hey Guys. this is Glenn. Im new to this forum and somewhat new to the repair appliance game. Im a handy man on the side and do appliances whenever I get the chance. Im finding out theyre not an easy deal most of the time. I was wondering what I would need to do to make a "make shift" repair shop in the garage. I have electrical out there and of course would only have these things plugged into the electric while I was actually working on them. I know the washer is hooked up to a typical outlet so thats not an issue. my wonder is about the dryer. I know it has a special plug. how would I hook up one of those plugs in my garage. can I tap into any GFI outlet with a home depot purchased dryer plug? or would you have to go right into the main breaker. that Im not into doing if I dont have to. or do they sell a dryer style plug with a conversion kit on it to hook into a normal GFI outlet? any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Im really glad I found this site. lots of great info here. Glenn

There are two different types of the heating source for dryers: gas or electricity.

For a gas dryers you need the gas line and regular 120 VAC outlet with 20 amps breaker.

For an electrical dryer you need 240 VAC outlet with 30 amps double breaker. No extension cords.

Gene.

I try not to do in-shop repairs if I can help it but sometimes people show up with the dryer (or whatever it may be) in the back of the truck and I cannot turn them away. I like doing in-home repairs a lot better. Microwaves are all I really want to do in the shop.

If you really want a good shop set up, you will need four plugs, one three-wire dryer, one four-wire dryer, one four-wire range, and one three-wire range.

Be careful on the jerry rigging, even though you will be right there you could end up burning your shop down. Even if it is just for testing it should be halfway right. I am not saying it should be 100% up to code but it should be safe. Don’t even think about running a extension cord from your house.

You can connect the hoses of the washer to a garden hose. You could put the hose directly in the tub but you cannot check the water valves like that.

With shop repairs one thing you have to watch out for. If there is really nothing wrong with the machine the problem is really in the house wiring, plumbing or maybe even an installation problem.