There are two types of clothes dryer plugs and receptacles. The older one with three prongs and typically a gray cord (still in use and perfectly acceptable). Then there are the new four prong plugs, these all have a black cord and plug.
The additional pin on the plug is for a ground wire adding an additional level of safety. The the three and four prong cords are interchangeable so that a dryer can be moved from a new home to an older one or the other way around without having to modify the wiring in the home.
The plug in this photo is incorrectly wired which was obvious, the wire is a cloth covered wire with a diameter that always had three wires, which means it should be connected to a three prong receptacle. Someone thought they were doing the right thing by upgrading the receptacle. Probably not the most dangerous piece of bad wiring, but none the less wrong.
Always change the power cord for the dryer, not the wall plug, unless the wiring in the house is been upgraded.
We are asked so often “what are you looking for?”
What we really look for are the things we are not expecting. This was a first in 22 years of inspecting!
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