What amperage draw should I see on my dryer?

[ck36]

My Samsung DV218AEW dryer started tripping the breaker after a couple of minutes with the heat on. With the heat off (air fluff) it would not trip the breaker. I measured the current draw and on the leg that was tripping it was 4.1amps with no heat and with heat it would jump to 31.7 amps and settle at 28.3 amps. The other leg runs at 16.9 amps with or without heat. The breakers supplying the dryer were both 20 amp breakers. Looking at the manual it says that the dryer should be connected to 30 amp breakers so i changed the breakers out to 30 amp and it no longer trips.
Since this dryer has been running on 20 amp breakers for years I want to make sure that the current draw is correct. Can anyone provide the correct amperage draw? thanks

[carr0498]

In order to calculate the expected AMPS that it should be drawing,  you take the watts and divide by the voltage.

The phase current I in amps (A) is equal to the power P in watts (W), divided by the power factor PF times the RMS voltage V in volts (V):

I_(A) = P_(W) / (PF × V_(V))

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/Watt_to_Amp_Calculator.html

5300watts / 220 volts = ~25amps (correct installing a 30A breaker so long as your wiring can handle the 30A, which should be at least 10 AWG to handle that much current.)

[TBone]

ha ha I had to learn these formulas in trade school and they come in handy in other situations in life.

[KevinTaylor]

Hi Ck36,

Electric Dryer:

The amperage draw is variable depending on the incoming voltage and temperature. The minimum breaker size recommended is 30 amps. Your dryer is going to pull somewhere around 25 amps. The lower the incoming voltage the higher the current draw. In order to know the exact current draw you will have to have a clamp on amp meter and check each leg of voltage.

For Electric 40 amps to be connected to a circuit breaker
For Gas 15 Amps to be connected to a circuit breaker

You need to use power cord plugged into a 30-amp fuse or circuit breaker. If you use less than 30amps, it will trip the circuit breaker.

Cheers,

Kevintaylor