Too many prongs on dryer power cord???

On a 4-prong power cord you have 2 hot wires, one neutral wire, and one ground wire. On a three prong cord, you have 2 hot wires and one neutral/ground wire. The difference is the on four prong the neutral wire goes to electrical neutral bus in the breaker panel and the ground wire goes to the ground bus in the breaker panel. Since the neutral and ground buses, although separate, both go to physical ground, on a three-wire setup, you are just putting the neutral and ground wire together, Most dryers actually have a place at the pigtail connection to do just that.

An electric dryer has an opening in the back, older units use a three prong cord, there will be three posts to attach cord, newer units have four prong cords, Bought separately. there will be four posts to attach, double grounded cord.

You need to change the cord on the dryer to a 3 prong. Here is a link that should help

Replacing a dryer cord

If the new house has an existing three-wire outlet, the simplest solution is to install a 3-prong power cord on your dryer. The following link explains the differences between a 3-wire and 4-wire configuraiton:

http://www.fixya.com/support/r3575913-installing_a_220_vac_appliance_cord

So...if you need to install a 3 prong power cord, it should be wired as follows:

RED (HOT) 120VAC to RED
BLACK (HOT) 120VAC to BLACK
WHITE (NEUTRAL) 0 VAC to WHITE - a Ground wire needs to be connected to the Neutral lead at the terminal block and grounded to the dryer cabinet.

The other alternative would require you to install a 4-wire receptacle so you could still use your current power cord. A certified electrician is recommended for this job and may cost you some money. A replacement power cord, on the other hand, usually costs less than $20 and can be found ay any hardware store.

If you have any questions, please post back and let me know. I hope you find this information helpful.

Hi,
Here is a tip that will help you with that...

Dryer Cord and Wiring Dryer 3 Wire or 4 Wire
http://www.fixya.com/support/r4496386-dryer_cord_wiring_dryer_3_wire_or_4_wire

heatman101

On the rear of the machine..left-RED center-WHITE right-BLACK

Wiring in a new power cord for your electric dryer? Upgrading your electric dryer outlet from the old three-prong to the new four-prong outlet? Well, grab hold of those two large lumps at the base of your spinal cord and let's romp through the wild and wacky world of dryer cords and outlets.

These two pictures illustrate the power wiring on a the terminal of an electric dryer. The one to the left here is the old-style three-wire configuration. Most people have this type in their homes. New code changes, though, require that dryers now have a four-wire cord, shown to the right. These are just just thumbnail pictures that you can click for a larger view. But I'll bet you already figured that out, didn't you?
Besides the number of wires in each cord, there are two important things to notice. First, in the four-wire configuration, notice that the dryer's grounding strap is folded back on itself. The whole point of the four-wire cord is to separate the ground from the neutral. The green wire (the "new" extra wire in the four-wire cord) is attached to the dryer cabinet. In the three-wire configuration, the grounding strap is left intact and the neutral and ground are tied together.
If you need to re-wire the outlet, these pictures will explain the anatomy of the three-prong (left) and four-prong (right) outlets. Once again, these pictures are just thumbnails--click 'em for a larger view.

Sure hope this helps you find a resolution to your delimma! Best wishes.

Yes buy a three prong dryer cord and replace the four prong cord.The terminal block should be 3 terminal ground in center.

four prong sould be installed as followed, black and red go to eitehr ends( amkes no difference which, white goes to middle and the green wire gets screwed directly to the dryer cabinet itself( usually an existing green screw just outside the connectin box. if there no power after that then check to be sure oyou indded have 220v going to the outlet

Is the receptacle in the wall a four prong or three prong. You will have to match the cord on the dryer to the wall recepticle. If the wall is four prong the dryer cord has to be a four prong. The green wire with the yellow line, that is on the end of the dryer cord, is a cabinet ground and should be attached to the cabinet of the dryer and making good contact. The other three wires on the end of the dyrer cord attach to the terminal block.