/diy/ - Do It Yourself

You guys are just about all wrong. Check your diagrams again.

His original outlet is NOT ungrounded, it is a hot-hot-ground variety rather than a hot-hot-neutral. It is neutral that is missing.

However, you can still swap ground and neutral without any danger to the device, or simply jumper them together. They're tied together in the breaker box anyway.

Run a short stub of wire between the neutral and ground screws on the new outlet. Hook your old ground wire to either one. Problem solved..

>>158296
>>158309
The plug on your wall appears to be an obsolete NEMA 6-50 outlet. It's a 50a 208-240v plug which provides Hot, Hot, and ground - no neutral. The "common" 3-prong drier plug you link is NEMA 10-30, which 30a 208-240v plug that provides Hot, Hot, and neutral - no ground. 6-50 is gradually being replaced by the twist-lock L6-50, but very slowly.

The 4-wire cable currently attached to your drier is a 14-30, which provides Hot, Hot, Neutral, and Ground. It's what new construction has, and the twist-lock version is what's on most 240v generators.

If your drier requires a neutral to operate (most have some minor 120v needs, like the motor, timer, or lighting), you can effectively use ground as a neutral to make it work. Of course, then you'd be carrying current on your household ground, which is generally frowned upon, but it's a truly minuscule amount. Especially considering most dryers wired with a 10-30 plug are using neutral for a ground, and carrying that same current in the body of the drier.

Pop that outlet off and see if there's an unused neutral wire inside. If there is, install a 14-30 outlet. If not, either buy a 6-50 cord or a 10-30 outlet and connect your dryer using ground for a neutral.