3 prong 220 receptacle-range

QuestionEdit

The existing stove at our house is hard wired. There are 3 wires, a black, white and bare wire. The receptacle that I purchased from our local store is made for a three prong plug in. On the receptacle the middle bottom hole is marked for the white wire. Does it matter which side gets the bare wire and the black wire?

Also I have read quite alot about a code change. What are the negatives about keeping the 3 prong receptacle. Is it unsafe?

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, April

AnswerEdit

The bottom hole is normally marked for ground or the bare wire. I feel like you could be miss-read that outlet. The two slanted hole are the 220 hots. In your case you get 220v by having 110v on the white and 110v on the black.

The fourth wire is so that stoves can have fancy electronics without putting voltage on the ground. If is not too important in most cases but the more your electronics your stove has the more you should consider upgrading to a 4 wire coard.