Forest Butera on wed 15 nov 06
A few months back I wrote to the list about the problems I was having with
my Paragon 110 xpress test kiln. I could not get it to fast fire to cone 6
without the computer timing out. I never did get the problem resolved. I
tested the voltage and amperage every hour during firing until the last
hour or so when I tested every 10 minutes. The techs at Paragon said the
numbers sounded ok. However, when they test fired the kiln back at their
place it fired just fine. They had no explanation other than maybe my test
equipment was faulty. I had a dedicated line with extra heavy wiring
professionally installed. My electriction could find no problem. So I'm
left with no kiln and a lot of puzzlement. I've given up on the idea of a
110 kiln and am hoping to get one that runs on 220, which will mean
getting the power company involved because the electrical box I have now
is full. So my question is what do I need to ask or tell the power company
and electrician in order to be sure I have adequate 220? I would hate to
go through this whole exercise again only to find out the 220 doesn't work
either.
Arnold Howard on wed 15 nov 06
From: "Forest Butera"
>A few months back I wrote to the list about the problems I
>was having with
> my Paragon 110 xpress test kiln. I could not get it to
> fast fire to cone 6
> without the computer timing out.
Forest, I am sorry the kiln didn't work out for you. The
kiln problem is puzzling to me also. We ran three
test-firings on the Xpress-1193 that you returned to us. The
technician told me it reached cone 6 in 3 hours, 15 minutes
in the Ramp-Hold mode. (Segment 1, Full rate, Segment 2, 108
degrees F rate.)
As I remember, you observed that the relay was still
clicking even near the end of the firings. When a kiln is
struggling to reach temperature, the relay should stay
locked on in an attempt to heat the kiln. However, the
controller operated normally here at the plant. That, too,
is puzzling.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
Carl Finch on wed 15 nov 06
At 06:22 AM 11/15/2006, Forest Butera wrote:
>l've given up on the idea of a
>110 kiln and am hoping to get one that runs on 220, which will mean
>getting the power company involved because the electrical box I have now
>is full.
Are you aware that there are half-size circuit breakers? Two of them will
fit in a single slot of your electrical panel. You can replace two of your
standard 120v breakers with two half size ones of the same amp capacity and
gain an open slot. Do that twice and you now have room for a 240v breaker!
Ain't technology grand?
>So my question is what do I need to ask or tell the power company
>and electrician in order to be sure I have adequate 220?
I think what you want is "adequate 240," not 220!
The power company may not deliver exactly 240v
to your home, but it should be shooting for that.
Somehow "110" and "220" are often spoken of,
when more properly "120" and "240" are what
should be comin' out of the wall!
What to tell the electrician depends upon the requirements of your
kiln. The kiln's documentation will state the required voltage, phase
(single phase for most homes), wattage drawn at full power, and amperage
capacity required of the breaker and the wiring. These numbers will define
the particular outlet (receptacle) that will be needed, and voila, the plug
on your new kiln will fit!
My kiln is a Skutt KM-1027 (one of the most common). Skutt's manual
includes a table of electrical reqiurements for its entire line of
kilns. For the KM-1027 it shows:
Volts: 240
Amps: 48
Watts: 11520
Copper Wire Size: 6
Fuse or Breaker: 60 amps
NEMA Receptacle Configuration: 6-50 (this defines the blade config. of the
plug)
And Skutt adds the note that for runs longer than 50 feet, use heavier
wire--numerically two numbers lower for each additional 50 feet (in my
example that would be 6 minus 2; that is 4).
Add to this the accumulated wisdom of Clayart which says:
Don't use plug-and-receptacle connection of your kiln--better to hard-wire
it (makes a better connection, less prone to oxidation, over-heating and
thus fire).
Install a disconnect switch close to the kiln for use in case of an
emergency (you don't want to have to run to the electrical panel and fumble
for the right breaker). So make it close, but not TOO close (things may be
pretty hot at the kiln, depending on the nature of the 'emergency').
When I installed my own disconnect I figured I'd use a standard knife
switch (in a box, of course). I found they are pretty darn expensive, and
so I used instead a 60 amp breaker (in a box). Breakers are cheap and this
one will only be used when there is no current flowing--except, of course,
during an emergency!
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
Steve Slatin on wed 15 nov 06
This is just a shot in the dark, but have you taken the offending kiln to
the workshop or home of another claybud to see if it misbehaves
equally in the other location? I'd like to think that no competent
electrician would hash a job such as you describe, but sometimes
things do go wrong ...
Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
Forest wrote --
A few months back I wrote to the list about the problems I was having with
my Paragon 110 xpress test kiln. I could not get it to fast fire to cone 6
without the computer timing out. I never did get the problem resolved. I
tested the voltage and amperage every hour during firing until the last
hour or so when I tested every 10 minutes. The techs at Paragon said the
numbers sounded ok. However, when they test fired the kiln back at their
place it fired just fine. They had no explanation other than maybe my test
equipment was faulty. I had a dedicated line with extra heavy wiring
professionally installed. My electriction could find no problem. So I'm
left with no kiln and a lot of puzzlement. I've given up on the idea of a
110 kiln and am hoping to get one that runs on 220, which will mean
getting the power company involved because the electrical box I have now
is full. So my question is what do I need to ask or tell the power company
and electrician in order to be sure I have adequate 220? I would hate to
go through this whole exercise again only to find out the 220 doesn't work
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Forest Butera on thu 16 nov 06
Thanks for clearing up my confusion about 220 vs. 240. I am aware of the
half size breakers and ganging them together. My breaker box is totally
used up though. The house is old and did not originally have air
conditioning or an electric water heater so since then that ganging has
been done a couple of times until it just can't be done anymore.
I never did take the kiln elsewhere and try it out since whether or not
the kiln was good was only half the problem.
Someone suggested to me recently that maybe there is a problem with the
grounding somewhere. I will have to get a different electrician to check
everything out I guess. I will get a kiln working in here one of these
days!
Forest
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