Mike, I'm confused by your opening line about "fascinating puzzle I've been working on with an RV tech for a few weeks". Using a 240V dryer in an RV shouldn't have confused you for more than 1 second. And any half way decent RV tech should also have know all this. Did I miss something?
I didn’t have all the information and had to drag out of him that it was a 240-volt residential dryer. The RV tech kept insisting it was rated for 120 volts until I had him confirm the voltage rating on the dryer label. The RV tech is the one who hooked it up to 120 volts without checking.
One of the most difficult aspects of troubleshooting is getting all the information. Sometimes it's sitting right in front of you waiting to be discovered. Then the problem will reveal itself to you.
mike, interesting article but i have a question / observation. if it was a dryer that needed 240 volts wouldn't its plug have four blades on it (hot 1, hot 2, neutral, ground). the neutral would be needed to run the 110 volt based motor and controls. so the receptacle it would need to plug into would need those four wires run to it from the circuit breaker panel. how on earth did the rv tech wire the receptacle without having those four wires?
You can still buy a “3-Prong” NEMA 10-30 power cord and receptacle for a modern 240-volt dryer. And that’s where the confusion begins. Note that if you do manage to install a 4-wire 240-volt outlet inside of your RV for an electric dryer, it will be useless when you’re connected to a dogbone on30-amp shore power.
Mike, I'm confused by your opening line about "fascinating puzzle I've been working on with an RV tech for a few weeks". Using a 240V dryer in an RV shouldn't have confused you for more than 1 second. And any half way decent RV tech should also have know all this. Did I miss something?
I didn’t have all the information and had to drag out of him that it was a 240-volt residential dryer. The RV tech kept insisting it was rated for 120 volts until I had him confirm the voltage rating on the dryer label. The RV tech is the one who hooked it up to 120 volts without checking.
OK, makes sense. I though maybe you had too much fun a the Florida RV show ;-)
I do question the quality of that tech though.
One of the most difficult aspects of troubleshooting is getting all the information. Sometimes it's sitting right in front of you waiting to be discovered. Then the problem will reveal itself to you.
mike, interesting article but i have a question / observation. if it was a dryer that needed 240 volts wouldn't its plug have four blades on it (hot 1, hot 2, neutral, ground). the neutral would be needed to run the 110 volt based motor and controls. so the receptacle it would need to plug into would need those four wires run to it from the circuit breaker panel. how on earth did the rv tech wire the receptacle without having those four wires?
You can still buy a “3-Prong” NEMA 10-30 power cord and receptacle for a modern 240-volt dryer. And that’s where the confusion begins. Note that if you do manage to install a 4-wire 240-volt outlet inside of your RV for an electric dryer, it will be useless when you’re connected to a dogbone on30-amp shore power.
“Vetherated”???????
There are RV dryers that run on 120v ... and take forever to dry your clothes. Why not install a residential propane dryer?