0

I'm replacing a drop-in stovetop that has a BLACK, RED, WHITE, BARE wires and I'm connecting to a power supply that has BLACK, WHITE BARE wires. The instructions don't have a wiring diagram for my scenario. Is it possible?

  • APPLIANCE: BLACK, WHITE, RED, BARE
  • HOUSE: BLACK, WHITE, BARE
  • DIAGRAM: BLACK, WHITE, BARE

The diagram says (Appliance to House)

  • RED --> RED
  • BLACK --> BLACK
  • WHITE & BARE --> WHITE

Location: USA

The house was built in the mid-80's and I've got 240v.

Improve this question
9
  • 1
    What was the previous stove, also electric? Does the from the house white have a bit of black tape on it? It sounds like you are trying to connect a stove that needs a neutral into a location without a neutral
    – ratchet freak
    Commented Jul 25, 2022 at 13:07
  • 3
    The other possibility is that your existing junction box is only providing 120v and you need 240. Do you have a multimeter to measure voltage between black and white?
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jul 25, 2022 at 13:13
  • 3
    What type of breaker turns off the outlet box? Can you provide some pictures of the outlet and panel?
    – JACK
    Commented Jul 25, 2022 at 13:14
  • 1
    If you have 240 between the black and white wires in the box, you do not have a neutral wire(white), you only have two hots and ground(bare, green). Your new stove requires neutral so will need to add another wire(black or red) and change the white wire back to neutral.
    – crip659
    Commented Jul 25, 2022 at 13:25
  • 1
    When you say 240v, do you mean both the black and white wires are hot?
    – Machavity
    Commented Jul 25, 2022 at 13:39

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Your new stovetop requires four wires, and you have only three.

Your new stovetop includes instructions for a three wire installation, but none of them can be a bare ground wire.

You need to do one of two things:

  1. Run a new four-wire cable from your panel to the new stove
  2. Buy a different stove, that does not require a neutral. Maybe your new one has timers or indicator lights and uses the neutral for those? Buy a simpler one that can do with two wires and ground.
Improve this answer
0

I had an electrician come out and this is what he did:

  1. Added white tape to the black wire from the stove
  2. Added red tape to the white wire from the house
  3. connected House White (with red tape) to stove red
  4. connected House Black to Stove Black (with white tape)
  5. connected House Ground and stove ground to stove white

Everything seems to work and he seems to think it's all legit.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    I may be misreading this, but isn't the result of this to use the house ground as the neutral return? And it only works because the house ground is bonded to neutral inside the electrical panel? That seems sketchy to me if correct.
    – Armand
    Commented Jul 26, 2022 at 5:19
  • 3
    This is not ok. It will "work" in the narrow sense that the stove will heat up. But it's dangerous. Search these forums and elsewhere for "use bare ground wire as neutral" for more info.
    – jay613
    Commented Jul 26, 2022 at 11:18
  • If this guy is a licensed electrician, you need to call the local building inspector to have him inspect the work. This is NOT to code. The guy should have his license revoked.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jul 26, 2022 at 16:39

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.