Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian

genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian
You might want to think about getting a gas dryer due to energy costs.
Worth checking out for your area. If you have an electric dryer you
could sell it.

Lou

On Jul 6, 11:50*am, genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. *The house has a gas dryer hookup. *We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. *It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. *The
house was build in the early 80's. *Any ideas at all on what this
could be? *Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. *But I thought it's worth asking. *Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? *The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian

The garage is finished

What's this got to do with your situation?

what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper 250V
socket?

Any where from "pretty reasonable" to "go buy a gas dryer, it'll be a
lot cheaper"

We don't know where you live so how could we quote labor/parts costs?
We don't know the condition/size of your service, so how could we tell
you if it could handle a 250 appliance without an upgrade? There's far
too many variables for anyone to give you an estimate that would be
meaningful.

The only thing I will suggest is that after you get a estimate from a
local contractor, get a price for a gas dryer and see how much you can
get for your electric one. You might find that it's a lot more cost
effective in the long run to sell and switch, unless you're on some
sort of cheap "village electric".

As long as you have at least 10 guage wire on that circuit, all you
have to do is change the outlet , and change the breaker to 30A, if it
does not already have one.
If your existing dryer plug just has 3 prongs on it, chances are you
have an older dryer with no ground, so you would just need a 30 A 3
prong dryer outlet.

genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian


Use a voltmeter to make sure there's 230 volts between the two vertical
slots.

If there is 230 volts there, then go to your breaker panel and figure
out which breaker controls the power to that outlet and see what its
rating is. If it's 30 amps then you could be good to go just by changing
the outlet to a three slot one which matches your dryer plug.

If your dryer has a four prong plug then you're going to have to change
it to a three prong plug/cord and learn something about proper appliance
grounding.

Some of what I'm suggesting might just run you into code violations, so
it might be best to get a licensed electrician to look things over and
advise you.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

If your dryer has a four prong plug then you're going to have to change
it to a three prong plug/cord and learn something about proper appliance
grounding.

You can check if the existing wire has a ground (EG 10-3 with ground).
If it does, then you can put a 4 prong outlet. Just make sure it is
wired right at the panel.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

It may be an obsolete plug. Back in the 60's I remember an electric
dryer that had an oversized version of a standard three prong 120
volt power cord.

Mike rock wrote:
If your dryer has a four prong plug then you're going to have to change
it to a three prong plug/cord and learn something about proper appliance
grounding.


You can check if the existing wire has a ground (EG 10-3 with ground).
If it does, then you can put a 4 prong outlet. Just make sure it is
wired right at the panel.


Agreed. I made the assumption that if the OP's luck was anything like
mine that socket would have been wired with 10-3 sans ground and the
"cold" third wire was connected to neutral/ground at the breaker box.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 08:50:25 -0700 (PDT), genkuro
wrote:

Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Is this it?

http://www.levitonproducts.com/catal...E77 &pid=1208

genkuro wrote:
....
Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30...
...Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Maybe; is it in the right location for a dryer or is it in the washer's
spot? If it's in the right spot chances are it was there for a dryer.

Way to tell is, of course, measure the voltage across the two slots to
see. 120V across each to ground/neutral; 240V between the two hots
(assumes USA, of course).

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.
....

Look at the chart here -- surely it will match one of these...

http://www.generatorjoe.net/html/web/outlet/quailplug.html

You could, as mentioned, change out the socket assuming it is wired for
30A/240V, or alternatively, replace the cordset on the dryer w/ one for
the socket (subject to same caveats somebody else noted about breaking
Code going back to the 3-wire connection instead of 4 if that's what
your dryer has)...

--

dpb wrote:
genkuro wrote:
...
Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30...
...Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Maybe; is it in the right location for a dryer or is it in the washer's
spot? If it's in the right spot chances are it was there for a dryer.

Way to tell is, of course, measure the voltage across the two slots to
see. 120V across each to ground/neutral; 240V between the two hots
(assumes USA, of course).

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.
...

Look at the chart here -- surely it will match one of these...

http://www.generatorjoe.net/html/web/outlet/quailplug.html

You could, as mentioned, change out the socket assuming it is wired for
30A/240V, or alternatively, replace the cordset on the dryer w/ one for
the socket (subject to same caveats somebody else noted about breaking
Code going back to the 3-wire connection instead of 4 if that's what
your dryer has)...

Wow that is some chart:-))

On Jul 6, 11:50*am, genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. *The house has a gas dryer hookup. *We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. *It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. *The
house was build in the early 80's. *Any ideas at all on what this
could be? *Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. *But I thought it's worth asking. *Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? *The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian

$300 was the estimate I got for the same about 20 years ago. I bought
a gas dryer and sold the electric for $75.

Jimmie

JIMMIE wrote:
On Jul 6, 11:50 am, genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian

$300 was the estimate I got for the same about 20 years ago. I bought
a gas dryer and sold the electric for $75.

Jimmie

You just confirmed the suggestion I made earlier:-))

Lou

"genkuro" wrote in message
...
Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian


This is not necessarily as simple as replacing the outlet with a dryer
outlet, even if the cable is #10 copper. Assuming it's a 3 wire feed cable,
since the outlet you reference is 3 wi In order to use it to connect to a
3 wire dryer outlet, it must have an insulated neutral, or be type "SE"
cable, and originate in the main service panel. I suggest you contact a
local electrician to have a look

On Jul 6, 2:00*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:

The only thing I will suggest is that after you get a estimate from a
local contractor, get a price for a gas dryer and see how much you can
get for your electric one. You might find that it's a lot more cost
effective in the long run to sell and switch, unless you're on some
sort of cheap "village electric".

Gas as fuel must then be greatly cheaper than electrcity????
Just estimating based on the average residential cost of electrcity
here of 10 cents Canadian per kilowatt hour.
One dryer load every day of the week for one hour and with dryer
heater elements of say 4500 watts (assume heaters are on 80% of drying
time).
Kilowatts (per month) = 30 x 4.5 x 0.8 = 108 Kw. At ten cents that's
$10.80 per month? Or around $130 per year.
If it costs say $300 to scrap the electric dryer and buy and install,
for the first time in that house, a gas dryer (presuming gas is
available? It's not available here! We tend to be all hydro generated
electric for everything!) that's approx equivalent to two years of
operation using existing dryer.
The OP's post conveys IMO not a great knowledge of electrical matters;
therefore concur with idea of getting an electrician to check that
existing circuit and if possible convert it to suitable 230 volts for
existing dryer. Our dryer is wired with 3 wire 10 AWG (30 amps at 230
= 6900 watts) from a dedicated double pole breaker using the now
standard dryer 4 pin socket.
If electricity in OPs area costs, say twice as much (maybe 20c kwhr?)
the argument may be different and payback for use of a gas dryer
quicker?
As mentioned gas (except bottled propane) not available here and
electrcity is anyway viewed as much safer.

On Jul 6, 9:40*pm, stan wrote:
On Jul 6, 2:00*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:

The only thing I will suggest is that after you get a estimate from a
local contractor, get a price for a gas dryer and see how much you can
get for your electric one. You might find that it's a lot more cost
effective in the long run to sell and switch, unless you're on some
sort of cheap "village electric".

Gas as fuel must then be greatly cheaper than electrcity????
Just estimating based on the average residential cost of electrcity
here of 10 cents Canadian per kilowatt hour.
One dryer load every day of the week for one hour and with dryer
heater elements of say 4500 watts (assume heaters are on 80% of drying
time).
Kilowatts (per month) *= 30 x 4.5 x 0.8 = 108 Kw. At ten cents that's
$10.80 per month? Or around $130 per year.
If it costs say $300 to scrap the electric dryer and buy and install,
for the first time in that house, a gas dryer (presuming gas is
available? It's not available here! We tend to be all hydro generated
electric for everything!) that's approx equivalent to two years of
operation using existing dryer.
The OP's post conveys IMO not a great knowledge of electrical matters;
therefore concur with idea of getting an electrician to check that
existing circuit and if possible convert it to suitable 230 volts for
existing dryer. Our dryer is wired with 3 wire 10 AWG (30 amps at 230
= 6900 watts) from a dedicated double pole breaker using the now
standard dryer 4 pin socket.
If electricity in OPs area costs, say twice as much (maybe 20c kwhr?)
the argument may be different and payback for use of a gas dryer
quicker?
As mentioned gas (except bottled propane) not available here and
electrcity is anyway viewed as much safer.

I have had both gas and electricity in every house I've lived in for
over half a century and in three different cities. Never (ever!) have
I heard that quote electrcity is anyway viewed as much safer
unquote. *Who* views it as much safer?

BTW...If you read the OP's post close enough to determine his
electrical skills, then you should have seen the part where he said
"The house has a gas dryer hookup".

If I read your post correctly, then you are saying that switching to a
gas dryer would pay for itself in less than 2 years - less if he can
sell his electric dryer for just about anything.

Since a gas dryer can last many, many years more than "2", it seems to
be the cost effective way to go - especially if he has to call in an
electrician to - at a minimum - replace his existing receptacle.

wrote:

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

That is NOT a socket. A socket is a device where you screw in a
lightbulb, or a type of wrench used mostly by auto mechanics.

No! The latter is a "ring spanner". And light bulbs (note: two words)
are pushed in and twisted; they aren't screwed in.

We allowed you murricans to use our language, but if you don't use it
properly we'll withdraw the permission. :-)

The correct word is RECEPTACLE, but OUTLET is also acceptable.

I think I grew up calling it a "power point".

Perce

On Jul 6, 11:50�am, genkuro wrote:
Hi -

Just moved in. �The house has a gas dryer hookup. �We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. �It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. �The
house was build in the early 80's. �Any ideas at all on what this
could be? �Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. �But I thought it's worth asking. �Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? �The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian

buy a gas dryer operating costs will be far lower

wrote:

On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 08:50:25 -0700 (PDT), genkuro
wrote:


Hi -

Just moved in. The house has a gas dryer hookup. We of course have
an electric dryer.

I did notice a heavy duty socket on the wall. It looks a lot like a
NEMA TT30
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_co..._TT.E2.80.9330)
but with vertical slots instead of the 45 degree angled slots. The
house was build in the early 80's. Any ideas at all on what this
could be? Any chance of hooking a dryer to it?

Not too hopeful. But I thought it's worth asking. Short of using
that outlet, what should I expect to pay a contractor to run a proper
250V socket? The garage is finished.

Thanks!
Brian


That is NOT a socket. A socket is a device where you screw in a
lightbulb, or a type of wrench used mostly by auto mechanics.

The correct word is RECEPTACLE, but OUTLET is also acceptable.


You're correct of course.

But I often wonder just who it was who first applied the terms male and
female with respect to electrical connectors. G

But, some recepticals are still called sockets to make limericks rhyme:

Lim Time!

If she's hot and you sure can not block it,
And your pulse rate goes up like a rocket,
Then lust's spark has hit,
And you just need to fit.
Your plug in her very tight socket.


Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.