Louise Jenks on sat 18 oct 97
I am posting this query for friends who are not on line.
We have a studio in an old building. Our electric service is 100 amps and
our kilns use up to 48 amps. Our firing is unpredictable because the master
switch can trip at any time and at any temperature. It is not the breaker to
any of the 3 kilns which are never fired at the same time, but can happen
with each one. There are 2 Crusader 274S kilns and one Skutt 1027 with
Kilnmaster. Most often the Skutt will shut off at 1700 degrees but yesterday
it shut off one of the Crusaders before any color showed (low overnight then
up to medium , still no color and then shutoff.) We are able to reset the
breaker and immediately continue firing. There is a new main switch installed
by the landlord.
We need to resolve this, has anyone had this problelm or hopefully a
suggestion.
TIA,
Louise in Cincinnati
Ken Russell on mon 20 oct 97
>> It is not the breaker to any of the 3 kilns which are never fired at
>>the same time, but can happen with each one. There are 2 Crusader 274S
>>kilns and one Skutt 1027 with Kilnmaster. Most often the Skutt will
>>shut off at 1700 degrees but yesterday it shut off one of the
>>Crusaders before any color showed (low overnight then >>up to medium ,
>>still no color and then shutoff.)
You know, my Skutt's were doing the same thing and I found out it was
crappy connections in the control boxes. The last time I changed
elements, I had to go for less than desirable crimping devices to
connebt the elements to the power wires. I replaced all the crimp
connections with a great little nut and bolt device I picked up at the
local hardware store. These babies are super heavy duty, and can be
used again and again when replacing elements. Now my Skutt's run like
new again. You might want to check in your control boxes for loose
connections between your elements and power wires.
Tadeusz Westawic on tue 21 oct 97
Ken Russell wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> >> It is not the breaker to any of the 3 kilns which are never fired at
> >>the same time, but can happen with each one. There are 2 Crusader 274S
> >>kilns and one Skutt 1027 with Kilnmaster. Most often the Skutt will
> >>shut off at 1700 degrees but yesterday it shut off one of the
> >>Crusaders before any color showed (low overnight then >>up to medium ,
> >>still no color and then shutoff.)
>
> You know, my Skutt's were doing the same thing and I found out it was
> crappy connections in the control boxes. The last time I changed
> elements, I had to go for less than desirable crimping devices to
> connebt the elements to the power wires. I replaced all the crimp
> connections with a great little nut and bolt device I picked up at the
> local hardware store. These babies are super heavy duty, and can be
> used again and again when replacing elements. Now my Skutt's run like
> new again. You might want to check in your control boxes for loose
> connections between your elements and power wires.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, but since its the 100amp main that is tripping, and not the 50amp
to the kiln receptacle, I don't know about trouble in the kilns
themselves. My first guess is that there is trouble in the breaker box
itself.
If all breakers and wiring in the box are working properly, then a draw
of more than 50amp by the kiln would cause the 50amp breaker that
regulates the kiln circuit to trip, not the 100amp main breaker.
Moreso, if all breakers in the box are working properly, then the only
way to make the main breaker trip is by operating several of the
appliance circuits at near capacity, eg running six 20amp circuits at
say, 18amp draw each. The total draw of 6 x 18 = 108amp would exceed the
100amp service without exceeding the capacity of any of the individual
20amp circuit breakers, and, the main would trip.
Allright, so much for theory, what does one do?
If it were me, I would turn off every breaker except the 100amp main and
the 50amp to the kiln, turn on the kiln and see if the problem recurs.
If in this configuration, the problem never recurs, then one of the
breakers other than the 50amp to the kiln is bad, or there is sloppy
wiring in the box. If the problem does recur, then one or more of the
breakers is bad, including possibly the 50amp to the kiln, or there is
sloppy wiring in the box.
There are other diagnostics one could try. Immediately after the main
trips, feel all the breaker switches with your fingers to see if one of
them is warm or even hot. This would suggest a problem. Work all the
breakers by turning them "on" and "off" repeatedly to see if any of them
feel "funny".
This is an unusual problem, call the electrician.
Tadzu -- who is NOT an electrician.
Teri Seeley on thu 23 oct 97
Louise Jenks wrote:
>
>
> We have a studio in an old building. Our electric service is 100 amps and
> our kilns use up to 48 amps.
Haven't gotten an estimate for having the service upgraded to 200 amps?
If
you don't have any control over the load in the rest of the building
then
tha is probably the most reliable approach.
Bill
--
Theresa and William Seeley 410 486-3171 (voice)
Villa Nova Pottery 410 484-6273 (fax)
4015 Buckingham Rd. Baltimore, MD 21207
"186,000 miles/second is not just a good idea - it's the law!"
| |
|
