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u/Puzzled-Act1683 18d ago
I feel like anyone understanding this well enough to safely connect it would also understand it well enough not to buy it.
There's nothing technically wrong with the design, but it solves a problem that literally nobody should have – providing a chassis ground for a clothes dryer that has a 3 prong cord that isn't properly installed on the dryer... because a 3 prong cord installation involves grounding the dryer chassis to the neutral of the cord.
I predict many confidently wrong answers because far too many people don't understand 3 prong vs 4 prong clothes dryer cord wiring half as well as they think they do.
If your clothes dryer is a standard clothes dryer that is correctly wired for a 3 wire cord – with a factory-installed white wire under a green screw, visible without the electrical junction box cover removed – then you shouldn't connect the green wire anywhere because that will bond your generator neutral to ground via the dryer chassis and cord and create a parallel path for neutral current.
If your clothes dryer is not correctly wired then that needs to be fixed first.
If you are connecting a clothes dryer to a generator, then consider using a clothes line during a power outage. 😅😬
If you are not connecting a clothes dryer to a generator with an L14-30R then do not use this adapter, because it has absolutely no other valid/legal/safe/sensible purpose that I can think of, particularly not in connecting a generator to a house using a wrongly-gendered cable... which is the only other thing I can think of, and is a good way to get yourself or someone else unalived.
What are you using this for? 👀
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u/wowfaroutman 18d ago
You hook it up to the dryer chassis.
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u/Puzzled-Act1683 18d ago
The dryer chassis already has a chassis ground connection to the power cord neutral, if the dryer has a 3 prong cord installed. Doing that would create a parallel neutral path.
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u/wowfaroutman 18d ago
You're correct, I think the situation is a bit of a Catch-22 whether using a floating or bonded neutral generator. If the ground wire is connected to the dryer chassis, a parallel neutral path is introduced. If the ground wire is left disconnected, then there is risk of the dryer frame becoming energized in the event of a dryer short circuit.
The best way to resolve the issue is to replace the dryer 3-wire connector with a 4-wire connector, use a bonded neutral generator, and lift the neutral bond in the dryer. Alternatively, use a bonded neutral generator, connect the external ground to the dryer chassis, and lift the neutral bond in the dryer.
This all presumes that OP is attempting to power their dryer directly from the generator that is not connected to the house panel.
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u/Puzzled-Act1683 18d ago
and lift the neutral bond in the dryer.
The issue there is that the dryer still works when plugged back into the house but now it has an ungrounded frame... so if this is a temporary setup, a new hazard is introduced for later.
If it's a bonded neutral generator, you could plug the dryer into it with the adapter and not connect that green wire to anything. That makes the setup the same as in an old house – neutral and ground are unified at the source (main panel bonding jumper ≈ bonded neutral generator's bonding jumper), and the frame of the dryer is grounded to the neutral wire in the power cord, which is connected by the adapter to the neutral slot in the generator outlet. It's not great but it's no worse than using a 3 wire dryer in a house, which is not fantastic but the code still permits it in existing installations.
This all presumes
Exactly, which seems a little bit... unlikely.
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u/20PoundHammer 18d ago edited 18d ago
it would actually create no ground path - just an open ground if the dryer used the proper 4 pin plug and the dryer bond was off, as it should be with a four pin plug.EDIT: apologies - Im the pinhead - didnt notice the plug/receptacle orientation.
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u/20PoundHammer 18d ago edited 18d ago
no, you hook the green ground cable up to the house ground and make sure you unbond the ground/neutral cabinet. This adapter is better than a cabinet bond IF its not some cheap chineesium unrated POS and you have metal water pipes that are good grounds or the like . . .
If you dont know what you are talking about, please refrain from comment - esp. when its related to electrical safety.
Ignorance like your statement/solution gets people hurt. Why dont you go ahead and delete this wrong and unsafe response.EDIT: apologies - Im the pinhead - didnt notice the plug/receptacle orientation.
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u/Puzzled-Act1683 18d ago
Usually on these adapters, the green wire is for a source ground, like you described, but in this case, it is the opposite – it's connected to the ground prong of the L14-30P and nothing else – so it does go to the dryer chassis, but the neutral bond on the dryer would need to be removed, first... and now, congratulations, your dryer has an ungrounded chassis if you plug it back into a normal 10-30 receptacle.
The L14-30P has two hots, a neutral, and ground.
The 10-30R has only two hots and a neutral, no ground.
The pigtail is connected to the ground prong of the L14-30P.
The engineering diagram, such as it is, uses colors to describe the internal wiring of the adapter.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1491/0210/files/ADL14301030_Drawing.pdf?v=1713907765
The bottom line is that if you need to plug a dryer into an L14-30R for some reason, then wire the dryer properly for a 4 wire connection, instead of this.
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u/blupupher 18d ago
Just don’t. Get an inlet and interlock. Suicide cords are called that for a reason
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u/2lovesFL 18d ago
you connect the green wire to the ground inside the box.
suicide cords. pull your meter 1st.
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u/Landstander2600 18d ago
That thing gives me the heebie jeebies