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We have a fairly new dryer and we are in the process of getting kitchen and laundry remodeled. The electrician put in a three prong outlet with all prongs straight. The dryer has one of them L shaped, so it won't go. What does this mean? Did he put in the wrong outlet, or is our dryer goofy?

10-50R receptacle

EDIT: Here's the inside of the outlet. There exists both ground and white/neutral. The white unused. It looks to be an easy fix. Also showing a picture of the dryer. Ground connection is available.

Current outlet

Dryer

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    That connector there is the 50A version of the obsolete and dangerous NEMA 10-30 that is on your dryer cord. This is a mess! What was that electrician thinking? Was it a real electrician or something the carpenter did?
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Oct 10, 2020 at 23:44
  • A real electrician... he came via the general contractor.
    – Mastiff
    Oct 11, 2020 at 0:05
  • Can you post photos (with the breaker off) of the inside of the box for the dryer receptacle?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Oct 11, 2020 at 0:06
  • What ThreePhaseEel says, if you're comfortable doing that... this might be an easy fix.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Oct 11, 2020 at 2:36
  • I'm pretty sure the guy screwed up. It's a 30 amp circuit with a 50 amp receptacle. They offered to fix it next week, but since we'd like to have a dryer, I'll likely swap it myself tomorrow. I'll post a pic if I do.
    – Mastiff
    Oct 11, 2020 at 2:54

1 Answer 1

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You have an obsolete, dangerous NEMA 10-50

It's a member of the NEMA 10 family which has been outlawed for 30 years because it has a very dangerous failure mode. If anything goes wrong with the neutral wire, the chassis of the range/dryer becomes energized!

In a remodel you are required to come up to current Codes. No electrician would ever install a 10-30 (let alone a 10-50!) as it would be instantly written up by the inspector.

However it should be easy enough to change the recep to NEMA 14-30. Just get a thing that looks just like that, but is a 14-30 instead. Here are the three 30A styles.

enter image description here

The left one is correct for a dryer.

You must change the dryer cord according to the dryer's instructions (search the web). An essential part of this is removing a "grounding strap" which attaches the dryer chassis to neutral (which was bad).

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  • The one the electrician installed looks like this: external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/…. The dryer plug would work with the middle one in your lineup.
    – Mastiff
    Oct 10, 2020 at 22:16
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    Well, that's a straight up code violation for a new or remodel installation, as well as being a 50A (& just as obsolete as the middle 30A) receptacle probably on a 30A circuit, or what should be a 30A circuit unless you have a VERY unusual dryer. Your dryer also needs an updated cord as for the left receptacle.
    – Ecnerwal
    Oct 10, 2020 at 23:05
  • It's an easy fix IF there is a separate ground wire (or grounded conduit) running to the outlet. I'd bet there isn't and that's why the "electrician" put in the 10-30!
    – DoxyLover
    Oct 11, 2020 at 4:11
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    See pics added to original post. All required connections look to be available. I'm off to Home Depot to get a receptacle and new cord.
    – Mastiff
    Oct 11, 2020 at 17:05
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    @Mastiff Good stuff... that'll lick it!
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Oct 11, 2020 at 17:08

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