Changing A Dryer Cord From 3-Wire to 4-Wire
July 2, 2006
Q: I just bought a new house and the dryer plug is the new 4-wire type. My dryer has the old 3-wire cord on it. So I went to Home Depot and bought a new 4-wire dryer cord. I removed my old cord and started to install the new one but, I’m stumped. What do I do with the green wire?
A: This is a common question we receive and a common mistake most every general contractor makes that we work with.
With a 3-wire system your neutral terminal will have a copper clad or aluminum strap or green wire connected between it and the frame. You need to remove this when changing to a 4-wire cord.
Terminate the wires from your new 4-wire cord as black to black terminal, white to white terminal, red to red terminal and green to ground screw on frame. This is the other end of that strap or green wire you need to remove from the white (neutral) terminal.
When changing to a 4-wire cord it is very important to remove the strap or wire that connects between the white terminal and the dryer’s frame. If you do not remove this, your neutral or grounded conductor will allow electricity to flow through your dryer’s frame and shock you each time you touch your dryer.
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I have to do the opposite – remove a 4 prong cord and put on a 3 prong cord. Please help!
I changed my dryer cord from a 4 prong to a 3 prong. It worked great last night but this morning the dryer ran for a few minutes and quit. I unplugged the dryer. Just not sure what the problem is.
Great Site. One Question. I am changing a 3 prong dryer cord to a 4. The White wire on the center terminal has a Y were a green wire is conected to the white and runs to the dryer frame. Do i remove the green from the white and keep the white as is running to thje center terminal?
I am going from a 3 wire to a 4 wire. Have it wired correctly an instructed above but it keeps tripping the breaker everytime I plug it in. Any advice? I am thinking maybe the receptacle is bad. Looks like it had sparked before I moved in from the top terminal.
I have a maytag dryer I purchased from craigslist. I believe it’s an older dryer and the three wires connected in the rear is vertical. The wires are yellow (on top), white (in the middle) and light blue (on the bottom). Where should I put the red wire, white wire, black wire and green wire. There is a ground screw just outside of the panel. On the white screw, there is a bond strap that is connected to another screw inside the panel. Thanks for your assistance. Maytag could not advise me aside from sending a technician which would cost me more than probably the cost I paid for the dryer.
I connected my 4 prong cord red to light blue, black to black ywllow, white in the middle which had to white connectors plus a strap. I removed the strap and connected the green wire to the frame under where I removed the strap. I plug in the dryer and it will not come on . What did I do wrong.
I HAVE A FOUR WIRE PLUG IN MY RANGE, AND A THREE WIRE RECEPTACLE WITH THE NEUTRAL WIRE AND GROUND CONNECTED TOGETHER, MY HOME IS OLD(1986), I CAN CHANGE THAT RECEPTACLE FOR A 4 WIRE RECP. BUT DO I NEED TO SEPARATE THE NEUTRAL AND GROUND IN MY PANEL TOO? OR CAN I LEAVE IT AS IT IS?
I have a Generac GP 65000 gas genarator that has a 4 wire female receptical and I would like to use a 3 wire female at the end of my cored when pluged into the genarator. All my other devises that require 220 are 3 wire. Can I use a 4 wire plug and not use one of the connections in the plug and only use three and if so which three?
I have the same question as Dillard Baker above) except I have an 8500 watt generator. Thank you in advance. Tom
I was reading your answer abouting going from a 3 prong dryer cord to a 4 prong. I understand where to connect the wires, but what I didn’t understand is what needs to be done with the ground wire that is internally attached to the dryer. I have a GE dryer. Do I just leave that old wire hanging? If not I dont understand how to remove it. Please advise.
I have a newer home with 4 wire outlet. My dryer played out mom gave me her 3 wire one. I removed my 4 wire cord to put on older dryer. When i removed 3 wire cord the colers are red, white ,and l blue. Colors on 4 wire plug red, black , white, green.So i guess red to red white to white .Where do black and green go?PLEASE HELP
I am changing my dryer cord from a 3 prong to a 4 prong. I have a whirlpool. My problem is that I have a green weier instead of the strap. I do not see that I can remove this wire. Any advice?
My boyfriend rewired my GE dryer from 4prong to a 3 prong plug to accommodate our 3 prong outlet. Before changing the plug, the dryer worked fine. Now, it has power, and spins the clothes, however the heat no longer works. Any ideas on what we could have done wrong in this process? Are there any fuses in the dryer that could have blown out?
I was reading your answer abouting going from a 3 prong dryer cord to a 4 prong. I understand where to connect the wires, but what I didn’t understand is what needs to be done with the ground wire that is internally attached to the dryer. I have a ROPER dryer. Do I just leave that old wire hanging? If not I dont understand how to remove it. Please advise.
i have a roper dryer and i dont know what todo with the fourth wire my dryer has three the new cord has four how do i know what the colors mean and where they go