4 Wire To 3 Wire Dryer Cord

Actually the middle conductor on a 3 wire dryer cord is the neutral not the ground.

4 wire to 3 wire dryer cord. To go from 4 wire to 3 wire you connect the two hots the same as before. The following will assist you with wiring for a 3 wire dryer. In an existing installation such as an older home built in the 1950s it is considered code compliant for the kitchen range or the clothes dryer to be installed using a 3 wire cord and plug. The older 3p 3 wire dryer circuits are still legal and safe to use so there s no need to rewire your dryer branch circuit to install a new dryer that came equipped with a 4 wire appliance whip wire.

This article will explain what options you have to get your dryer wired and running. Wiring a dryer cord wiring a dryer see an electric dryer installation with a typical 220 volt electric power cord wiring system. The fourth prong is a ground for the body of the dryer. It s much easier and much less expensive to replace the 4 wire whip with a 3 wire whip.

Building code requires the four wire plug now but you can change it and the dryer will work. Therefore the dryer s neutral was tied to the ground connection on the metal case of the dryer. Clothes dryers can be wired with cords that have three prongs as well as with four prong cords depending on the age of the wiring installation three prong cords and 3 slot outlets were once the norm but since 2008 article 550 16 a 2 of the national electrical code nec has stipulated that connections for electric clothes dryers must be made with a 4 conductor cord and 3 pole 4 wire. Newer dryers however have a 4 wire cord with a 4 prong plug.

However in new construction the installation of kitchen ranges and clothes dryers requires a 4 wire cord and plug. How to convert a 3 wire to a 4 wire dryer new jersey if you have an older electric clothes dryer manufactured before 1996 it probably has a 3 wire cord fitted with a 3 prong plug. In older 3 wire dryer and range circuits the ground was allowed to be bonded to the neutral. The key difference in the wiring configuration between 3 prong and 4 prong cords is that with the older setup the 3 prong cord has only two hot wires and one neutral wire there is no separate ground wire.

The center conductor on the cord goes to the center post of the terminal block.