Electric Dryer Power 3-prong installation?

Question

I bought a dryer. I have a 3-prong receptacle. I bought a 3-prong power cable. Now how do I connect the dryer to the receptacle? I thought it would be just a matter of unscrewing 3 screws, putting the three wires on there, s******g them back in and plugging it in. But they they throw this grounding wire in there that they say I need to hook up also. What do I do with this? Do I just buy a copper wire from a hardware store and connect it to one of the screws holding the receptacle to the wall?

Answer 1

providing that your box is metal yes it should be grounded.

Answer 2

A three wire dryer cord has two hots and a nuetral.  I believe the ground wire you are talking about is the one that is attached to the dryer.  That wire bonds the dryer's metal housing to the nuetral.  Switching to a four wire recep isn't that easy.  An electrician would have to run 10/3 with ground romex from the panel to your dryer.  Most houses use plastic boxes so there is no ground at the dryer.  The picture you show is a twist lock recep with two hots and a nuetral.

You really should have an electrician look at this.  While it seems simple, there are lots of ways to s***w it up.  240 volts going thru your body is no joke.

Answer 3

Have an electrician do this job for you before you wire it incorrectly. I don't think you want to burn down your house!

It's obvious you don't have the knowledge to do this job yourself if you don't know about the ground wire.

Answer 4

Connect the three wires to the proper terminals. There are two hot wires and one neutral.  The white one is the neutral. The other two can be attached to either terminal.  The ground wire is supposed to be attached to a ground point, like a water pipe with a clamp. It can also be connected to the metal conduit. This is extra protection to avoid getting a shock when touching the dryer.

Answer 5

Your going to have a different receptacle installed, it looks like a 220 and you have a 120. It's not that hard if you know what your doing, just buy the receptacle and then the factory made wire for it, hook it up to your 220 in the box and then to the receptacle you install on the wall near the dryer. You can purchase everything you need at Home Depot and ask them for any further information. The ground wire comes with it by the way, you need it.

      If this is in fact a 120 V. then the ground should be hooked to the dryer somewhere along the area in back. I know they make a 120 but am surprised people still buy them.