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Question:

Crossing dryer plug wires?

My father changed out a 3 prong plug to a 4 prong plug and crossed the wires by mistake. So the red wire on the plug was connected to the black wire to the dryer and visa-verse. What would happen to the dryer if it is turned on with these wires crossed? Consequently, my dryer's motor is not responding, however the heating element is working. Was there a short? Did the motor get fired?

Answer:

i have seen that problem before - usually its a ground problem - with the dryer itself - look at the wiring diogram of inside the unit - some you have to rerout -
My first question is did he run a new line ? With the old three prong, there was only three wires. There shall be four wires to use a four prong. So, if he didn't and plugged in the dryer in, any warranty is null and void. As far as the black and red being crossed, no it does not matter with these two wires.
Red to black and black to red will make no difference to the dryer. The ground connection and the neutral connection must be in their correct positions. I suspect that you have another problem than the wire colors. Possibly a loose connection in the receptacle or in the terminal in the dryer. Call an appliance repair service, you may need some parts or a new unit.
The red and the black each deliver 110 volts to the prongs to which they are connected in the plug. As long as the neutral is correctly positioned, the power should be okay and nothing should be damaged. If he also mixed up the white wire, and put one of the red or blacks where the white is supposed to go, it could have caused a problem. If the heating element works correctly, then you are still getting 240 volts to the dryer. I'm inclined to think there is a problem where the motor is connected to the power, or there may be a separate fuse on the dryer that blew during the wiring process.

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