My wife is addicted to garage sales. “Addict,” I admit, is perhaps too strong a characterization. So let’s say that when he sees or hears or reads about a sale garage, when he sees or hears or read Pavlovian dogs did when they heard the ring of a bell.
No, it’s not about garage sales. But this story begins with one. So, my wife found it at a garage sale. Yes, the “bargain” could not be resisted there (aren’t everything in the garage “bargain”?).
I admit, this purchase made me smile my time wife, and I say this because I’m not used to Check out his garage sales, mostly because we have enough around our house. But this time it worked out for us, getting (among other things) a not-too-old, not-too-used, not-too-bad-looking Kenmore 80 series clothes dryer only $20. Yup twenty bucks.
Behold, we have him at home, coughing and burning, the signs of certain imminent death. But since our budget is tight, picking out twenty bucks dryers was the answer to our prayers.
So getting a house and then moving the old one and putting it in the “new” falls on my shoulders. I enjoy tinkering around the house and I like myself as a home improvement wannabe, so I’m happy for this. Maybe not
He complains well. After removing the old dryer and putting in the “new” dryer, I found a glaring glitch: the old one has a trident plug and the new one has a plug. This means that unless I come up with a solution, the newly acquired replacement is destined for the drier resale market (ie future gargarization at our house). In all my tinkering, I didn’t even realize there were three prong and four prong plugs. We all assumed the same amount of dry spells.
What to do? As I often do when I reach a dilemma, I turn to Google, which leads me to many answers, including one from the good AC.
Finally, I found the answer was to remove the power cord from the old dryer (unplugging it first) and install it in the new dryer. I’m always afraid when working with electrical things, and before my Google raider, I have visions of using a soldering gun and fantasizing about doing some sort of thingamajig wiring mumbo jumbo.
But the job turns out to be very intuitive (meaning, even a dummy electric hammer like me can do it), and all you need is a Phillips screwdriver, an ordinary screwdriver, and a small wrench. Although there are many pictures and schematics on the web, I don’t even have to refer to it as I do the work. It is simple
The test was true if the “new” dryer will run after I replace the plug with the cord. So it does. Neither is my house on fire.
For those who lack a three prong power cord instead of a trident outlet, three prong power dryer cords are available at your local hardware store for under $15.
If you need a reference, or if you doubt the simplicity of the proof, know that if the dryer cord has colored wires, the middle wire that goes to the center of the connector is white. The red and black wires are the live wires that connect to the 2 outer links of the dryadal termination block. Be aware that the green ground strap that connects to the drier frame should also go to the center connector.
If in doubt, seek professional help. I’m pretty confident with this without help and all is well. I hope you are well too.
