Blessed be the all knowing empeg bbs members.

Quote:
The amperage rating of a circuit is based mainly on the current capacity of the wire used to wire the circuit from the panel to the receptacle. The breaker size is chosen to protect the wire so it doesn't melt if it is overloaded or shorted. At a minimum, #6 wire is needed for a 50 amp circuit.

Ah, that's good information about how a breaker size is chosen.

Quote:
It sounds from your description that you have a 50 amp 240 volt dryer circuit available in your apartment?

The plug on the old dryer was marked 50 amps, and that's what the guy who was supposed to install the appliances told us.

Quote:
Are those hot wires #6 copper? If they're smaller than #6, then the breaker could be incorrectly sized. But we'll assume that the breaker size and wire size is correct.

I'm assuming that the wiring is correct, but I haven't actually pulled the receptacle cover off to look.

Quote:
It sounds like your dryer cord doesn't match the receptacle already on the wall?

That's correct.

Quote:
Here's a chart that shows the various configurations:
http://nooutage.com/nema_configurations.htm

Does your dryer cord match up to the 5-30R receptacle in the 30 amp section? If so, what configuration is the receptacle on the wall? Maybe you could post a photo or two and that would help identify things....

Neither plug, nor receptacle are on that chart. The plug is definitely 10-30P, and the receptacle is 10-50R, based on this chart. It's marked 50A-125/250V, but doesn't have the NEMA code on it.

I don't have a camera handy...