Technical PSA for garage guys with electric dryers

Yes, related to this site, as many build in their garage

I put a new dryer in, and pulled the cover to use my original electrical 220 cord. This is what I found...



what you don’t see is all the lint I removed, this happened because the flexible 4 inch vent had spilt open and filled the cover for the plug connections with lint.
WhY is this import? Well, many of us use a garage where our washer and dryer are in, this about looked like a great way to burn down everything I had in the garage and the house too. So went with the rigid flex stuff

Damn, pic won’t load

 

Now it did, mercy. The lint was packed up between a hot leg and the ground (center) leg

 

Yep, dryers can be dangerous. I’ve pulled a few to bits to repair and always amazed at how much lint is hidden between the drum and outer casing, just where you can’t see it !

 

traditional would be to have swmbo hang things to dry, then use the circuit for your welder. Take this advise at your own risk.

 

While working on electric circuits close to that lint, I had it ignite on me a few times by touching the wires together and making a spark.. That stuff is so dangerous! It should be cleaned monthly.. Also never use plastic or that corrugated slinky junk.. Always use 4" steel tubing and zip screw the connections together in case it catches fire..

 

I use dryer lint for fire starter when camping...yes, it’s that flammable.

 

For you unmarried and never to be married again folks:

SWMBO = She Who Must Be Obeyed

 

Clothesline works well.

 

Electric or Gas, they all accumulate lint in bad area's. Bottom line, PM them because cleaning just the lint screen isn't enough.

 

in minnesota we use the garage for a freezer, not the laundry room

 

Come on! Who doesn't know this?
It's part of the home routine.

 

My wife preferred a clothsline over the dryer. Nothing beats a clothsline for freshness.

 

Yes lint is highly flammable, but it's non conductive also, so the terminals could be packed with lint and not short to start a fire.

 

Same gos for insulation. flash fires spread quickly.

 

That's a pretty common problem on dryer power cords. Usually, it's caused by a loose nut or corrosion between the copper wire and the crimp connector. It creates a resisgance, which creats a lot of heat until the copper wires melt. Dryers use a LOT of current.

Hopefully, you replaced the protective cover after installing the power cord. And you have a good ground. If so, all that heat and electricity is contained inside a steel enclosure.

It's also a good idea to buy a new power cord instead of reusing your old one, even if it looks ok.

I see the lint in the picture, but it's been my experience (16 yrs appliance repairman) that that particular problem is caused by using an old cord. If the lint were what was being being burnt, it wouldn't get hot enough or long enough to melt or discolor the copper wire.

I think it'll work fine and be safe if you replace the cord.

Good luck with it!

Sent from my SM-G981U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Good advice thanks! ^^^^

 

The center lug is the Neutral connection. The dryer is bonded to the neutral lug with a strap from the factory. We are no longer allowed to use a 3 wire cord for Clothes Dryers or Electric Ranges. We now must use 4 wire cords as well as receptacles. The neutral has to be separated from the bonding connection on the metal body of the appliance. The bonding connection needs to be to the body of the appliance by a separate conductor.

 

Always use the four prong plug and cord. You want the neutral (grounded) and (bare or green) grounding to be separate.. This can get real dangerous if the dryer line is coming from an old sub panel that doesn't have separate ground and grounding lines.. When I run into this I send two copper ground rods into the ground and run the wire to the sub panels shared neutral and grounding bar.