Dryer using double rated wattage

[kwired]

Right, but puttng 2-3 Amps on the ground wire... I always thought the NEC didn;t allow that. Basicly it was either done wrong or an old as dirt house.

NEC only allowed this for the frames of ranges and clothes dryers. Why IDK, some have said it started back during WWII to help save on copper for the war. If that is why it took like 50 years before they finally decided we shouldn't be doing that way anymore.

It technically wasn't using the ground wire to carry neutral current but rather was using the grounded circuit conductor to also perform equipment grounding of the appliance. So the conductor as a general rule had to have white insulation or be the concentric bare conductor of a type SE cable. Though two wire NM cable with bare grounding conductor electrically still gives you same thing, it technically was wrong since a grounded conductor beyond the service equipment could not be a bare conductor. I don't know the reasoning why SE cable was an exception to that concept.