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Thanks for taking a look. I went ahead an purchased some CoreLite shelves this morning from a small shop with a sort of informal online shopping web page. It was conveniently located near a family members home, who picked them up and will bring them down to me in a few weeks. It seemed a bit awkward buying them sight unseen from a small shop and then having a long interim before I can take a look at them, so I was trying to minimize any misunderstanding by learning what to ask about or look for. I am going to assume the shelves I bought are the real deal CoreLites that I anticipated them to be, and try not to over think it any further. Thanks very much.

FWIW, here is an example of the "Hollow Core" shelves I am wondering about: https://www.theceramicshop.com/store/category/33/120/Kiln-Shelves/Hollow%2BCore/ Thank you.

Hi, I have been online shopping for some CoreLite shelves, which I think are produced by Resco's Cedar Heights Clay division, and have noticed a few vendors that offer some similarly shaped shelves that seem to be described generically as "Hollow Core". I am wondering if there is any significant difference between the CoreLite brand name and generic products, and I am wondering if there is a specific way to identify a brand name CoreLite product when you are viewing it firsthand. Thank you.

Hi Everyone, Thank you for sharing the helpful info. Thank you!

Hi, I have been considering the purchase of a 20" round and some 20" half round CoreLite shelves and have found that packaging and shipping costs amount to nearly 50% of the expense to acquire them. As it happens, I have a family member who lives near a retail pottery supply house that has some shelves in stock and they are planning a road trip to our home in the next few weeks. They are willing to pick up and bring the shelves in their automobile, but I am concerned because it is a 600 mile journey, and they are likely to hit a pothole somewhere along the way. I don't have any experience with this product and am wondering if it is reasonable to think that wrapping the shelves carefully in some blankets will make it likely that the shelves arrive in one piece. Are they excessively fragile? Am I asking them to do the impossible? Would fairly normal precautions be sufficient? Thank you!

Thank you Neil. You and Bill have been incredibly helpful.

Hi, Thank you for explaining, for providing the I=V/R example, and for citing the 5.76ohm figure. I have discounted my initial question about the parallel series hookup configurations. It was not well thought out. I would like to provide some additional context for my question. My question is based on an admittedly imagined premise that the uncoiled length of the element wiring is doubled when optioning the quad element package. If the length of the elements wiring is actually doubled it seems possible that the segments could be wired into the circuit to present an overall doubling of the resistance. Seeing as how the elements are functionally wire resistors, rather than arbitrarily sized and easily substituted film capsules, and their length is more or less specified to match the form factor of the kiln, it occurred to me that there must be some strategy to provide the increased length of the Quad Element Option while accommodating the electrical circuit. For example; the resistance of one length of wire can be matched to another wire twice its length by increasing the diameter of the longer wire by a factor of 1.414, so that would be one way to accommodate the circuit. I am wondering what LnL does to implement their Quad Element installation. They seem very thorough with their engineering and I would like to have a chance to appreciate the choices they have made. Thank you!!! .

Hi, I am wondering if you add the Quad Element Option to an LnL e23T-3 or e23M-3 Easy Kiln, does it increase the current requirement of the kiln? Does the controller have a specific current regulation circuit or is the current simply regulated by the resistance of the heating elements? Are the extra elements wired in some combination of series parallel configurations so the controller sees a resistance similar to the standard configuration? Thank you very much for any insights you may share. Thank you.

Thank you to both for such thoughtful and helpful replies.

Thank you to both for providing such thoughtful answers. "The L&L system uses zero crossing SSR's," - This seems like a great idea. "one for each section/circuit of the kiln." - I have seen some smaller kiln wiring diagrams where one SSR feeds current to three relays, which seemed like an aggressive use of the SSR's current rating and safety factor.. "Each SSR switches one leg of the circuit." - ? Do you mean to say one SSR per positive and negative *leg* of the 240vAC, or was this just a casual way of reinforcing the previously stated benefit? I am not trying to nit pick, and will appreciate learning exactly what you had hoped to convey. "Both legs go through a mechanical relay that acts as a safety." - I appreciate the idea of the mechanical relay acting as fail safe. "Rather than using a heat sink, the system has a cooling fan that is controlled by Output 4 on the Genesis controller." - Some of the other kilns I have looked at rely on a heat sink. It seems like an inexpensive fan would provide a lot of benefit at minimal cost. I am surprised that anyone would rely on just a heat sink when the circuit is intended for high current. "Each circuit is fused." - another nice detail. Thank you very much. One additional benefit, one that appeals to me, is not having to listen to the relays clacking. My father was an EE with a specialty in high current high voltage relay engineering, so I appreciate a good relay, but I find the clacking somewhat unnerving. My wife has some tiny glass kilns, and when they chatter in the background I become abnormally preoccupied with listening for changes in pattern etc. I will write to LnL and ask if I may view a wiring diagram. There seems no doubt that I will be impressed. One last question. Is it reasonable to think that the controllers installed in an LnL are pre programmed to make best use of the SSR high speed switching or will there be a learning curve in terms of setting up programs etc. Thank you!

Hi, I would like to better understand how LNL implements their Solid State Relay upgrade for the e23T-3 Kiln. It seems like a very pricey upgrade compared to some other Solid State upgrades I have seen, so I imagine there is some definite reason why, and it would be helpful to understand all the details. I am a sucker for wiring diagrams and or schematics, if anyone knows where I might find one for an easy Kiln LNL Solid State Relay circuit I would appreciate a link. Any other details you can share will also be helpful. Thank you!

Thank you everyone. The way I see it, the Advanced Powder-Metallurgical alloy is simply a better material, made available through not so new and improved processing. That is why I was, and am interested in it. I can not see how employing it for cone 6 firings has any downside other than cost. It seems that if the elements did not suffer some type of damage the use of these elements would prolong a sort of consistent performance over their lifespan. It seems difficult not to appreciate how the alloy can provide an all around benefit. I imagine that if it cost no more than the standard issue material everyone would happily employ it. https://www.kanthal.com/en/products/material-datasheets/strip/kanthal-apm/ As a hobbyist merely seeking the pleasure of working in a home studio, not a single cent can be calculated in terms of cost effectiveness. I was enthusiastic that the improved product might enhance my wife's enjoyment, and was not especially worried about cost. I also wanted to minimize any practical restrictions for experiencing and learning about high firing processes. Having said that, learning how easily an element can become damaged and require replacement has diminished the hope of realizing any possible benefit, so I think we will settle for standard elements and be aware that replacement may be required at any time. Thank you!

Hi, Thank you for letting me join the forum. I am shopping for a kiln for my wife and was trying to learn more about real life experiences with APM elements. I stumbled upon a Google link to an old thread found here at this forum. An excerpt from that discussion caught my attention and I would like to better understand the context etc. Here is the old thread: Here is the statement that caught my attention: @neilestrick Posted April 7, 2016 "APM elements aren't as durable when you get crud on them. A glaze glob can fry one out, and the savings is gone." The statement seems easy to understand, but I am wondering how one might manage to get a glob of glaze on an element. Is this something that would only occur if you were hastily loading a kiln with freshly glazed objects that still had a wet coating, or is it possible for a dry coating of glaze to melt and somehow launch off an object and land on an element? Is it possible to avoid getting the elements corrupted with contaminants with careful handling or is this a routine concern that will occur from time to time despite making simple efforts to prevent the issue? Thank you very much for any helpful info you can share. Thank you!