On Oct 16, 11:19*am, Lou Decruss > wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:47:15 -0400, Cheryl >
> wrote:
>
> >On 10/15/2011 12:03 PM, ImStillMags wrote:
>
> >> How old is the hardwire wire that comes out of the wall. * *Why can't
> >> it be used to hardwire the new stove?
> >> Seems to me you could unhook the old stove from the hard wire and then
> >> use it for the new one.
> >> Problem solved.
>
> >The old wire coming out of the wall is split into three; two 120v and
> >one ground. *The oven requires 4 wires.
>
> So where did that 4th wire come from? *Magic?

Ground.

Coming from your breaker box should be four wires: Neutral (AKA the
grounDED conductor), Ground (AKA the GrounDING conductor), and two 120
VAC hot leads (split phase)

In the olden days, ranges, dryers, etc. were supplied with the two
120VAC hot leads (which produced 240VAC between them) and the neutral,
which was connected to the appliance frame to serve as a pseudo-
ground. But in the words of Click and Clack that was Bo-o-o-o-gus,
because when the load is imbalanced you can get current on the
neutral, raising the frame potential above ground. This was a real
problem in offices when personal computers with their primitive switch
mode power supplies became popular, because neutral wires had never
been sized to carry current and fires started as a result.

So nowadays, the code mandates they run ground to the frame.