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Changing a 3 prong dryer cord to a 4 prong dryer cord??
I have the four prong cord now and am needing to know what to do with the four different wires....I realize the red prolly goes to the red, the white goes to the white, and the black to the black.....however, what do i do with the green wire, there is a green wire already attached to a screw off to the side...Do i just add it there with the other one? Or what?
I understood everything as far as where each wire go except I'm looking at the green wire with the plug and the green wire hanging that was originally attached to the middle. There are only 3 areas that I can see looking directly at the back, In order for me to get to the starting point of the green wire I move remove additional back panels. I want to make sure I don't screw up anything. Please explain as though I'm a five year old. thank youI understood everything as far as where each wire go except I'm looking at the green wire with the plug and the green wire hanging that was originally attached to the middle. There are only 3 areas that I can see looking directly at the back, In order for me to get to the starting point of the green wire I move remove additional back panels. I want to make sure I don't screw up anything. Please explain as though I'm a five year old. thank you
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On a 4-prong power cord you have 2 hot wires, one neutral wire, and one ground wire. On a three prong cord, you have 2 hot wires and one neutral/ground wire. The difference is the on four prong the neutral wire goes to electrical neutral bus in the breaker panel and the ground wire goes to the ground bus in the breaker panel. Since the neutral and ground buses, although separate, both go to physical ground, on a three-wire setup, you are just putting the neutral and ground wire together, Most dryers actually have a place at the pigtail connection to do just that.
You can change the cord or the receptical...
It will be easier to change the cord...
Purchase a four prong plug cord that will fit into your receptical, then wire your dryer for 4 wire instead of three wire use.
To see a picture and explanation of how to wire your dryer for a 4 wire plug go to the following webpage.
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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.
Do NOT try and change the receptacle please. It is dangerous and we do not want anyone getting hurt. In your case, it would be better to put a 3 prong cord on the dryer. Overall you could call an electrician to install the 4 prong receptacle, which will require new 4 conductor wire as well and run to the breaker box. Get a flat style 3 prong dryer cord and we'll tell you how to install it. Unless you call an electrician. ;-) If this helps you, please rate my answer. Thank you.
These two pictures illustrate the power wiring on a the terminal of an electric dryer. The one on top 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. 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.
You will either have to get a 4 prong cord or 3 prong outlet. I would opt for the 4 prong cord. only difference is the four prong cord has a neutral where the 3 prong doesn't
If your dryer has only the three treminal block you should change the recptacle to a 3 wire. The difference in the 3 and 4 recptacle is that you have 2 hots, a neutral, and a ground prong. Find your dryer breaker in the box and just use the 2 hot and the neutral. Unless you can find a four terminal block for the dryer and even then would it mount to the dryer? Probably not. The extra ground simply grounds the cabinet to prevent damage. Your four wire recptacle may have a red and black(hot) a white(neutral) and a green or plain copper(ground)
I understood everything as far as where each wire go except I'm looking at the green wire with the plug and the green wire hanging that was originally attached to the middle. There are only 3 areas that I can see looking directly at the back, In order for me to get to the starting point of the green wire I move remove additional back panels. I want to make sure I don't screw up anything. Please explain as though I'm a five year old. thank you
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