I am changing out the wiring from a 3 wire to a four wire. The terminal block has (top to bottom) black, whiteandblue wires. The new 4 prong wiring has a white black green and red wire... what goes where to wire the dryer for the four prong plug. Maytag model LDE9206ACE

Unplug the dryer then remove the terminal block cover and disconnect the 3-prong cord from the dryer. Note that the cord has red , black, and white wires but sometimes the red and black wires are both replaced by same color wire, usually gray and can switch places. There's also a ground strap wire also connected to the center terminal together with the white (neutral) wire.

Get yourself a 4-prong cord and note that it has red, black, white, and green/yellow wires but sometimes, like the 3-pronged one, the red and black wires are both replaced by same color wire, usually gray and can also switch places. All you have to do now is connect the 3 wires in the same manner they are connected as 3-prong cord to the terminal block. The ground strap wire now just need to be connected to the remaining 4th wire, the green/yellow wire instead of the center terminal together with the white (neutral) wire. Reinstall the terminal block cover and it's done.

It can be observed that converting a 3-prong cord to 4-prong cord is merely splitting the neutral line and the ground thereby increasing the number of prongs from 3 to 4 whereas, on the other hand, converting a 4-prong cord to 3-prong cord is merely joining the neutral line (white) and the ground (green/yellow) thereby reducing the number of prongs from 4 to 3.. The links below might enlighten you further on this matter.

Four-prong to Three-prong Electric Dryer Conversion
Three-prong to Four-prong Electric Dryer Conversion

It's either you convert the 3-prong outlet to 4-prong or the 4-prong cord to 3-prong. But the latter is easier and more feasible. Unplug the dryer then disconnect the 4-prong cord from the dryer. Note that it has red, black, white, and green/yellow wires but sometimes the red and black wires are both replaced by same color wire, usually gray. The red and black wires are lines L1 and L2 reversibly, meaning they can switch places, while the white and green/yellow wires are the neutral line and ground, respectively.

Get yourself a 3-prong cord and note that it has red , black, and white wires but sometimes, like the 4-pronged one, the red and black wires are both replaced by same color wire, usually gray and can also switch places. All you have to do now is connect these 3 wires in the same manner they are connected as 4-prong cord to the terminal block. The wire strapped to the dryer cabinet and connected to the green/yellow wire of the 4-prong cord wire is now left hanging. The last step is to connect this hanging strap wire to the same terminal on the terminal block (center) where the white wire (neutral) is connected and it's done.

It can be observed that converting a 4-prong cord to 3-prong cord is merely joining the neutral line (white) and the ground (green/yellow) thereby reducing the number of prongs from 4 to 3. On the other hand, converting a 3-prong cord to 4-prong cord is merely splitting the neutral line and the ground thereby increasing the number of prongs from 3 to 4. The link below might enlighten you further on this matter.

Electric Dryer Prong Conversion

You have to replace the dryer's 3-prong cord to 4-prong. Get yourself a 4-prong cord then on the terminal block at the rear of the dryer, connect the wires of the 4-prong cord to where the same wire colors (red, black, and white) of the 3-prong cord connects to. The only modification needs to be done is on the green/yellow stripe wire that connects from the white wire terminal to the dryer's cabinet. Remove this wire (green/yellow stripe) from the white wire terminal then connect it to the same wire color (green/yellow stripe) of the 4-prong cord and you are done. The new wire configuration would then be red, black, and white on the terminal block and green/yellow stripe wire on the cabinet.

remove the 4 prong wire,the 3 prong wire the middle wire goes on the middle slot on the terminal block and the 2 outside wires one on each side of the terminal block your done-mike

Your four prong cord has 4 wires. Black,Red,Green and White.
Remove the 3 prong cord from the dryer.
The Black and Red wires go to the outside terminals on the dryer. The White wire goes top the center terminal. The Green wire goes outside the terminal cover to any nearby screw for grounding.

Dryer wiring (3 wires to 4) If ya move or get a new dryer and need a 4 wire setup instead of a 3 this might be of interest: Look at the terminal block. Most dryers have a red wire on one side, a black wire on the other side, and a white wire in the middle. I put my red to red white to white and black to black as pictured in the above link. The green ground wire gets bolted to the frame.




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Replace the old Three prong cord with a 4 prong.

White wire from 4 prong cord goes to the center terminal of the connector block. If there is a metallic strip on that terminal that goes to ground remove it from the terminal and bend it away from the terminal and down so it either touches the case or ends in thin air. Be sure it can't touch either of the outside terminals of the 3 terminal block.

Red and Black wires of cord go to outside terminals of the three terminal block. It makes no difference which one goes on which terminal but I usually attach them so the color of the cord wire matches the colors of the wires already on that terminal.

The last terminal is green and should be attached tightly to any screw of the case or any metal bracket attached to the case that it is long enough to reach as this is the ground. This lead protects you from electrocution if the dryer has an internal problem and should be tight to the case.

On a three wire configuration, the ground and the negative are tied together at the center position, using the dryer ground strap. Following is a description of the difference between three and four wire. Hope it helps you.
These two pictures illustrate the power wiring on a the terminal of an electric dryer. The one on top/left is the old-style three-wire configuration. Most people have this type in their homes. New code changes, though, require that dryers now have a four-wire cord, shown on the bottom/right.
Besides the number of wires in each cord, there are two important things to notice. First, in the four-wire configuration, notice that the dryer's grounding strap is folded back on itself. The whole point of the four-wire cord is to separate the ground from the neutral. The green wire (the "new" extra wire in the four-wire cord) is attached to the dryer cabinet. In the three-wire configuration, the grounding strap is left intact and the neutral and ground are tied together.


Sure hope this helps you find a resolution to your delimma! Best wishes.

your terminal block on the dryer will have three screws in a row and there will be a green screw on the outer skin next to the terminal block cover - your four-wire cord will have a white wire, red, black and green wires - white wire goes on the center screw of the terminal block, red wire goes on one of the other screws of the terminal block, it doesn't matter which, black wire goes on remaining terminal block screw, green wire goes to the green screw

This is common issue. Due to some building codes the 3-prong configuration is no longer used in homes. The wiring is similar with one exception. The 4-wire plug uses an additional (WHITE) NEUTRAL wire.

Here's a brief explanation of how the plugs are configured:

Dryer 3 prong wire configuration:

RED - 120 VAC
GREEN - GROUND
BLACK - 120 VAC

Dryer 4 prong wire configuration:

RED - 120 VAC
GREEN - GROUND
BLACK - 120 VAC
WHITE - NEUTRAL

BOTH plugs provide the SAME source voltages to your appliance:

220 VAC - provided across the RED and BLACK leads are what drives your heating circuitry.
120 VAC - usually tapped of the BLACK wire is used to run the drive motor and timer on MOST dryers.

The wire terminal block in the back of the dryer should have a black, white, and red wire running to it from the dryer wiring harness. With the 4 prong plug, simply attach the BLACK, WHITE and RED wires at the terminal block ensuring that you match the RED and BLACK wires as they are configured and attach the WHITE wire at the remaining terminal lug. Make sure you screw them all down securely. Attach the remaining GREEN wire to chassis (dryer frame) ground. I hope this helps you.