Kenmore 80 series dryer surface gets extremely hot when plugged in. Just changed from 4 prong to 3 prong electrical cord.
Okay, so the power cord has no ground in it.
So, yes, the green wire coming from the cabinet should be connected to the "center" (as you indicated).
This makes a difference because otherwise the dryer is not grounded. Connecting, to the cabinet, the green wire coming from the cabinet is just connecting it to itself.
In the wall outlet, the ground is connected to the neutral, so you have to follow through with that to provide grounding for the dryer cabinet.
My guess is when you do that, the breaker will trip.
So, turn off breaker to dryer, plug in power cord to wall outlet, connect the green wire from cabinet to center terminal, turn on breaker. Let me know if it trips. (Don't know if you've ever switched on a breaker with a short in the circuit, but it's not going to spark or pop, etc. -- it just "goes soft".)
Charlie
P.S. We may find we are going to need a meter. Could you spring for one?
P.P.S. I'm writing this in short paragraphs to make it easier to read, but this neanderthal editor/mail system jams it all together into one paragraph when it is sent -- sorry.
Classic of a clogged vent to the outside, Air out back of dryer should be same outside. Dryer will get hot and take to long to dry clothes with a clogged vent. Pls leave a FIXYA rating.
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I bought the dryer used and the connection in my utility room is 3 prong vs. 4, and the dryer had a 4 prong cord attached. Correct, the dryer does not have to be running for the cabinet(specifically on top near the panel with controls) to become hot. It's almost like putting your hand on a burner of stove. The previous owner said they had no problems like that before with 4 prong.
Thanks for the reply. The 3 prong just has three connections with no color coding. I connected the center to center(neutral) connection on dryer and two outer to the two outer hot connections on dryer(was told and read that these could connect to either side of center). There is a green wire(which I'm told is ground) coming from dryer that I connected to cabinet. Should I instead connect it(green) to center? Don't see that making a difference. No multimeter. Tim
Hi, Did you get this resolved? Just following up. Charlie
It sounds like there is a resistive short which is drawing a bunch of current but not enough to trip the breaker. It almost sounds like the cabinet itself is conducting current and acting like a heating element. On the 3-prong cord, there should be a green ground wire which is connected (screwed) to the cabinet -- is this in place? Could you also please describe where the red, black & white wires are connected on the back of the dryer? Do you have a multimeter? -- there is some useful testing we could do with it. Meanwhile, I would keep the thing unplugged and, of course, don't use it. It sounds dangerous!! If you could give me the additional info, we can go from there. thanks... Charlie
Just curious, why did you change power cord from 4 to 3 prong? Are you saying that the cabinet gets hot just from plugging in the dryer? The dryer is not running/heating when this symptom occurs? Charlie
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