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Russ Filtz
09-05-2008, 8:29 AM
Have an electric dryer that went belly up. Probably a thermal fuse. I figure it's not worth digging in to, esp if i have to hire a repair guy. If I buy new, is it worth it to re-use the electric cord? I think most of these you have to buy the cord separate. I'm sure they will hose you for at least $50 for a piece of wire! Just wondering if these wires are like gas appliance lines where you don't mess around.

Jim Becker
09-05-2008, 8:31 AM
Theoretically you can, but if it's older it may not be the right format. And if I recall, a new, packaged cord is something like $14-19, not $50. I'd install a new one for piece of mind...electrical is not something I try to economize on.

Russ Filtz
09-05-2008, 8:45 AM
Yep, just looked it up. Home Depot had them listed for $10! Not worth re-using.

David G Baker
09-05-2008, 9:33 AM
Russ,
Another thought, the newer appliances may have a 4 prong set up rather (new format that Jim mentioned) than the older 3 prong plugs. You may want to remove your old cord from your older dryer, it might come in handy for a tool at some point.

Tom Godley
09-05-2008, 10:41 AM
Not knowing what condition it is in -- they are normally very easy to fix.

You can Google and find out all the information -- most of the parts are very cheap.

If you do decide to fix - ask the parts guy what normally fails - and just replace them when you have it open.

If the motor is bad - then it may not be worth it.

Mark Rios
09-05-2008, 11:01 AM
Yeah, like Tom said, dryers, especially electric ones, are really very simple machines. Anything but the motor is fairly easy and relatively inexpensive to fix.

Keeping them in working order is merely a matter of religiously (or fanatically if your not religious:D) removing the lint from the lint trap EVERY load. My Sears Kenmore has lasted 20 + years so far with no parts failing. I've had two different neighbors who very rarely cleaned their lint traps and, aside from it taking much, much longer to dry the clothes, one neighbor was always repairing it and the other neighbor's machine caught fire and burned the garage down.

Russ Filtz
09-05-2008, 12:56 PM
I believe lint is what happened to mine. I removed a bunch from the filter after it failed. My unit has a fusible thermal link and has to be replaced. I looked under the hood and saw a couple likely candidates, but I figure it's time to replace and not bother trying to chase down parts. The cord i have now is the newer 4-prong so I should be good to go.

Al Willits
09-05-2008, 1:23 PM
Make sure the venting going outside isn't plugged with lint or you'll just get to buy another dryer when that thermal fuse goes.

I doubt its the motor, plugged with lint is the usual cause and it overheats.

Easy repair but if you want a new dryer so be it. :)

Don't be supprised if you don't need the 4 pronged cord though

Al

John Shuk
09-05-2008, 5:07 PM
I'd reuse it. As long as the connections look good. It's just copper. There's no magic in there.

Mark Rios
09-05-2008, 6:46 PM
Make sure the venting going outside isn't plugged with lint or you'll just get to buy another dryer when that thermal fuse goes.

I doubt its the motor, plugged with lint is the usual cause and it overheats.

Easy repair but if you want a new dryer so be it. :)

Don't be supprised if you don't need the 4 pronged cord though

Al


Yeah, like Al said, if it's just a thermal fuse, it's a quick and easy fix. Take the back off, unplug two wires, unscrew two screws, and reverse those three steps and you're done. The fuses aren't anything special so they would be very easy to get. I'd be willing to bet $1.57 that once you had the part that the repair would take less time than getting the new one out of the box and setting it up.

jmo

Cliff Rohrabacher
09-06-2008, 12:55 PM
I took the one off my old Sears and put it on my new Bosh

So long as the plastic sheathing is in good shape there's no reason why not.

Ben Rafael
09-06-2008, 1:16 PM
The lint traps aren't perfect. Enough lint gets by that can cause other problems, and on a gas dryer it can cause fires. I open mine up through a front panel every year or so and clean out the lint that got by the trap.
Also, I just took my shop vac and used the blower to clean out the dryer vent, amazing how much lint came out of the vent. The dryer works much better now.

Russ Filtz
09-06-2008, 4:53 PM
Took the advice and went the repair route. Only cost me $30 for two thermal fuses. Wasn't too bad swapping out, although the lower one I had to remove the actual heating element.

Mark Rios
09-06-2008, 7:13 PM
WTG Russ, Congrats. You just saved yourself anywhere from about $400 to $1400 dollars, depending on the dryer. Looks like you saved enough to get a new tool. :D

Joseph deCroy
10-02-2008, 4:24 AM
Anyone have an idea as to what the max. cord length should be using 220v? That is from the laser machine to the electrical outlet.

Also, I wasn't aware there is a new 4-prong standard (thanks for the info.). I have the old 3-prong outlet. Will the laser machines accept the old 3-prong and the new 4-prong?

Mike Kratky
10-02-2008, 7:47 AM
FYI: The National Electric Code changed both the requirements for electric dryers and ranges to a 4 wire for safety purpose back in the 1996 Code cycle.

Tom Veatch
10-02-2008, 1:56 PM
Anyone have an idea as to what the max. cord length should be using 220v? That is from the laser machine to the electrical outlet.
It's not a matter of voltage. It depends on the amperage draw of the device. The greater the amperage, the greater the voltage drop for a given wire size. The larger the wire size, the lower the voltage drop for a given amperage. Lower voltage drop (power loss) in the cord is better. But you need to know what amperage the cord has to carry.

Also, I wasn't aware there is a new 4-prong standard (thanks for the info.). I have the old 3-prong outlet. Will the laser machines accept the old 3-prong and the new 4-prong?The following discussion assumes single phase power. If we're taking 3-phase power, stop reading and ignore the following.

The only time the 4-prong devices are needed is when the machine requires both 240v and 120v simultaneously. Not sure if this is the case here. The "old 3-prong outlet" may be a NEMA 6 or a NEMA 10 configuration. NEMA 6 is 240v only - 2 hot, 1 ground. The NEMA 10 is 120/240v - 2 hot, 1 neutral, no ground. The 4-prong, NEMA 14 configuration adds a ground to the NEMA 10 configuration so that it has 2 hot, 1 neutral, and 1 ground connection.

So the response to your question depends on whether the existing outlet is a 6 or a 10. Here (http://www.westernextralite.com/resources.asp?key=69)is a reference to the NEMA straight blade configurations. If you don't already know, you should be able to compare the configuration of your current plug and socket to the diagrams on that page and identify which type you have.

If your outlet is a 6, you don't need the 4-prong NEMA 14 since you don't need the neutral prong and the outlet is already grounded (assuming it's properly wired). If it's a 10, you could use the 14 if and only if you can ground the ground terminal on the receptacle. If there is no way to connect the ground terminal of the socket to ground, you can't use the NEMA 14. If it can be grounded, then all that's needed is to replace both the plug and the socket with the NEMA 14 configuration that is rated for the circuit amperage.

Joseph deCroy
10-08-2008, 4:00 AM
Thanks Tom! I will make a closer and careful inspection.