littleart Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hi! Got my first kiln in, its electric and is not capeble of producing stoneware. Wich is my demand of doing so,...rewire. And since that my mind is going bunkas. I am an electrician and my formal work had a lot to do with house heating...so hot air flows up. I want my 3 fase to be controlled in three fases First zone below, 2nd mid, third up Either by 3 kiln controllers or one rahspberry py... Anyone done this before? Can i rewire with more resistance or should i put in more wire to spice it up? Greets from holland where spring sets in. Nice quote,... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I would make sure the bricks are rated for the temperatures you want to achieve before going any further. I am not 100% sure on what your questions are about the wiring. Could you try and explain a little more? Not to be rude about being an electrician and your skills but I find electricians are good at wiring things up to power circuits but going further than that into more electronics had all my guys stumped. One completely wired the kiln up wrong having circuits looping back and connecting to themselves, thus making them draw no power. Just my experience, I am sure some out there have great electronics knowledge. Lots of research ahead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleart Posted April 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Hi! As for them bricks its only 100 degrees more so that is not to mutch i think As for the wiring now it is devided like the picture but i want to controll the trhee fase power seperate having 3 thermo couples and relay's Next thing is i want to spice it up with 100 degrees on fase three below (warmth wil go up) Dimensions of my kiln in meters (sorry) hight 1m width 0, 5 deep 0, 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You're probably right about the bricks but they may end up crumbling after you put a lot of work into making this. Would be worth trying to find out. That diagram is how it is wired up now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleart Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Hi! The diagram is how its wired now for the heating elements there arnt any thermo couples now and there are no relays. So it is partly my wish of better controll. So testing it with one relay and more heating elements would be the first thing not a lot of work see how them stones handle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 You'll need a thermocouple and relay for each section of the kiln if you want zone control. You should be able to find a controller in Holland that will handle all 3 zones. You'll need to change out all the elements in order to get more heat. This will increase the amperage draw of your kiln, so the rest of the wiring may need be upgraded as well. I would contact the manufacturer and see if they can help you out. Hot air rising doesn't really come into play in electric kilns all that much. By the time you're done with it, it may be cheaper to buy a new kiln that already does what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleart Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 This kiln was a gift to play with, new it would cost me round about 4500 dollar or more Thats a whole lot of playing money there. To build one from scratch i have calculated costs are estimated $2500 I would love to build a cassette form not to high but width and depth But back to the test zone, these zones have more control on wide flat surfaces i was thinking and Has more control on firing oxides am i right? Btw al this is because of learning a new process and finishing my bonsai with own pots! Doing it is the hard way of understanding the path of creation....never missing a step to think about on the way Thanks to be thinking allong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Having multiple zones will ensure an even firing. Single zone kilns can have cold spots, typically the very bottom and very top. With zones you don't need to be so careful about how you load the kiln. There's no such thing as a free kiln . Don't waste time and money on elements unless you're sure you're getting the right ones. There are a lot of calculations that go in to elements (kiln construction, heat loss, wire thickness, wire type, resistance, wiring, etc.) so the manufacturer is going to be your best source of information if you want this to be easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I am finding it hard to completely understand what you are trying to say. Like Neil says it gives you even firing but it doesn't change much about firing flat surfaces or oxides. I spent about half a year messing around with kiln elements and alike. It is so fun I did post a thread about some problems so it could be worth a read. http://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/6310-my-elements-do-not-add-up/ The first thing to do will be to work out what internal volume the kiln has and what insulating ratings the bricks have. This with a bit of maths that I can't remember off the top of my head, will give you a theoretical power rating you need the kiln to be to reach a certain temperature. From there you can start designing the elements and circuit to meet your kilns needs. I never did make the kiln work properly after replacing almost everything on it, something was making wires melt and relays fail. Thinking about it I should get back to solving the problem. In the end a bought a brand new kiln but I am still glad with my decisions to figure out how it works. Remember you are playing with a lot of power so be cautious, find all the information you can about wiring up kilns/electronics/kiln insulation. Found the formula: Theoretical max temperature C = Watts * Thickness / (Area * K) So you could work out the watts needed for a temperature. C is temp, K is the thermal conductivity rating of the brick with area of the kiln and thickness of the brick wall. The equation does not specify time so I would go with a temperature of maybe 1500degc to get a wattage that is not going flat out to reach the top temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleart Posted April 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Hello, Zone control makes repeted firings possible,...control on trial and error. I want to put in a data logger for temprature and time. Thhnx this weekend ill go explore...keep u posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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