Fredrick Paget on sat 3 may 03
You are right about the range plugs that most people try to use for their
kiln. They are pretty cheap.
There are industrial strength plugs made that you hardly ever see on akiln.
They cost a good deal and are bigger round cast aluminum frame jobs. We
have them on the big welders in the welding shop at College of Marin. I
think they were rated 440 volts too.
Fred
>I have been following the discussion of whether to hard wire your kiln
>or to use plugs with interest. Through my potting life I have owned
>four kilns. The first was an old second hand Skutt. The qualified
>electrician added power to my electrical panel and then put the kiln on
>a plug. The plug arced and corroded. I replaced that with a
>smaller Olympic, also second hand, plugged in with no problem,
>but it deteriorated in other ways, so I replaced that with a new model.
>No problem with having it plugged in, at all. However I bought a second
>kiln, larger, 23 x 27, had a qualified electrician install it, and he
>thought a plug would be good for it. This kiln needed a 60 amp breaker,
>and the plug, within a year deteriorated, corroded, and started to arc.
>My experience makes me suspect that it okay to have a plug if you are
>pulling less than 45 amps, but hardwire it if you are pulling over 48.
>It also may be that the plugs they sell you to do the job are not as
>good as they could be. I much prefer hardwire with a disconnect box
>right by the kiln, I think it is safer.
>
>June
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
Don & June MacDonald on sat 3 may 03
I have been following the discussion of whether to hard wire your kiln
or to use plugs with interest. Through my potting life I have owned
four kilns. The first was an old second hand Skutt. The qualified
electrician added power to my electrical panel and then put the kiln on
a plug. The plug arced and corroded. I replaced that with a
smaller Olympic, also second hand, plugged in with no problem,
but it deteriorated in other ways, so I replaced that with a new model.
No problem with having it plugged in, at all. However I bought a second
kiln, larger, 23 x 27, had a qualified electrician install it, and he
thought a plug would be good for it. This kiln needed a 60 amp breaker,
and the plug, within a year deteriorated, corroded, and started to arc.
My experience makes me suspect that it okay to have a plug if you are
pulling less than 45 amps, but hardwire it if you are pulling over 48.
It also may be that the plugs they sell you to do the job are not as
good as they could be. I much prefer hardwire with a disconnect box
right by the kiln, I think it is safer.
June from B.C., happy with my brand new hardwired Skutt with the
computer!
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