I want to install a 220v outlet for a electric dryer. My home was built in 1993 and I didn't pay for the option so the builder left the wire hanging in the electrical panel box.

I have included a picture of my electrical box and was wondering if anyone could tell me if it would be a simple job to install or a complex one. Im not planning on doing it myself either way, just trying to get a guesstimate on how much its going to cost to do.

Thanks for the help!

Picture not giving clear eniough view, and the size, and number of wires in the cable is unkown. someone would have to look at the job.

But don't wait too long to call someone, what i can see in the picture is some neutral wires cooking, have this looked at before it developes into a fire.

It almost appears as if that "panel" was pieced together with left over parts. Definately want to get that looked at by a trained professional.

I wanted to say that the panel looks OK, and all the hard work is already done .... BUT ...

WHERE are the ground wires????

And how do those wires terminate on the other end?

Even if the house was wired in pipe .... rare as that is ... you need a neutral wire to the dryer. The panel is rather crowded as well ... a few more projects, and you'll have no choice but to set another panel. Something to think about.

Gotta agree with Les, get someone out there before that neutral bar decides that it's had enough!

Ian A.

This "work" was performed by trained individuals. In fact, these highly trained individuals did our entire housing area consisting of 75 homes...lol

The picture doesn't show it well, but the black 220v wire is capped off behind the red at the top of the panel.

Could I combine several of the circuit breakers to open a spot for a 220v breaker and have one plugged in, or what?

Thanks for all the responses!

You're asking a lot ... the panel suggests other problems that NEED to be addressed first; we can't be sure, because there is so much we can't see.

IF you have four wires -black, red, white, and bare- coming from the installed dryer receptacle, you're good to go.

IF the panel is designed to accept additional 'skinny' breakers, you're good to go.

Beyond that .... this is not a DIY forum, and we really think you ought to have a real sparky do the work. It's not just about 'making it work;' do that often enough, and there's a real mess to sort out.

3rd breaker up and the 3rd breaker down have a lot of insulation stripped off for being a pro job,

I seriously think that burnt neutral is only resting on the front of the neutral bar! Do you have anything in your home that sporadically goes off and on? or worse if thats a multi-wire circuit

Your panel has the Crouse Hinds "skinnies" that like to fall out of place if you breathe on them wrong, I'd recommend not pulling your deadfront off again unless you are a qualified electrician.
And as much as I despise Crouse Hinds thin breakers (they get Zinsco-itis very easily, and seat about as well as... well see the picture ). they are what's listed to be used in your panel.. (And you won't find them at Home Depot or Lowe's(I think I see a Murray MP-T215 that doesn't really belong in there also)) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe these are CTL. Then you would be able to make room in there for additional circuits if needed.... But....

Please address the forementioned issues with a qualified electrical contractor in your area!

I will echo's other guys comments about this panelbox and this is a pretty serious issue there because i can tell some of the breakers are sitting pretty loose.

it is far much eaiser to get the electrician to take care of this matter because there is a open bussbar on the right side of breaker box if not carefull it will do pretty serious damage there.

that the reason why we recomoned get a electrician to comeout and take care of this matter.

Merci, Marc

With the exception of the 15 A 2 pole C/B below the main they are all Crouse-Hinds breakers, and it's 50/50 on that 2 pole,it's a Murray or a Siemens/ITE .Crouse-Hinds was Murray, and Siemens has renamed it as Murray.

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Seeing the title of the thread, my 1st thought was it belonged in the Non-US forum.:D

It's kind of cold here in Baltimore.

Fly me out, feed and house me for a week, and we'll get that mess (and probably your new sub panel) sorted out in no time flat!

This comes with an end of the runway warranty!


Seriously, call a Good Electrician. I can hook you up with a good one up in SLO.

it should reword " live bussbar "

[ sorry about that i try to reedit but it have timelimit on this thing oh well ]

Merci

If this were my panel or a customers panel it would be history. A "mess" is an understatement. Do not try to do this yourself, and do not use piggy back breakers. Get someone who is qualified. The work that you have inherited is not professional by any means. I would have the whole house inspected.

My, my, my. A tiny little panel like that in a fairly new house? That really does scream of corner cutting by the builder. I don't think I've seen anything smaller than a single 40 circuit panel in any new home built since at least the mid 1970's (even that's a stretch). I know that I haven't seen a 100 amp service on a new house in at least that long, but as I've been told here before, they still do them in some parts of the country.

Bob, I know that it sounds as if everyone is beating you up, but that's not our intention. We just don't want you to take comfort in thinking that everything is OK when it truly is not. There really are quite a few issues from the ground up (no pun intended) that need to be addressed BEFORE you even consider the dryer issue. The issues that have been pointed out would be bad enough in an indoor panel, but when it's outdoors, that compounds the problem. You should get the inspection/repairs/replacement taken care of now while it's still possible. The whole thing really looks like an accident waiting to happen.

This is not a DIY forum.
That includes "how much will it cost me" questions, as well