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Info on kiln purchase (for enamelling)

Jewelry Discussion
#1

This is in regards to a future purchase of an enamelling kiln
that was in a collection of old enamelling equipment. I am
looking for to do with this said kiln. Any help
would be greatly appreciated. The stamping of the plaque above
the power dial box reads:

Kiln’s Supply & Service Corp.
Manoronek N.Y.
Model 484 PH 1
Volts 115 Amps 13
K.W. 1_4 7.73

I have phoned above company, and am presently waiting for a
reply, but I am also seeking knowledge that the members of
Orchid can supply. I have a substantial knowledge of enamelling
from past schooling and from many books, but am only familiar
with large school based kilns. This one is approx. 12 inches
square and will reach temps of approx. 2300 F. Also if you could
let me know if any special wiring is required, as I work in a
basement in my home. Any and all info on this subject will be
greatly appreciated. Thanks again Smartdog@msn.com

#2

Glen said,

 Also if you could let me know if any special wiring is
required, as I work in a basement in my home.<<

Glen, I assume your home has circuit breakers & not fuses
(usually round glass things) in the electrical distribution box.
If so, you can safely plug your kiln into an outlet. The label on
your kiln said it requires 13 Amp at 115VAC. Generally the
smallest circuit breaker used in homes today is 15Amp. As long as
you don’t have a whole lot of other things connected to the same
circuit you won’t have any problems. If you overload the circuit,
the worst that will happen is the circuit breaker will trip. The
n you have to unplug some things & reset the circuit breaker.
Unplug things until the circuit breaker doesn’t trip anymore.

Good luck,

Dave

#3

I have a small kiln about the size you describe and use it in
the garage for enameling fine silver.

The wiring in the garage is on a twenty amp breaker. I isolate
the kiln physically from walls by at least two feet and run the
kiln on a platform of fire-place bricks.

Recently I fired a piece for the tenth time after polishing
and stoning (with a scotch stone of course) when the phone rang.
Rule No. 1. Dont answer the phone! Lost four weeks of work in
ten minutes. Made a mess out of the kiln floor. Bought some
kiln wash, a little late but…

Some folk are using titanium instead of mica in their kiln.

Enjoy your kiln.

Bill
Ginkgo Designs
@WILLIAM_I_EISENBERG

#4

Smartdog/Glen:

I am not the greatest electrical expert, but I would suggest the
inscription that you quote indicates that it is a single phase,
115 volt machine which you can use in the standard home
electrical outlet (homes are single phase (ph 1), some industrial
power is three phase). Drawing only thirteen amps you will be OK
with a 15 amp line like we used to have up North (NYC, circa
1968) or the 20 amp lines we have here in Knoxville now. You
will have to be a little careful if you put the thing on a
fifteen amp line and try to plug anything much into the same line
with it while it is running full tilt. In a twenty amp line
you’ll be OK (won’t blow the fuse or kick out the breaker unless
you plug in something else that draws a lot of current, over 600
watts). KW 1.4 indicates that it draws 1.4 kilowatts. A check
on this will be the plug on the thing, which will look like a
normal household plug if I’m right. 220 volt plugs for the home
(like your dryer or range) look different. Hope this helps.
Sounds like about the same size as most small burnout/enameling
kilns.

#5

Smartdog/Glen:

I am not the greatest electrical expert, but I would suggest the
inscription that you quote indicates that it is a single phase,
115 volt machine which you can use in the standard home
electrical outlet (homes are single phase (ph 1), some industrial
power is three phase). Drawing only thirteen amps you will be OK
with a 15 amp line like we used to have up North (NYC, circa
1968) or the 20 amp lines we have here in Knoxville now. You
will have to be a little careful if you put the thing on a
fifteen amp line and try to plug anything much into the same line
with it while it is running full tilt. In a twenty amp line
you’ll be OK (won’t blow the fuse or kick out the breaker unless
you plug in something else that draws a lot of current, over 600
watts). KW 1.4 indicates that it draws 1.4 kilowatts. A check
on this will be the plug on the thing, which will look like a
normal household plug if I’m right. 220 volt plugs for the home
(like your dryer or range) look different. Hope this helps.
Sounds like about the same size as most small burnout/enameling
kilns.

#6

I need to stick my nose in just for a second.

I used to use some older kilns for enameling at school. Boy did
they suck the energy up…one larger one took 4 hrs. to get up to
firing temp. I bought a new kiln, a Vcella…big kiln but takes
less than 2 hrs. to fire up…is very well insulated, runs very
efficiently, love it! I know it’s great getting a deal on an
older kiln…but this baby was worth every cent…Karen (BTW, I
am not a sales person for Vcella or associated in any way)

Oh, and I always use a kiln shelf on the bottom of the kiln
coated in high fire kiln wash…when it gets too gunky you take
it out and chip off the gunk…I never want the floor of my kiln
to be a mess like the ones at school were.

Karen
@Karenworks

#7

Hi. I’m not an “expert” either, but I deal with AC power on a
daily basis. Your power in a regular household outlet is usually
120V 60hz. You can usually draw a maximum of 15 amps from such a
socket, but you don’t really want to do it on a continuous basis
as the wire can heat up and cause a fire. Duty cycle is the
culprit here. The wire IS rated for 15A, but NOT 100% duty cycle.
If you can find a 120V 20A line, you’d be better off. I’m NOT
suggesting you call an electrician and have him install
additional wiring. Just be circumspect with your use of the line.
Feel the plug every so often. If it’s really hot (too hot to
touch) turn the kiln off. The dryer is on a 240V line, and you
can run larger equipment on it. The largest am,p rating I’ve seen
is 40A on a 240V line. If you have a kiln that wants 240V,
unplug the dryer and use THAT plug. Be careful about what plug
and outlet you have, because 240V has MANY different
configurations of pin placement, and if you have to replace the
plug on the kiln, you need to get the right one. You can get
plugs for 240V at any hardware store, and you’d be looking for a
"range plug". I’ve seen about 150 DIFFERENT plug styles for the
same 240V outlet. I know it sounds like I’m being picky here, and
I am. There are too many people who don’t understand AC power,
and I’m on a mission to curb the problem. Many customers order
industrial battery chargers from me and when I ask them what AC
line that have, I get “220, I guess.” alot. In the US there is NO
220V, its 120/208/240/480. The power feed makes a BIG difference
to the equipment I make, and I need to get an accurate answer.
BTW, 3 phase power is used mostly in very heavy industrial areas.

Penny