How to Install a Cord on Your Dryer and Save Money

I have worked for the past several years on a technical support line for appliances and one of the most common questions I get is how to install a dryer cord. Installing a new cord on your electric dryer is a relatively simple task and I would like to teach you how to do it in this article.

The most important thing to remember when installing your dryer cord is safety. Never plug the cord into the outlet until it is completely installed and ready to turn on. The first thing you need to do is determine what type of cord you need, it will be a 3-prong or a 4-prong cord. First, take a look at the outlet that you will be plugging it into. A 3-prong dryer outlet will have 3 prongs with an L-shaped prong and 2 straight prongs. A 4-prong outlet will have 4 prongs with an L-shaped prong, 2 straight prongs and a circle. Now that you have determined what kind of cord you need it can be purchased at any appliance or home improvement store.

Look at the terminals now on back of dryer. You should see a middle terminal that is neutral (white), and two outer terminals that are L1 (black) and L2 (red). In addition, there will be an external grounding connector (green) to the left of the terminals. Before you attach the new cord you will see a wire already attached to the middle terminal. If you are planning on installing a 3-prong cord that pre-existing wire should run from the center terminal to the external grounding connector. At that point you simply take your new cord and attach middle wire to middle terminal and outer wires to outer terminals. You have just completed installing a 3-prong cord and have saved yourself quite a bit of money. Now, to install a 4-prong cord it is slightly different. Before you attach the 4-prong cord take a look at that pre-existing wire on the dryer. Most likely you will see it running from the middle terminal to the external grounding connector. What you want to do is detach it from external grounding connector and attach both ends of that wire onto the middle terminal. Once that is complete, you are ready to attach your 4-prong cord. Notice that it is color coded to make it easier. You will simply connect white wire to middle terminal, red and black to outer terminals and green wire to your external grounding connector.

It may sound somewhat complicated, but once you try it I think you will find that it is not as hard as it sounds. As a side note, I would also recommend to reset your dryer breaker in your household breaker box after installation. Just shut off for 3 seconds and flip back on again. There are two 30 amp breakers connected by a bar in your breaker box and sometimes if one of them is partially thrown the dryer will turn but will not heat. I hope this article will be of help to everyone, happy drying!