Q&A for How to Wire an Electric Dryer

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Should I turn off the electricity before doing the procedure?

Community Answer

You can wire it to the back of the dryer but make sure to unplug it first! I can't emphasize that enough. Dryers are on a 220 amp breaker and they can kill you! If you have to change the receptacle, then yes, turn the breaker off and use a test on the wire before handling them.

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Question

Do electric dryers have to be vented?

Community Answer

Yes, unless you want your house to double as a sauna. There will be no deadly gases, but VERY damp moist air.

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Question

Can I hot wire directly to a dryer?

Community Answer

Test it out.

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Question

What color wire goes where on an electric dryer?

Kyaw Zintun

Community Answer

Brown is live line (L), and blue is neutral (N). Green/yellow is the ground wire.

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Question

Can I run two dryers at the same time?

Community Answer

You may want to try separating the dryers, so they are not on the same circuit breaker. Plug them into a more powerful circuit like a 20 amp.

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Question

What size wire and breaker do I need?

Community Answer

The smallest size Romex wire you should use is 10 gauge, along with a 30 amp breaker.

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Question

Is 8/2 stranded okay on a 75' electric dryer hook up?

Steve

Top Answerer

Assuming copper wire, a #10 AWG wire that is 150' long (2 wires at 75 ft each) has a little less than a 6 volt drop: providing just over 234V from a 240 source. That's a little over 2% of loss. I would run the #10 for this length of cable. Conversely, a #8 cable of the same length has about a 3.5 volt drop, providing a little over 236 volts from the same 240 v source; or a 1.5% loss. The difference in cost between the #10 & #8 doesn't seem to be worth it and the voltage drop on the #10 is still low enough to safely operate the appliance.

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Question

How to wire a 4 prong cable to a dryer?

Steve

Top Answerer

The Red and Black wires of the cable will connect to the LINE (L1 & L2) terminals. The white wire will connect to the Neutral (N) terminal after removing the any jumper between the N terminal and appliance frame or sheet metal or terminal marked as Ground (G or Ground symbol). The Green wire will connect to the Ground (G or Ground symbol) terminal. There should be no wire or jumper connection between the N and G terminals screws.

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Question

If the wire snaps and burns, can I reuse it on an electric dryer?

Steve

Top Answerer

A wire of sufficient size should not fail as described. It suggests that the terminal screws were not tighten fully, or that the appliance is failing or has failed. You can remove the heat damaged portion of the cable as revealed by carefully and incrementally stripping the insulation from the conductors. Once "good" conductor is reached, cut off all damaged conductors to the same length and secure to the terminals again.

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Question

If my dryer cord has 4 prongs but my dryer receptacle has 3 prongs, what's next?

Justin

Community Answer

You will need a 3 prong dryer cord. If you are not comfortable with wiring in a new harness, and working around electricity, it's best to have an appliance technician do this for you.

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