Steve Slatin on tue 18 apr 06
You need a chart I don't have at hand for
Resistance per foot in copper wire, but IIRC it
drops roughly 1/3 for every two AWG sizes larger
you go with wire. Going 4 AWG sizes larger over
a 200 ft distance (you need to add the hot and
the return wire lengths together) is a huge
difference. And if you're carrying a lot of
amperage -- I'd guess your kiln is in the 40 - 50
amp range -- your voltage drop will be
considerable.
If the recommendation that you go 4 AWG sizes
bigger was made by a knowledgeable person
(someone who knows electrical work well,
preferably someone who knows code and has some
experience with high-power appliances of some
kind) who evaluated the layout and power needs
you have, don't mess with it -- do it. Wiring is
expensive, but it's gobs cheaper than a fire.
I recommend against transformers as a solution.
They have power loss of their own (that's why
they get hot); it's one more thing to burn out,
and in any event a transformer trades amps for
volts, so you can get the volts you need again
but at a loss of amps you also presumably need.
A transformer rated for over 10,000 watts of
continuous use that's either adjustable or
multi-tap (to get the voltage you need) is also
not a trivial expense.
If the problem with rewiring is the cost of
having an electrician run the cable through your
walls (and that can be a considerable expense)
consider (1) having the new cable in a raceway
outside of the wall; ugly but studio-appropriate
in appearance; (2) getting the cable and raceway
yourself and doing the physical part of the work;
leaving the attachment to a brand spankin' new
circuit breaker to a licensed electrician.
Those who are comfortable with electrical work
know that it's not really a huge job hooking up a
line to the breaker box, but it's also not for
folks who truly do not know what they're doing.
But buying and toting and bending cable and
putting in a new box where your kiln is and so
forth is not dangerous at all -- it's just
tedious. You can do it yourself and save the
bucks.
If you're doing it yourself and you don't have
lots of experience with wiring, get a book on
this -- several very good books are available for
reasonable costs, every used book sale I've seen
lately has had the Sunset wiring book (good
instructions, excellent photos) or the Black and
Decker book (excels at wiring diagrams), or one
of the others. It'll pay for itself many times
over the next time something goes wiggy on a
weekend and you don't know what to do.
Sorry to be negative about this. I hope you find
an acceptable, affordable solution.
-- Steve Slatin
--- Daryl Shafran wrote:
> This is in regards to my kiln (Skutt 1027 KM)
> firing a couple hours too long. I found out
> that my kiln might not be getting enough
> voltage because it is 100 ft from the
> electrical panel. I would have to rewire from
> #6 copper wire to #2. That would be quite
> expensive. Short of moving my kiln closer to
> the electrical panel, does anyone know of
> another way to boost the voltage without
> changing all the wiring? Is there a booster or
> tranformer or something else I can buy?
>
> Daryl Shafran
>
>
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Daryl Shafran on tue 18 apr 06
This is in regards to my kiln (Skutt 1027 KM) firing a couple hours too long. I found out that my kiln might not be getting enough voltage because it is 100 ft from the electrical panel. I would have to rewire from #6 copper wire to #2. That would be quite expensive. Short of moving my kiln closer to the electrical panel, does anyone know of another way to boost the voltage without changing all the wiring? Is there a booster or tranformer or something else I can buy?
Daryl Shafran
Randy McCall on wed 19 apr 06
My electric 1027 skutt is 170 feet from my main line and I had to use #2
with #4 ground. Cost $300 from Lowes. Also had to spend another $100 for a
100 amp box and breakers. It fires great though with that size wiring. Its
30 years old too. If you buy a small utility building to put it in closer to
the house it will still cost you about the same amount.
Randy
Randy
Pottery Web Site
members.tripod.com/~McCallJ/index.html
South Carolina
Arnold Howard on wed 19 apr 06
Perhaps Skutt could make higher amperage elements for
your kiln to compensate for low voltage. This may
require that you direct-wire the kiln rather than use
the cord set.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daryl Shafran"
> This is in regards to my kiln (Skutt 1027 KM)
> firing a couple hours too long. I found out that my
> kiln might not be getting enough voltage because it
> is 100 ft from the electrical panel. I would have
> to rewire from #6 copper wire to #2. That would be
> quite expensive. Short of moving my kiln closer to
> the electrical panel, does anyone know of another
> way to boost the voltage without changing all the
> wiring? Is there a booster or tranformer or
> something else I can buy?
David Sturm on wed 19 apr 06
Mr. Shafran,
Yes, there is a device to increase voltage at the load-end of an electrical
supply circuit, but they have a few issues, which I will elaborate on:
The item is commonly referred to as a "Buck & Booster". It is used in
electrical situations specifically to increase voltage in a low voltage
location. I have had to recommend this option to a number of schools when
they change building voltage from 240v to 208v. The device is known to
engineers as a "step-up Transformer". They are usually expensive, generate
a LOT of heat, and fail over time.
Usually, this is installed when voltage is SEVERELY low (198 volts actual on
a 240 volt line). If your voltage drop is not severe, you will run the risk
of "over-volting" the kiln.
This will certainly cause your elements to burn out faster, as they will use
more amps. Kilns are not designed to be run on voltages higher than what is
listed on their name-plate. Some of the internal components may also fail
as a result of the increased amperage draw. Also remember that while voltage
is an important measure, voltage-under-load is a true measure of what is
actually happening while your kiln is firing.
Remember, according to Ohm's Law, on a purely resistive circuit, Voltage is
the input (and is variable), Resistance is the "constant" (and is variable
proportional to temperature), and Amperage is the output (dependent on an
inversely proportional relationship between Voltage and Resistance).
In plain English, Over-volting will break your stuff. Don't do it.
Good electricians will know what these are, but may have no experience
installing them. If you decide to install one, make sure your electrician
has installed a few before.
I think that you will find that just running the correct size wire (which is
mandated by Federal Electrical Code) is the most cost-effective way of
solving the issue, when re-locating the kiln is not a practical option.
Hope this helps,
David Sturm
Kiln Repair Technician
Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Inc.
-----Original Message-----
From: Cindy Bracker [mailto:claygirl@brackers.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 9:47 AM
To: David Sturm
Subject: Fwd: kiln firing too slow
Can you respond to this follow up question? Be sure to cc
clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
Cindy Bracker
Bracker's Good Earth Clays, Inc.
888-822-1982
http://www.brackers.com
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Daryl Shafran
> Date: April 18, 2006 5:47:57 PM CDT
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: SPAM: LOW kiln firing too slow
> Reply-To: Clayart
>
> This is in regards to my kiln (Skutt 1027 KM) firing a couple hours
> too long. I found out that my kiln might not be getting enough
> voltage because it is 100 ft from the electrical panel. I would
> have to rewire from #6 copper wire to #2. That would be quite
> expensive. Short of moving my kiln closer to the electrical panel,
> does anyone know of another way to boost the voltage without
> changing all the wiring? Is there a booster or tranformer or
> something else I can buy?
>
> Daryl Shafran
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> ________
> 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.
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