Andrea Hogarth on sat 16 sep 06
Hi,
I am in Auatralia and would like opinions on purchasing a small kiln
suitable for PMC work from the States. As the kiln would be 110 volt I
would need it to work on our 240 volts.
Could the kiln be stripped of it elements and sucessfully rewired to suit
240 volts - basically using the shell of the kiln. The reason I ask is
that small(tiny) kiln are near impossible to locate over here. Thanks in
advance. Andrea
Don Goodrich on sun 17 sep 06
Actually, Deborah, the elements can have plenty to do with
the voltage supplying the kiln. The power used by the kiln, or by
any electrical circuit, is equal to the square of the voltage
divided by the resistance (in this case the resistance of the elements).
If the supply voltage is a given quantity, and the power required
for your kiln to reach its proper temperature is also given, the
resistance of the elements is the only thing left to play with.
A simple example, using only one heating element:
If a kiln uses 1000 watts with 120 volts, then the element
has 14.4 ohms of resistance. If the same kiln is operated at 240 volts,
the power consumption will be 4000 watts which may burn out that element.
To get the wattage back down to 1000, an element with a resistance of
57.6 ohms, or 4 times the earlier value, should be used.
I have a tiny kiln (Olympic Hotbox) with only one element that uses 120
volts.
To convert it to 240 volts I'd have little choice but to change the
elements.
Now, bigger kilns have more than one element.
They might be set up so that their connections
could be changed to accommodate different voltages,
by changing from parallel to series circuits.
This isn't likely to apply to tiny, PMC-sized kilns
like Andrea is shopping for.
The simple way to solve this is to ask the kilns' manufacturers.
Alternatively, you might ask a supplier of elements like Duralite or
Euclid's. They keep files on many kiln types, and should know if they
can fabricate elements that will work with your voltage.
Hope this isn't too confusing, and that you can find something that works
for you.
Cheers,
Don Goodrich
>Andrea, as far as I know, the elements have nothing to do with the voltage
that powers the kiln.
>There are more durable elements and elements that are capable of going to
higher temperature,
>but that's a separate issue. If you needed to re-wire a toaster to run on
your 240 power,
>you wouldn't rip the heating elements from the inside. You would begin at
the point where
>the elements have a junction with the power wires that eventually lead to
your power source.
>I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so.
Deborah Woods on sun 17 sep 06
Andrea, as far as I know, the elements have nothing to do with the voltage
that powers the kiln. There are more durable elements and elements that are
capable of going to higher temperature, but that's a separate issue. If you
needed to re-wire a toaster to run on your 240 power, you wouldn't rip the
heating elements from the inside. You would begin at the point where the
elements have a junction with the power wires that eventually lead to your
power source. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so.
Steve Slatin on sun 17 sep 06
Deborah --
If you're in the US and rewiring an outlet that has 240 v to power a 110/120
appliance, there are a few cases where you use one 'leg' of the two phases
at the outlet to get the right voltage (and folks, if you ever do this, please
CONSPICUOUSLY MARK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE). Of course you can't
do this if you're getting your 220/240 from a single phase.
Otherwise the parts of the appliance that provide impedance will blow out
very, very quickly when subjected to double their rated voltage. (I had to
rewire the amp for my young son's Rhodes piano several times when his
Burmese nanny used an adapter to plug it into a 220V outlet. She was
always abashed, but the amp always blew faster than its fuse could.)
Andrea's problem is that other than the metal casing and the insulating
bricks, there's very little in a 110 v kiln that's usable in a 220 v kiln. Not
the controller, not the elements, not the plug ...
Steve Slatin
Deborah Woods wrote:
Andrea, as far as I know, the elements have nothing to do with the voltage
that powers the kiln. There are more durable elements and elements that are
capable of going to higher temperature, but that's a separate issue. If you
needed to re-wire a toaster to run on your 240 power, you wouldn't rip the
heating elements from the inside. You would begin at the point where the
elements have a junction with the power wires that eventually lead to your
power source. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so.
Steve Slatin --
The angel lay in a little thicket. It had no need of love; there was nothing anywhere in the world could startle it ...
---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com
Arnold Howard on mon 18 sep 06
From: "Andrea Hogarth"
> I am in Auatralia and would like opinions on purchasing a
> small kiln
> suitable for PMC work from the States. As the kiln would
> be 110 volt I
> would need it to work on our 240 volts.
> Could the kiln be stripped of it elements and sucessfully
> rewired to suit
> 240 volts - basically using the shell of the kiln.
Andrea, the Paragon SC-2 silver clay kiln is available in
240 volt, 50 hertz.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
| |
|
