220 outlet for stove doesn't match plug

My plug for the stove in the kitchen is what I call a normal 220 outlet three pronged plug. This one on the stove is a 4 pronged plug, 50 amp?

I pulled the wall plug and have red, black and bare. Within the stove is red, black, white and green.

What can I do to make this stove work? Do I change the cord itself or the receptacle on the wall? Do I need different wiring for this or anything?

Thanks!

 

You must change the cord and plug on your range to match the receptacle. You may not do the reverse.

Do you still have the installation instructions for the stove? If not, consult the manufacturer's web site for installation instructions. The instructions will give two sets of instructions, one for a four-wire cord and one for a three-wire cord. The cord and plug you need is readily available at appliance and home centers. You will need to make a slight modification at the stove for the new cord. This modification will involve the removal of a bonding strap, a modification which will be shown in the instructions.

 

Could you describe the receptacle on the wall; in particular how large it is?
Do you know the amp rating of this receptacle?
How large are the wires feeding the receptacle?
Do you know which circuit breaker feeds this receptacle, and what the amp rating on the circuit breaker is?

-Jon

 

I searched the internet for install instructions and was lucky enough to find them so now my stove has the standard three prong 220 plug to match the receptable in the wall. Heck it even works properly hehe thanks!

To answer Winnie, I didn't measure it but it is a 220 standard stove outlet. Amp rating is 40, looks like 8 gauge wires feeding it, After we do the main panel install I can answer that, currently it is feed by cartridge style fuses in the old box. in short I do not know what amp rating this is atm

 

Its a little late but what is he doing for a neutral? His replacement "stove" has one. It came with a four wire pig tail? His existing wiring from main panel to the receptacle is red, black and bare. Am I overlooking something here? Would seem to me he has to be using the bare wire in his existing wiring for the neutral....RL

 

it is common to use the ground for the neutral in the case of a stove where there is only a very small amount of 120V current. i.e. clock, electronics. I am currently changing out my 3 prong outlet and pigtail on my new stove with a 4 prong version though. Just because it isn't against code to do it, doesn't mean I will sleep good with it that way.

Scott E.

 

Now you got me worried.

What should be done to have this properly installed then?

 

I am an anal-retentive perfectionist, so I will bow out and let the professionals have their say. I tend to go overboard sometimes trying to get stuff perfect. I don't think you will have any problems with the stove. Think back and remember your grandmothers stove with the clock on it. It was probably a 120v clock and wired the same as your stove is.


Scott E.

 

What you have is known as a 'three wire' stove circuit. Two hots and a 'neutral', with no separate equipment ground conductor. It explicitly does _not_ meet current code, because the frame is 'grounded' to a circuit conductor. This provides a second point of ground to neutral bond in your home, and introduces the problem of current flowing on your grounded metal, and also any current on this neutral conductor will result in a slight voltage on the frame of the range.

However this is in a specific controlled situation, where the potential 'objectional current' is quite small, and the potential frame voltage is also correspondingly small (a small fraction of a volt) and thus this _was_ considered a legitimate wiring practice in earlier versions of the electric code. Old range circuits are generally permitted to be 'grandfathered' and used.

You could not legally install it this way today, but you can probably legally leave it in place.

A four wire circuit back to the panel, with separate neutral and ground, is a _safer_ circuit. But by safer we are discussing a very low order risk here. In fact, given that when you install something new there is a chance that you will make a mistake, I would venture to say that comparing a _properly installed and functioning for years_ 3 wire range circuit with a _newly installed_ 4 wire range circuit, the risks would be similar.

-Jon

 

In your first post, you used the word "plug" to describe both the thing you are plugging in and the thing you are plugging it into. This creates some ambiguity. The "plug" is the thing on the end of the cord. The "receptacle" is the thing you plug the plug into.

So just to make sure we understand your situation correctly, please tell us how many prongs are on the "plug", and how many holes are in the "receptacle".

 

The plug\cord on the stove has 4 prongs on it

The receptacle on the wall has three holes in it

I replaced the cord with a 3 prong one per the installation instructions and all works fine now

 

As long as you bonded the neutral connection to the chassis of the stove per manufacturer's instructions, you've made it as safe as you can with the current wiring, and it is a level of safety accepted by the code. Of course, you can always make things safer. In this case, you could make things safer by rewiring the circuit with four conductors. But it would be even safer still if you unplugged it or hired somebody to do all your cooking. There's a limit to what we are willing to do in the name of safety. Eventually we declare it "safe enough". The ultimate in safety is usually prohibitively expensive.

Code allows the use of the same wire for neutral and grounding in two cases and two cases only. This is for dryers and stoves wired before 1996, and which meet a few other conditions.

 

Thanks John for clearing up my confusion as I wasnt sure about what was the plug as you stated. Also was told that in my locale a bare neutral on range circuits was no longer accepted by local inspectors which got me to wondering about his situation....RL