Post by markkw on Apr 3, 2011 23:56:25 GMT -5
Why is it that home appliance mfg’s can violate the NEC (National Electric Code) when if a licensed electrician does the same thing, the license would be lost and fines/jail time issued?
How’s this for pee-poor quality control and total disregard for the NEC? Roper/Whirlpool electric clothes drier. Manual absolutely insists a four-wire connector must be used. NEC absolutely insists a four-wire connector must be used. The whole purpose of a four-wire connector is to keep the “equipment SAFETY ground” isolated from the normal current carrying conductor known as the “Common” or “Neutral” a/k/a the “white” wire. We went to double-insulated handheld power tools in what, the 1950’s? And, the whole reason for that was to create a higher level of safety so that there was no way the common/neutral conductor could possibly come in contact with the case of the tool. We’d be all hunky dory if the appliance mfg’s would just start using 240vac motors but they insist on using the less efficient 120vac motor and therefore creating the condition where the fourth wire (neutral/common) is required – if not the for the POS 120vac motor, one would only need use a two-conductor three-wire connector.
Reason I found this is because our Roper/Whirlpool clothes drier began tripping the circuit breaker. Upon investigation, I found that Roper/Whirlpool assembled the flippin’ thing with one of the heating element coils not on the ceramic insulator where it belongs but rather firmly in contact with the metal housing. After a year of occasional running (we live in FL and make good use of the solar clothes drier so it doesn’t run much at all) the heating element began shorting to the housing and thus tripping the breaker. Then I looked a little further and found the equipment SAFETY ground connected to the current carrying common/neutral conductor just behind the terminal block. Utterly amazing how Roper/Whirlpool was nice enough to engineer the drier with a four-wire terminal block then make the four-wire system totally worthless by connecting the ground and common behind the terminal block! Now there’s no SAFETY ground, if something craps, the case be energized and thus creating a huge and extremely dangerous electrocution hazard especially if the drier is parked right next to the clothes washer! What kind of blithering idiot does something so dang STUPID? Better yet, where the is the NEC and why do they allow the creation of this extremely dangerous condition when the same condition found by OSHA/MSHA in a workplace would have the owner facing excessive fines? Thus, we now have an appliance that the NEC and the mfg requires to use far more expensive three-conductor four-wire supply and connector wiring yet the appliance itself completely defeats the purpose of using such ... who’s getting screwed and why?
How’s this for pee-poor quality control and total disregard for the NEC? Roper/Whirlpool electric clothes drier. Manual absolutely insists a four-wire connector must be used. NEC absolutely insists a four-wire connector must be used. The whole purpose of a four-wire connector is to keep the “equipment SAFETY ground” isolated from the normal current carrying conductor known as the “Common” or “Neutral” a/k/a the “white” wire. We went to double-insulated handheld power tools in what, the 1950’s? And, the whole reason for that was to create a higher level of safety so that there was no way the common/neutral conductor could possibly come in contact with the case of the tool. We’d be all hunky dory if the appliance mfg’s would just start using 240vac motors but they insist on using the less efficient 120vac motor and therefore creating the condition where the fourth wire (neutral/common) is required – if not the for the POS 120vac motor, one would only need use a two-conductor three-wire connector.
Reason I found this is because our Roper/Whirlpool clothes drier began tripping the circuit breaker. Upon investigation, I found that Roper/Whirlpool assembled the flippin’ thing with one of the heating element coils not on the ceramic insulator where it belongs but rather firmly in contact with the metal housing. After a year of occasional running (we live in FL and make good use of the solar clothes drier so it doesn’t run much at all) the heating element began shorting to the housing and thus tripping the breaker. Then I looked a little further and found the equipment SAFETY ground connected to the current carrying common/neutral conductor just behind the terminal block. Utterly amazing how Roper/Whirlpool was nice enough to engineer the drier with a four-wire terminal block then make the four-wire system totally worthless by connecting the ground and common behind the terminal block! Now there’s no SAFETY ground, if something craps, the case be energized and thus creating a huge and extremely dangerous electrocution hazard especially if the drier is parked right next to the clothes washer! What kind of blithering idiot does something so dang STUPID? Better yet, where the is the NEC and why do they allow the creation of this extremely dangerous condition when the same condition found by OSHA/MSHA in a workplace would have the owner facing excessive fines? Thus, we now have an appliance that the NEC and the mfg requires to use far more expensive three-conductor four-wire supply and connector wiring yet the appliance itself completely defeats the purpose of using such ... who’s getting screwed and why?