I have a 30A 3 wire dryer receptacle , can it be gfci protected?

Just wondering if I can protect this circuit? Or can only a 4 wire be gfci protected?

I believe this should help and it looks like it is correct but I didn't read every word.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7533394_220v-gfci-wiring.html

Brewvy said:

Just wondering if I can protect this circuit? Or can only a 4 wire be gfci protected?

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Yes you can. You can put a 2 pole 30A GFCI circuit breaker in your panel. Neutral is not required for the GFCI to operate.

See attachment

Some check me on this but I think some people have also found 30amp electrical cords with built-on GFCI protection. So you could simply unplug your dryer and plug in your fancy cord.

Not certain but I don't think dryers are supposed to operate off GFCI breakers themselves.

hillhousesawdustco said:

Some check me on this but I think some people have also found 30amp electrical cords with built-on GFCI protection. So you could simply unplug your dryer and plug in your fancy cord.

Not certain but I don't think dryers are supposed to operate off GFCI breakers themselves.

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Really they aren't supposed to run off GFCI? I didn't know. Why would that be? I'm just curious I'm not trying to nit pick

I was in a similar boat until I turned off the breaker and took the outlet cover off to find that the 4th ground wire was there but not connected to anything. After I realized that I upgraded the outlet and dryer cable to a 4 wire one. I use a spa panel for my GFCI so on brew days I just unplug the dryer and plug in the spa panel. I would check to see if your outlet has the 4th wire already there.

I have no idea- it is just something my brain picked up somewhere along the way. Could have totally made it up! Anybody run a dryer off a gfi circuit?

biohaz7331 said:

Really they aren't supposed to run off GFCI? I didn't know. Why would that be? I'm just curious I'm not trying to nit pick

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Motor load play havic with GFCIs on startup. In a residence in certain locations the recepticals that need to be GFCI by code are only 125v 15 and 20 amp. Exceptions are those like dedicated fridge and freezer space.

Dryers are never GFCI because, why? Do you unplug and plug in frequently?