Thread: 120 volt dryer?

120 volt dryer?

I found this dryer hooked up to 120 volts and an extension cord in a North Charleston home. The extension cord was draped over a hot water pipe. Everyone knows dryers operate on 220 volts. The nice old man who owned the home had lived there since the house was new forty years ago. I asked him if it took a long time to dry his clothes and he said "yes". He actually had a dryer receptacle behind the water heater but I guess the dryer didn't fit there. Not only is this dangerous but the poor guy had to wait extra long for his clothes to dry for forty years!

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Although this does appear to be a standard 240v dryer, there are 120v models available--are you sure this is not one of them?

............Greg

That's what I thought when I first seen this but it's actually a gas dryer. The nice old man had it converted years ago but never had an electrical outlet installed for the dryer. That is why the extension cord was stretched out so far and why he had an unused 220 outlet.. If you look carefully at the pic you can see a gas line in the corner. I'd actually thought that I'd get more replies to this.

Originally Posted by Ray Thornburg

. . . it's actually a gas dryer.

Maybe I'm missing something here but gas dryers do not run on 220v; they run on 120v. (At least that has been my experience.) Electric dryers require 220v to create the heat to dry the clothes. Gas dryers use gas to create that heat and need only 120v to spin the drum and operate the blower.

Originally Posted by Bruce Breedlove

Maybe I'm missing something here but gas dryers do not run on 220v; they run on 120v. (At least that has been my experience.) Electric dryers require 220v to create the heat to dry the clothes. Gas dryers use gas to create that heat and need only 120v to spin the drum and operate the blower.

What Bruce said. Gas dryers are not 220/240 volt.

The only thing on an electric dryer that is 120 volt is the motor. The heating elements will not heat on 120 volts but the drum will turn.

I have never heard of turning a gas dryer into an electric dryer. It would be stupid to do that, when you can just exchange the machine.
I'll bet that is still a gas dryer, which comes with a cord for 120 volts. If his clothes are slow to dry, he should turn the thing up hotter, or best plan, have it serviced.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

The only thing on an electric dryer that is 120 volt is the motor. The heating elements will not heat on 120 volts but the drum will turn.

I worked at Sears in the 70s and there was a service bulletin issued that explained how to convert a dryer to 120v. It worked but, the heat strips only put ouot about 1/2 of the normal heat. it took forever to dry a large load of clothes.

Originally Posted by Dennis Maidon

I worked at Sears in the 70s and there was a service bulletin issued that explained how to convert a dryer to 120v. It worked but, the heat strips only put ouot about 1/2 of the normal heat. it took forever to dry a large load of clothes.

Sounds logical since the wattage would be about half.

What a mystery. So if everything is all right why did his clothes take so long to dry?

Maybe the gas valve was OFF.
Maybe the vent was blocked.
Maybe its a POS 40 year old dryer.
I am confused Ray. You said it had a 220 dryer outlet, but was a gas dryer. Are you sure it was a converted electric dryer? Did you run it? It would have been obvious if it was gas after a minute or so when the burners kicked in.
But, if it was a gas dryer (connected to a gas line), it should be connected to a 120V outlet (granted not an extension cord), then what was the purpose of the post?

Originally Posted by Jack Feldmann

. . . what was the purpose of the post?

That is the $64 question.