Pain in the ass? Yes... But fun to learn new stuff.
I bought a new dryer because our old one died. After we got it home I noticed that the plug didn't match the outlet. Our outlet has three holes and the plug needs four. I was just going to put the old plug on the new dryer, but decided to do some research first.
Turns out that all major appliances nowadays require a four-pronged plug for safety reasons. That's fine by me, I'm all about safety so I go send my brother out to buy the new outlet (I had to work. I'm not just lazy, I swear). I come home from work and get ready to install the new outlet when I realize that the new outlet has four terminals, and I've only got three wires running from the breaker panel. One hot, one neutral and one ground. In order for the outlet to work I need two hot, one neutral and a ground. WTF?
So, more research... God, I love the internet... From reading, I find out that the dryer runs on 240 volts so I need two circuit breakers: The first runs 120 for the timer and buzzer and the second in combination with the first (120+120=240) is required to get the heating elements up to speed. So I go out and buy a nice double-pole circuit breaker (it's two, two, two breakers in one!) and some 10-3G wire. That's 10 gauge, 3 wires bundled together with a Ground (again, internet, I love you) which is the standard for major appliances.
At this point I have everything I need, theoretically, and now all I have to do is install the new outlet and hook up the new circuit breaker. And then it hits me. I've never installed a circuit breaker. Outlets and such, sure... But a circuit breaker? That's dangerous electricity tampering type things happening when you don't have a clue what to do.
Luckily, Xanth26 found a nice tutorial with pictures on how to install a circuit breaker.
So tomorrow I'm going to start working on the whole thing and possibly set the house on fire and electrocute myself.
Turns out that all major appliances nowadays require a four-pronged plug for safety reasons. That's fine by me, I'm all about safety so I go send my brother out to buy the new outlet (I had to work. I'm not just lazy, I swear). I come home from work and get ready to install the new outlet when I realize that the new outlet has four terminals, and I've only got three wires running from the breaker panel. One hot, one neutral and one ground. In order for the outlet to work I need two hot, one neutral and a ground. WTF?
So, more research... God, I love the internet... From reading, I find out that the dryer runs on 240 volts so I need two circuit breakers: The first runs 120 for the timer and buzzer and the second in combination with the first (120+120=240) is required to get the heating elements up to speed. So I go out and buy a nice double-pole circuit breaker (it's two, two, two breakers in one!) and some 10-3G wire. That's 10 gauge, 3 wires bundled together with a Ground (again, internet, I love you) which is the standard for major appliances.
At this point I have everything I need, theoretically, and now all I have to do is install the new outlet and hook up the new circuit breaker. And then it hits me. I've never installed a circuit breaker. Outlets and such, sure... But a circuit breaker? That's dangerous electricity tampering type things happening when you don't have a clue what to do.
Luckily, Xanth26 found a nice tutorial with pictures on how to install a circuit breaker.
So tomorrow I'm going to start working on the whole thing and possibly set the house on fire and electrocute myself.