3 to 4 prong power cord conversion problem

Dryer Repair
1

First off, I’m not really sure of the age of this dryer. It looks about 5-10 years old but it was in my house when I moved in. So, I really have no idea how old it is.

I just installed a four prong power cord in the dryer. The ground was not directly attached to the dryer’s neutral terminal but the dryer’s ground and neutral wires were connected at another point. I disconnected the dryer’s ground and taped off the end with electrical tape. I then connected the red, white, and black wires of the four prong power cord to the corresponding terminals on the dryer and then attached the power cord’s ground wire to the frame where the dryer’s ground wire was originally attached.

When I turned the dryer on it worked but started smoking. I immediately turned it off. I’m not seeing what I did wrong. I’m also not sure if I fried the dryer, or if this was a pre existing fault of the dryer. Any thoughts?

Thanks

2

When installing a four conductor cord to the appliance, remove the grounding strap and any ground (green) wires from the center (white) terminal. Attach the cord as you described; and attach the ground conductor from the cord to the dryer chassis. If there are any other loose ground wires, they will also connect to the machine’s chassis.

3

Thanks for the reply magician. Just so I don’t mess this up again I want to clarify one thing. The ground wire I removed was the only wire I could fine attached to the dryers neutral wire or terminal. I did fine some other grounds that were attached to the frame with all the controls (drying time, heat, etc.) rather than the dryer chasis itself. Does I need to move these to the dryers chasis?

4

No need to move any other ground wires. They’re inter-connected, and ultimately end up connected to the body of the dryer.