Electric clothes dryer circuit-50 amp?

Change the breaker

Change the receptacle

Leave the wire

#8 AWG romex feeding a receptacle should not be fed by a 50 amp breaker for any reason.

If the UL nameplate on the dryer says 30 amp then it is only legal by NEC to use a 30 amp breaker. Worst case scenario: if the motor goes bad or the drum freezes up and puts a high load on the motor the motor could overhead and start a fire before the breaker trips if left on a 50 amp breaker.

Use a 4 wire receptacle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009W3A9/ref=as... and cord if 4 wires are present, if 3 wires are present then normally it was installed while that was still allowed by code, and can remain a 3 wire installation http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002NARC/ref=as... .

Yes you can change the receptacle and the breaker to 30 amp and keep the same wire. No problem at all.

Those telling you to leave the 50 amp breaker are wrong.

You can leave the heavier wire. But going the other way (from 30 to 50 amp) you WOULD need to upgrade the wiring.

If you DO change the plug be sure to change the breaker too. It's not electrically necessary but it will avoid confusion in the future should you sell the house.

Ava g'day mate.

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New dryers require a grounded 4 prong outlet. If it is easy to change the wire I'd recommend changing it otherwise a 3 prong pigtail would be required to connect to your existing 3 prong ungrounded outlet. That is if your dyer is indeed ungrounded. Otherwise skip the above comments.

With 30amp breaker and a #8 wire you have to pigtail the #8 to a #10 so the wire matches the breaker size. This is legal and safe.

I just came back to reiterate it is not legal nor safe to put a #8 wire to a 30amp breaker. I'm "shocked" nobody else mentioned that in their posts.

The correct way is to pigtail the #8 to #10.

There's nothing wrong with the 50 amp breaker. A socket circuit has a big breaker on it but there might only be a 10 watt radio plugged in taking less than 1 amp, that doesn't mean the breaker is dangerous, just that it can supply a big load if required.

If you want to use a smaller breaker it should be bigger than the load, so use a 40 amp one.

You can always go with a smaller breaker for the wire size. But it is dangerous to go with a LARGER breaker for the wire size.

I'd recommend a 35-40 AMP breaker, because they can get a little off, and you'd be better safe than sorry.

Or don't do anything, if your dryer draws more amps than it needs, it won't be saved by a tripping breaker.

You don't need to change the wire though, it's rated for more, but it can easily handle less.

Leave the wire, change the receptacle and the breaker.

Leave it alone, the 50 amp is fine for a 30 amp dryer.