Wiring help

[cuinrearview]

I have recently moved to my first home and the first project we tackled was re-locating the laundry. Everything is working great except for the dryer. It powers up and tumbles but does not get hot. From the wiring diagram the heating element looks to be the only thing pulling 220 but there is only one wire to plug this in.

So my question is: Can the black and bare wires be wired backwards and be supplying 110 or is this a problem with my dryer heat element.

Obviosly I'm no electrician but everything else is working great and I'm looking forward to getting the loose ends tied up and brewing again. Thanks to all that reply.

 

[Hunlock]

If there was a dryer there before, I doubt it's wired incorrectly. Get a meter.. Now that you are a homeowner, you should have only any way. It is the best way to check current.

Does your home have fuses or breakers? Fuses= one of the two needed for the dryer is bad. If they wired two breakers to power the 220, maybe one breaker is tripped. This is not code, but I have seen it done.


Good Luck

 

[kjung]

The bare wire is the ground. Do NOT hook that up to ANYTHING other than the ground lug/terminal!!!
A 220v dryer circuit will most likely have 4 wires...2 hots (black and red are most usual colors), a white (neutral), and the ground. As long as the neutral and ground are hooked up correctly, the two hots don't really matter, as far as which is hooked up where.
By code, a two pole breaker MUST be joined together. If they're not, and one side is popped, reset the one side, and slide a #6 screw through the holes in the "handles". Then try the dryer again.

 

[willynilly]

Is it a 3 or 4 wire circuit to the dryer? Older ones are only 3, newer ones are now 4.

 

[kjung]

Is it a 3 or 4 wire circuit to the dryer? Older ones are only 3, newer ones are now 4.

The only difference, USUALLY, is a ground wire.

 

[willynilly]

The only difference, USUALLY, is a ground wire.

Obviously.....

 

[passedpawn]

Dryers are very simple. There is a resistive heating coil, a thermal switch (this is what kigks the heat on/off) and a hi-temp cutout switch. These things are all wired in series. So, you can ohm each one out to see if they are defective. I.e., with the dryer unplugged the two switches should be closed (conducting) and the heater coil should read some finite ohms (probably not much, say 10-20 ohms).

I've fixed my dryers couple of times by locating the faulty component and getting the part from Sears. Once it was the hi-temp (failed open), the other time it was the coil (had a break in it).

BTW, if your dryer gets warm but not hot, that is almost ALWAYs an obstruction in the hot air exhaust path... been down that road a bunch too.