealing with 240 volts you WANT a ground, and even though neutral is bonded to the ground at the panel you don't really want to treat it as a ground, it's still not a ground.

Just make sure you keep track of what bolts are neutral and which ones are hot before you remove the old cord. The two hots can be interchanged with no issues but the neutral cannot! Ground will probably need to be added to the dryer, just bolt the wire to the chassis unless there's already a ground terminal.

I am not an electrician so don't take this advice as being professional.

I agree that the new standard is better, but I don't think it's worth ripping out walls to completely rewire and replace the outlet...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I'd change the cord, 14-30R is the better/newer standard afaik. I can't say I've ever seen 10-30R in actual use. When dealing with 240 volts you WANT a ground, and even though neutral is bonded to the ground at the panel you don't really want to treat it as a ground, it's still not a ground.

Just make sure you keep track of what bolts are neutral and which ones are hot before you remove the old cord. The two hots can be interchanged with no issues but the neutral cannot! Ground will probably need to be added to the dryer, just bolt the wire to the chassis unless there's already a ground terminal.

I am not an electrician so don't take this advice as being professional.

I agree that the new standard is better, but I don't think it's worth ripping out walls to completely rewire and replace the outlet...

True, if that's not feasable I would suggest putting a new outlet with the existing wire, but grab a ground from another source using grounding from a #10 cable (water pipe may do as long as it is bonded at the panel). I would get a licensed electrician's advice on this though as I may be in the wrong. In most cases that I've seen the dryer plug is near the electrical panel so it's normally easy to rerun, but if it's not the case then yeah, just because a certain standard is old or against code does not mean it's suddenly unsafe. Don't think the old plug is against code either so you are ok in that aspect.

The ground is mostly a precaution for in case the chassis gets electrified, it will have a path to ground and not to you, then to ground if you touch it. I'm guessing the older models just use the neutral, so if the hot happened to touch the chassis it would short out and trip the breaker, which is what you want.

So not a huge deal if you don't/can't change it.

 

[DrPizza]

afaik, it depends on local code. If I were wiring it from scratch, I'd put in the ground. But, if local code doesn't require the ground & allows a bonded neutral, and the box is already there, then heck with it. Just replace the cord.