Posted: 11/16/2010 7:24:59 AM EDT
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Noticed the other day the dryer (kenmore - about 4 yrs of use) smelled burnt. Thought the wife had failed to get the lint out again. Sure enough yeah. No problem I thought, till last night I go back there (in a secluded part of the house) and smell it again. Pull everything out and get to nosing. 220 receptacle is hot as hell. Originally thought the dryer had pulled a lot of amps due to something so I took the back panel apart and pulled out the whole dryer vent. No clogs and no burned wires/connections. Take away the 220 outlet (3 prong) and neutral (one in the middle) is burned up bad and started to melt the outlet (Pass Seymonds). Cut the wall open and go back the wire a few inches - still burnt. It is in a 30 Amp breaker with 10/3 wire which should run about 7 to 8' from the outlet to the box.
So I should: Replace the whole wire? Replace the 30 amp breaker? Go to a 4 prong outlet? Investigate the dryer further? Thoughts/comments......... |
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Quoted:
A clamp on ammeter will tell you if your dryer is drawing excess current. I bet you had a dirty or loose contact and due to heat and carbon buildup, it became worse over time. I would replace all of the wiring, outlet, and plug. Actually I thought about that but was wondering where I find the amps....is there a sticker or something on there somewhere to look for as I didn't see it initially. |
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Quoted:
Noticed the other day the dryer (kenmore - about 4 yrs of use) smelled burnt. Thought the wife had failed to get the lint out again. Sure enough yeah. No problem I thought, till last night I go back there (in a secluded part of the house) and smell it again. Pull everything out and get to nosing. 220 receptacle is hot as hell. Originally thought the dryer had pulled a lot of amps due to something so I took the back panel apart and pulled out the whole dryer vent. No clogs and no burned wires/connections. Take away the 220 outlet (3 prong) and neutral (one in the middle) is burned up bad and started to melt the outlet (Pass Seymonds). Cut the wall open and go back the wire a few inches - still burnt. It is in a 30 Amp breaker with 10/3 wire which should run about 7 to 8' from the outlet to the box.So I should: Replace the whole wire? Replace the 30 amp breaker? Go to a 4 prong outlet? Investigate the dryer further? Thoughts/comments......... A three prong dryer outlet does not have a nuetral. If it was wired with 10/2 (2 insulated conductors and a bare groung), replace with 10/3 since you have already cut open the wall and install a new 4 prong outlet. |
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The white wire is a hot..it is a 220 line. Black/white are hots, then your ground. If one was burned up...90% chance it was loose..loose connections cause the amps to go up.
You can still use a 3 prong, and reconnect as long as there is enough wire left after you cut back and re-strip the burned section. |
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So I complete replaced with a new:
30amp breaker 10/3 wire 4 prong outlet & plug Used a clamp on ammeter. About high 20's of amps on the black and red with a new wet load. Once dry down to about 2 - 4 amps on each. No smoking or new wire burning. I am going with a loose neutral at this point. |
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Quoted:
So I complete replaced with a new: 30amp breaker 10/3 wire 4 prong outlet & plug Used a clamp on ammeter. About high 20's of amps on the black and red with a new wet load. Once dry down to about 2 - 4 amps on each. No smoking or new wire burning. I am going with a loose neutral at this point. Dont forget to relocate the dryers frame ground strap off of it's neutral terminal , now that you went to a 4 prong plug and receptacle. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
So I complete replaced with a new: 30amp breaker 10/3 wire 4 prong outlet & plug Used a clamp on ammeter. About high 20's of amps on the black and red with a new wet load. Once dry down to about 2 - 4 amps on each. No smoking or new wire burning. I am going with a loose neutral at this point. Dont forget to relocate the dryers frame ground strap off of it's neutral terminal , now that you went to a 4 prong plug and receptacle. Caught that while researching.......but I appreciate it anyway. |
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Quoted:
The white wire is a hot..it is a 220 line. Black/white are hots, then your ground. If one was burned up...90% chance it was loose..loose connections cause the amps to go up. You can still use a 3 prong, and reconnect as long as there is enough wire left after you cut back and re-strip the burned section. No, a loose connection causes an arc and localized heating. The amps still cannot exceed the load the arc is feeding. If it was the ground/neutral on a 3-wire 240 V dryer circuit it was the motor and timer power only, not the heating element. The drum motor and timer are usually 120 V loads while the heating element is the 240 V load. Yes, it is allowed but if changed now must be upgraded to 4-wire. The large conductor and minimal loads made sure the dryer frame never had significant voltage. If it was wired with NM it was NEVER legal. NM was not allowed to feed three wire 240 V range and dryer circuits under the exception. SE cable WAS allowed. |