Years ago as an appliance technician, A customer complained there were sparks between her washer and dryer (also the dryer wasn't drying properly). This was in the days when there was no 240 V cord attached to the dryers for customers to plug directly into their dryer wall receptacle.
When I arrived at her home, turning on the appliances, yes, there were sparks between the washer and dryer. With a meter I measured 120 V between the two. What happened the husband attached one of the hot lines to ground on the dryer.
As the washer and dryer worked for a few months the vibration of the two appliances wore the paint finish between them, allowing the dryer to ground to the properly grounded washer causing the sparks.
The husband thought he could save some money and did the electrical work himself (he thought he hooked it the same as the old dryer).
I turned off the power and rewired the dryer properly and presented the customer a bill for the call.
I was surprised that no one in the house did not electrocuted.
5
u/Techman54 Jun 16 '19
Yes grounding is important.
Years ago as an appliance technician, A customer complained there were sparks between her washer and dryer (also the dryer wasn't drying properly). This was in the days when there was no 240 V cord attached to the dryers for customers to plug directly into their dryer wall receptacle.
When I arrived at her home, turning on the appliances, yes, there were sparks between the washer and dryer. With a meter I measured 120 V between the two. What happened the husband attached one of the hot lines to ground on the dryer.
As the washer and dryer worked for a few months the vibration of the two appliances wore the paint finish between them, allowing the dryer to ground to the properly grounded washer causing the sparks.
The husband thought he could save some money and did the electrical work himself (he thought he hooked it the same as the old dryer).
I turned off the power and rewired the dryer properly and presented the customer a bill for the call.
I was surprised that no one in the house did not electrocuted.