Sparky the Dryer

I wonder if the cause was a blown capacitor. I once had a TV that we hadn't used in quite a while. When we turned it on, "Poof"...............smoke came out of the set, and it would not work.

Sounds like there was an electrical charge on the dryer vent/duct.

Grounded out through the dryer when it made contact.

Why there would be an electrical charge on the dryer vent is beyond me though; perhaps the duct is shared between apartments, and someone else was having electrical problems.

Where the duct is, there is no one there.
We live in a 4 plex, on the very top left.
The vent is to the left of our apartment venting outside so we do not share a wall with anyone.. nor is the person directly below us on the same area with their dryer.

Im afraid to plug it back in.

How can I tell year of manufacture on a dryer? Im wondering if it is just time to junk it and buy a new one..

Had to have been something else besides the vent even if the vent was the good aluminum kind and not the icky plastic and wire kind.

Is this thing 110-120Volts or 220 volts?

If it's 110volts (the regular kind, like on that microwave and vacuum) :

Check the power to the dryer (Unplug the cord first) Are there burns marks on the wall receptacle? Plug something else in there (A lamp, a radio, .... just to see if it's working. If it's not, change the receptacle. Not a big deal I can talk you through it.

If the wall receptacle is working check out the dryer cord. Both at the plug end and where it joins to the dryer. Got burn marks? Probably got shorted out. Hmmmm if the short went all the way through the dryer motor it's toast, but if it's only the dryer cord..... a trip to the hardware store and twenty two dollars (NYC prices) for a six to nine foot cord could fix everything.

There's three screws holding it on the dryer, loosen those take it with you.

BTW most circuits in the US are 15 AMPs. A microwave and a vacuum together pull more** than 15 amps so, yup, you can cook or you can clean but you can't do both at the same time on the same circuit.

(**But, but but said my younger brother, the microwave is only about 6 Amps and the vacuum is about the same... 6 and 6 only equals 12. How come it's blows the 15amp circuit?? "
"Because, my tall, extremely smart math person brother guy," I replied, " when the vacuum cleaner motor strains to pick up that glob of dog hair off the couch it's amperage use goes up. This it true for any electric motor. It might pull as much as 70 amps for a second or two, a breaker can handle this momentarily (so can a time-delay fuse) but if the microwave is trying to send a burst at the same second as the vacuum cleaner is sucking extra hard on that throw rug tassel edge -- lights out."


Joe(Black wire on the bronze screw, White wire on the silver screw)Nation

Gotta get the little woman to day care right now.

When I return, I will pull the dryer back out and check..

sshewolf


Proceed VERY carefully, darlin. Do you have a rubber mat to stand on just in case.

BBB

The little label on the back has many referrances to 10 awg, and recommends an outlet that can take up to 30 awg.

But I do not know if it is 100, 110 or higher.. I do not see anything that specifies .

There are no burn marks around the outlet.
None on the vent hose and none on the vent.

I can not plug anything else into the outlet that the dryer has because it is the funky, large, 4 holed plug that only dryers and other large appliances take.

The outlet that shares the wall ( but maybe not the same circuit) is used by the washer and the washer still turns on just fine.

I see no burn marks on the wire.. but I do not know that I COULD.. most of it is inside the dryer and the small piece that I can see under the thick black part of the wire has no burn marks.. (?)

you got 220 sweets.

be careful

Errr.. Was the dryer plugged in when all of this happened?

One way or another you've got issues but if it was plugged in then you have issues that need to be addressed by an electrician (soon!).

Thinking about this some more, I'm wondering if the outlet is improperly grounded.

Dryer is plugged in and runs, then you move it until it touches something metal and then... zappo!

Plugged in when the sparks happened? Yes.

Plugged in when I was trying other outlets around it? No

Would I have noticed problems like this before if that were the case?
We have been here for about 2 years, and I have scooted the dryer around a few times to sweep, grab clothes that have fallen..etc..

never before has this happened..

And no, I have not scooted it in several months so it could not be that I disconnected it the last time I did.. ( I dont think?)

If it was plugged in when the sparks happened then either the ground in the outlet is defective or the vent hose was touching something else (like a water pipe maybe?) and whatever it was touching had an electrical current on it. (or both!) In either case, it should be fixed correctly.

A few years back the standard plug for a dryer was a 30 amp/220V 3-prong connector. That provided 2 "hot" lines and a neutral line. They changed the electrical code to require all new dryers sold to have a 4-prong plug - 2 hot wires, a neutral and a ground.

What happened in a lot of places was someone would remove the old 3 prong outlet and replace it wit ha 4-prong outlet so they could plug their new dryer in. What they didn't do was run a proper ground wire to that 4th prong. Without it, the chassis (the metal case) of your dryer can carry an electrical charge and zap someone, or, as in your case create a spark if the exhaust vent isn't tightly secured in place.

Those exhaust vents tend to collect lint/dust and a spark can result in a fire in a house pretty easily.

Is there anyway someone who is not electrically inclined might be able to find out if that is the case?

i do not have the slightest clue about any of this, but would just like to say that i like to word 'receptacle' a lot.

<snort>

ZZZap

Not really. That's not something I'd feel comfortable talking someone through if they didn't know what they are doing. I don't mind zapping myself once in a while but I'd hate to get you zapped. You wouldn't like me much any more.

Well... so I may be up **** creek with out a paddle then?

I do not know what to do with this dryer now..
It wont turn on. No matter what, and I am afraid to plug it in again..

why wouldnt I have seen this issue before though?
Especially when moving it to clean?

Are things like this caused by storms? Or is that just an old wives tale..

I have nifty little tool in my work toolkit that will test 110 outlets. Checks for polarity and ground, has three little lights and a legend to tell you what they mean.

Costs about $10 at Lowes or Home Depot.

They might have something similar for 220, but then again....