I must admit that fewer and fewer homeowners attempt to connect up anything involving 220 V. Of course, they are irritated because they thought all they had to do was plug it in and start drying clothes. When they get home, they find that their house has a three-prong outlet and they don’t know what to do. Often a retailer will sell the customer a four-prong cord (The current code). Second, a new dryer does not come with a line cord. If a person moves an old dryer to a new house they may be faced with an old three-prong line cord on the dryer and a four-prong outlet. Many different situations are encountered. Most folks are frightened away by the heavy wires and leave the job to appliance technicians or electricians. I have seen many novices cause a lot of trouble by mixing heavy and light gauges. Normal lamp cord wiring will get hot and melt. The wires are heavy gauge because the dryer heating element draws 15 Amps. For many people fooling with these heavy wires is very intimidating. Since 2000, electrical code states that four wires are required. For starters, the heavy cable used on an electric dryer may have three or four heavy wires. Hopefully, this post helps advance the understanding of this particular section of the Code.It is very easy to understand why many people get confused when attempting to install an electric dryer. I would agree it is better form to have those circuits separated but the Code allows it if someone so chooses. Therefore you could use the double-pole breaker exception cited above. Since you stated the rest of the garage I concluded your dryer was installed in the garage. There is a Code requirement that prohibits the garage circuit from supplying outlets outside the garage. Individual single-pole circuit breakers, with identified handle ties, shall be permitted as the protection for each ungrounded conductor of multiwire branch circuits that serve only single-phase line-to-neutral loads.Īdditionally, you stated the previous owner continued the 120 volt circuit Circuit breakers shall open all ungrounded conductors of the circuit both manually and automatically unless otherwise permitted in 240.15(B)(1), (B)(2), (B)(3), and (B)(4). (B) Circuit Breaker as Overcurrent Device. However, single pole breakers with a handle tie do NOT satisfy this other section of the Code. 2: Where all ungrounded conductors of the multiwire branch circuit are opened simultaneously by the branch-circuit overcurrent device. 1: A multiwire branch circuit that supplies only one utilization equipment.Įxception No. Multiwire branch circuits shall supply only line-to-neutral loads.Įxception No. ![]() ![]() A double pole breaker satisfies this requirement.Ģ10.4 (C) Line-to-Neutral Loads. There is an exception that allows line to neutral loads and line to line loads on the same Multi-Wire Branch Circuit as long as the circuit breaker opens all ungrounded conductors. If you read my answer to that other question you cited and read the National Electrical Code carefully, you will see that your case was NOT necessarily a Code violation. So best advice install dryer circuits for dryers and add general power circuits for general power. Some could make an argument that it might not affect the dryer but we don't design circuits around what they might do. He would be in his right to void the warranty. By the way if you have a problem with your dryer and call for warranty repair and the service representative sees the attached receptacles. To add devices that should be protected by these breakers to be attached to a 30A breaker would they have to meet a whole new set of requirements. I also have a question about what your overcurrent protection looks like since most branch wire is protected by 15A and 20A breakers. Depending on what you put on the circuit, it could create an imbalance (impedance) between the two phases and directly affect the life of both the circuit and piece of equipment. That means the original circuit installed is a specific circuit designed to service a dryer, not a dryer and anything else we can stick on it. Adding receptacles added on to a dryer circuit is just not considered good electrical practice.Ĭonsider how you started your question "previous owner had taken the dryer's 220v circuit". Other than what has pointed out as code requirements.
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