Carl Finch on wed 30 apr 03
At 11:05 AM 4/30/03 -0700, Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great, but it
>is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant parts
>where you can easily get to them. I recently had to repair my kiln. I am
>a little paranoid about electric current ever since an incident with an
>electric weed eater and cutting through the cord in damp grass. (I could
>NOT let the thing go, it was shocking me!!!!) Even knowing the current is
>off, etc. wouldn't keep me from being skittish about touching it, and that
>is the surest way of breaking it worse... And also, midnight kiln repair
>could mean you need the breakers on in the room for light and you know the
>juice is OFF if the plug is on the floor instead of in the wall. ... I
>needed a working hairdryer to loosen some elements last time at it....
When you throw (i.e., turn off--open) the 240 volt circuit breaker for your
kiln, that will be the ONLY "appliance" affected. Because certainly you
would not be powering anything else on that circuit, right? Thus your
lights and hairdryer will be operable on the other (120 volt)
circuits. There is certainly no need to turn off those breakers as well as
the 240v one.
By the way, the "switch" I used for my kiln receptacle cost me all of about
$15US! That was $10 for the switch box plus cover plate (the smallest
'sub-panel' they had) plus about $5 for the 60 amp breaker. Breakers are a
high production item and are surprisingly inexpensive. The big fancy NEMA
6-50 receptacle (with its stainless steel cover plate) probably cost almost
as much--and I'll be tossing that when I eventually hardwire the kiln.
And about your weed eater accident, Elizabeth, I rather think that had you
been running off of a grounded GFCI circuit it's most likely that your
machine simply would have stopped when the cord was cut. Even an
UNgrounded GFCI probably would have protected you ($8 at your hardware store).
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
L. P. Skeen on wed 30 apr 03
John, ya coulda gone ALL NIGHT without using that metaphor..........I prolly
like electricity better than I like snakes.
L
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers"
> Yep, a dead snake can't bite when it's head is in the pickling jar!!!!
>
> John Rodgers
> Birmingham, AL
> Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>
> >I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great, but
it is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant parts
where you can easily get to them.
Elizabeth Priddy on wed 30 apr 03
I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great, but it is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant parts where you can easily get to them. I recently had to repair my kiln. I am a little paranoid about electric current ever since an incident with an electric weed eater and cutting through the cord in damp grass. (I could NOT let the thing go, it was shocking me!!!!) Even knowing the current is off, etc. wouldn't keep me from being skittish about touching it, and that is the surest way of breaking it worse... And also, midnight kiln repair could mean you need the breakers on in the room for light and you know the juice is OFF if the plug is on the floor instead of in the wall. ... I needed a working hairdryer to loosen some elements last time at it....
John Rodgers wrote:Lisa, that WAS scarey no doubt.!!!
I have wired a lot of kilns. Your experience is one reason I NEVER EVER
hardwire a kiln. I want to be able to physically disconnect the thing by
unplugging that sucker
Elizabeth Priddy
www.angelfire.com/nc/clayworkshop
Beaufort, NC
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
John Rodgers on wed 30 apr 03
Yep, a dead snake can't bite when it's head is in the pickling jar!!!!
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
>I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great, but it is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant parts where you can easily get to them. I recently had to repair my kiln. I am a little paranoid about electric current ever since an incident with an electric weed eater and cutting through the cord in damp grass. (I could NOT let the thing go, it was shocking me!!!!) Even knowing the current is off, etc. wouldn't keep me from being skittish about touching it, and that is the surest way of breaking it worse... And also, midnight kiln repair could mean you need the breakers on in the room for light and you know the juice is OFF if the plug is on the floor instead of in the wall. ... I needed a working hairdryer to loosen some elements last time at it....
>
>John Rodgers wrote:Lisa, that WAS scarey no doubt.!!!
>
>I have wired a lot of kilns. Your experience is one reason I NEVER EVER
>hardwire a kiln. I want to be able to physically disconnect the thing by
>unplugging that sucker
>
>Elizabeth Priddy
>
>www.angelfire.com/nc/clayworkshop
>Beaufort, NC
>
>---------------------------------
>Do you Yahoo!?
>The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
>
Marcia Selsor on wed 30 apr 03
I believe any kiln over 50 amps must be hard wired to a shut off box and
then to the breaker box. At least that is what our electirician said was
code. So I think it is necessary to hard wire high amp kilns.
Just my 2 cents.
Marcia in Montana
where we fired a 36,48 and 63 amp kilns today and the room is toasty!
Elizabeth Priddy wrote:
> I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great, but it is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant parts where you can easily get to them. I recently had to repair my kiln. I am a little paranoid about electric current ever since an incident with an electric weed eater and cutting through the cord in damp grass. (I could NOT let the thing go, it was shocking me!!!!) Even knowing the current is off, etc. wouldn't keep me from being skittish about touching it, and that is the surest way of breaking it worse... And also, midnight kiln repair could mean you need the breakers on in the room for light and you know the juice is OFF if the plug is on the floor instead of in the wall. ... I needed a working hairdryer to loosen some elements last time at it....
>
> John Rodgers wrote:Lisa, that WAS scarey no doubt.!!!
>
> I have wired a lot of kilns. Your experience is one reason I NEVER EVER
> hardwire a kiln. I want to be able to physically disconnect the thing by
> unplugging that sucker
>
> Elizabeth Priddy
>
> www.angelfire.com/nc/clayworkshop
> Beaufort, NC
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
--
Tuscany in 2003
http://home.attbi.com/~m.selsor/Tuscany2003.html
Carl Finch on fri 2 may 03
At 02:45 PM 5/2/03 -0400, John Hesselberth wrote:
>>>I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great,
>>>but it
>>>is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant
>>>parts
>>>where you can easily get to them.
>
>I would suspect that potters of this opinion have never had a 50 amp
>240 volt plug/socket fail and arc. I have. It is quite spectacular.
>Also potentially a very good way to burn a studio down. I had mine
>hardwired immediately when this happened to me.
Do you have any idea of what caused this to happen? Had there been any
sign of approaching failure?
When I had the electrician out to install my sub-panel, he told me that the
main reason for do-it-yourself wiring failures (i.e., overheating, arcing
or fires) was that tyros (like me, of course) did not sufficiently TIGHTEN
connections. That certainly makes sense to me. Wow--did I ever crank down
on those screws!
I found that the wire retaining screws of the new circuit breakers had
heads that could take a square drive. These can be torqued tight far more
easily than the slotted heads.
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
John Hesselberth on fri 2 may 03
>> I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great,
>> but it
>> is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant
>> parts
>> where you can easily get to them.
I would suspect that potters of this opinion have never had a 50 amp
240 volt plug/socket fail and arc. I have. It is quite spectacular.
Also potentially a very good way to burn a studio down. I had mine
hardwired immediately when this happened to me.
Regards,
John
http://www.frogpondpottery.com
http://www.masteringglazes.com
John Hesselberth on sat 3 may 03
Hi Carl,
This happens because repeatedly plugging and unplugging a high
amperage, high voltage plug will will gradually loosen the contacts.
Repeatedly in my case was probably 5 or 6 times. They are generally ok
if they are plugged in and left plugged in. They are not designed to
be plugged and unplugged.
Regards,
John
On Friday, May 2, 2003, at 08:43 PM, Carl Finch wrote:
>> I would suspect that potters of this opinion have never had a 50 amp
>> 240 volt plug/socket fail and arc. I have. It is quite spectacular.
>> Also potentially a very good way to burn a studio down. I had mine
>> hardwired immediately when this happened to me.
>
> Do you have any idea of what caused this to happen? Had there been any
> sign of approaching failure?
http://www.frogpondpottery.com
http://www.masteringglazes.com
Kathi LeSueur on sat 3 may 03
john@FROGPONDPOTTERY.COM wrote:
>>> I am convinced that hardwiring it is unnecessary. It may be great,
>>> but it
>>> is unnecessary. Plugging it into the wall keeps all the relevant
>>> parts
>>> where you can easily get to them.
>>
>
> I would suspect that potters of this opinion have never had a 50 amp
> 240 volt plug/socket fail and arc. I have. It is quite spectacular.
> Also potentially a very good way to burn a studio down. I had mine
> hardwired immediately when this happened to me.
>
> Regards,
>
> John>>>
The easiest way to compromise the connection on an outlet is to
frequently remove the plug. If you don't want to hardwire then have a
breaker installed that you can shut off. That way you won't ompromise
the connection.
Kathi
>
>
>
| |
|
