Kenmore dryer 60 series - 4 prong cord/3 prong outlet
I just moved into a new house. My dryer is a Kenmore heavy duty 60 series soft heat large capacity. I bought it used so I have no paperwork. When I got to the new house it has a three prong outlet and my dryer is a four prong cord. I understand I need to replace the cord with a 3 prong cord. I went out and bought a 3 prong cord thinking it would be color coded like the cord that is on there. Nope. It is solid grey. It seems to have no distinguishing characteristics besides thickness. I can see that two are the same. Those must be my HOT HOT and the third is the ground. However, to be honest, I do not know which is the corresponding cords on the unit. I will try to attach a picture of the unit side of the cord and maybe can tell me which 3 wires to use and which to leave alone. I searched but didn't find the information for my dryer. Thanks for any replies. This is my first post! Is your new pigtail (dryer cord) flat? If it is then you need to connect the two outside wires where the red and black wires of the original cord were connected and the center wire connects to the center terminal. You also have to move the green wire now connected to the frame to the center terminal. Welcome to the forums. You said you moved into a new house. Is the house actually new.....like newly built...... or just new for you ? At one time..... 240 vac electric dryers only needed 240 vac to run and a ground for protection. Now most electric dryers run on 120/240 vac and require four wires from the panel to the receptacle. You may have four wires coming from the panel to that receptacle with a three pin receptacle in place now. As per the NEC you need a four wire connection. Changing the dryer cord to a three wire cord would not be electrically code compliant. You say you just moved into a new house. I'm assuming you mean a 'previously owned' house. Have you checked your dryer outlet, maybe the house is wired for a 4 prong outlet and someone previously changed it to a 3 prong. And maybe you should convert the outlet to a 4 prong, and keep the 4 prong pigtail that you have. That's the first place I'd start. Shut off the power before you go working on the dryer outlet if you go that route. PJ. ALL American built clothes dryers are 240/120 volts and they always have been. The NEC allowed a combined neutral/equipment ground for many years in this particular instance, also for kitchen ranges. It has only been in the last few code cycles that a four-wire connection has been required and the three-wire connections are grandfathered as long as no changes to the original wiring has been made. All that aside, I agree that the four-wire connection is safer. Sorry, I should have been clearer. It is a house built around 1970. I assume that because of the house's age, it probably is grandfathered in. I can check out to make sure with the landlord. The cord that is on the dryer is pictured below, sorry it is blurry. Sorry, I misread the reply. I don't have a picture of the NEW cord. But it has 2 flat prongs and the other is the crooked at a 90 degree angle like the one in the pic of the old cord. Not interested in the plug end, the end that connects to the dryer terminal board should have three wires with eyelets. The two outside wires of the cord connect to the two outside terminals of the three terminal block on the dryer. The inside wire of the cord connects to the inside terminal of the dryer terminal board along with the green wire currently connected to the cabinet. Since you have a Landlord, tell them you have a 4 prong dryer pigtail, and ask them to change over the dryer outlet to a 4 prong. If the Landlord knows what he's doing, he'll grab one up and change it -- no problem, real easy. The Landlord probably changed it from an original 4 prong to a three prong to satisfy the previous tenant who probably had an older dryer with a 3 prong pigtail.. This is one of those annoyances that bug Landlords -- because it always depends on how new the tenants appliance is. As time goes, more and more of those 3 prongs will end up in the dumps. The 4 prong is the more modern set up. If he doesn't change it for you, he'll probably have to do it for the next tenant. Re-mdlr, if the wiring is for a three-prong receptacle it would be a code violation to install a four-prong receptacle without also changing the wiring. Also, the landlord has no reason or requirement to supply or change the machine's power cord. I think the house is probably wired for a 4 prong dryer outlet, and the landlord changed it over to a 3 prong outlet for a previous tenant because the tenant had an older dryer with a 3 prong pigtail. I'm not saying the landlord should change the tenants pigtail -- but if he's like most landlords, this issue has come up before. He might send someone over (or himself) and remove the 3 prong outlet and replace it with a 4 prong. Then the OP can use their dryer as it is set up now. It's only a phone call and a simple request. I haven't met a landlord yet that fights on this issue. I've been called in on stuff like this, and I do it for free as a 'good will'. All it takes is for someone to figure out what wires are inside the outlet box, and then go from there. And the landlord probably has the answer. Ok, well, I came home and changed out the wire. I plugged it in and the dryer started! So, that is good. But here is the thing, it has a start button and I didn't need to press it to get it to go... When I set the timer to 0, it stops. Door open, it stops. But it goes without the start button. Does that signify something? Sounds like your start button is stuck. May need a new push to start switch.
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