thank god

[coxy]

my daughters boy friend had his thinking cap on about an hour ago my daughter started screaming out her window for me (they only live about 25ft away )that they had an electrical fire    he ran to the braker  box and shut off the main breaker    the dryer plug  burnt out the red wire side  never seen that before could some one maybe give me an answer as to why just one wire its 220 could one of the heating elements burnt out in the dryer putting an over load on the good side   could there have been to many clothes in the dryer and over loaded it       its a brand new dryer I know it doesn't matter new or old  I know nothing about electric or a dryer  any help would be great   sorry I lied about not knowing about electric it hurts when you get bit  :D

[Den Socling]

I would be very suspicious of all of the wiring. The breaker should have tripped immediately.

[coxy]

the breaker was not even warm the wire just one the red was the only one that melted for about 3inches the rest never got a dimple in them but the plug was hot hot  should the whole wire be tossed out if so  should I go to a bigger wire say 2x bigger or is it a waist

[coxy]

should I get a new breaker also

[Magicman]

A dryer actually runs/operates on "110".  The motor is wired from neutral to one leg of the "220" and the heating element is wired from neutral to the other side of the "220".  The breaker should be pinned so that if either side trips, it kills the other side.

[coxy]

ok so the motor or the element shorted out that's why it only burnt out one wire  :-\  and yes its a double 30amp breaker is that right or should it be larger or smaller

[Magicman]

Your breaker was right.  Chances are there was a loose connection either in the receptacle or on the end of the pigtail.  You could very well not have anything actually wrong inside of the dryer, but that is where hands-on trouble shooting comes into play.

[Ianab]

Just a bad connection between the wire and the plug or socket will burn up. The breaker wont trip, because it's not drawing more current than normal, it's just using some of the power flowing through the drier to fry the already weak join in the socket. So the plug was hot, and only a few inches of one wire are melted. The fault was in there.

[Den Socling]

They're right. A lose connection will get hot enough to burn a wire without drawing excessive current.

[Den Socling]

I would add that if insulation was melted down the line away from the connection, then I would be concerned about the breaker.

[Kbeitz]

Also check the size of the wire...

[coxy]

thanks for the help and info what size wire should it be   my parents lived there and used that plug/wire and after they passed away 2years ago my daughter moved in but never had a dryer hooked up till about month ago    I told her this is the reason I have a cow if the dryer is going and no one is home I think after this its stuck in her head

[Kbeitz]

Use #10AWG copper over 75 feet #8

[GAB]

Use #10AWG copper over 75 feet #8

#10 wire and a 30A breaker - not at my house.
Gerald

[WV Sawmiller]

Coxy,

   Glad it ended as well as it did so far. I'm no electrician so I won't offer wiring advice.

   When I was working overseas we sometimes had fused plugs that plugged into the outlet then the appliance plugged into this like an adapter. I think the UK was big on this design. I guess it served the same purpose only the fuse/breaker was much closer to the appliance instead of running the length of the house to a fuse/breaker box somewhere.

[Magicman]

Scroll down to page 3:  NEC Wire Sizes

The 5th line addresses AWG 10 wire and it's current carrying capacity.

[GAB]

Scroll down to page 3:  NEC Wire Sizes

The 5th line addresses AWG 10 wire and it's current carrying capacity.

At the bottom of the same page there is a correction factor chart.
I'd rather spend a little more on wire costs and be safe(r).
I personally try and avoid the save a few cents and lose a lot scenarios.
Gerald

[muggs]

Remember A breaker is to protect the wire. A 30 amp breaker is correct for #10 wire.  Muggs

[Autocar]

My guess is the red wire was lose in the connection and heated up thats why the insulation only melted a few inches up the line.