Lbs

The electrician who put the outlet in for my duncan kiln (with same plug as this paragon) has it on a 60amp circuit and assures me it's not too big.

Okay, thank you! Once i get the garage electrical issues sorted, I'll get on this. Will you be able to talk me through replacing the switches?

I thought I posted a response and now cant find it. Results from new digital meter are as follows (each element read the same): set to 200, meter read 10.1, at 2k it read .010, at 20k it read .01. So i assume 200 was the correct setting. Since doing this, i had the bright idea of trying to adjust a sagging element. Turned the kiln on to heat it up, and began pinching streteched coils. All good until pliers touched element below, then POP, sparks and electricity to whole garage goes out, no breaker tripped, including main! Looked for reset button on any outlets, found one but pushing it did nada. I've left a message with my electrician, but thought this extra info might provide additional insights to the wiring issues with the kiln i may be dealing with.

My digital meter finally arrived, and I actually had time to check it out today. Here are the results from three different settings: at 200, the meter read 10.1, at 2k it read .010, at 20k it read.01 Thank you for your patience!

Ohm meter has been ordered! I did not get one with a clamp In regard to the element end (the pig tail) I broke while trying to disconnect it from a wire: what is left is just barely poking out of the hole. It seems if I can stretch it a 1/4 inch or so I could get enough to reattach to the pole (not sure if "pole" is the right word). Since it won't heat up by plugging in, what are my options for attempting to heat it? I don't have a torch, and haven't used on before so not sure this is the best scenario to learn on. Would a heat gun work?

I was coming to the same conclusion. Thanks.

I set meter to X1k, calibrated to 0, and the needle swung back all the way to measure 0 resistance. I set it to X10, calibrated and got the same results.

Not sure I've done this right. I pulled switch box off and connected each lead to the start and finish of an element where it connects inside box. Struggled with how to set my ohmmeter, so tried about every setting related to the Omega sign on my meter. I've posted photos of the settings that got a response, plus some additional photos I hope mean something to you. As you can see, the needle bounced off the chart. I removed a wire to an element that was connected to a screw that shared with another element's wire, after reading about elements wired in parallel. Managed to break the element where it connects to the switch wire (not sure that's what its called) in the process of trying to disconnect it @#$&!! I see the dollar signs stacking up! Removing second element's wire didn't make a difference in meter reading.

I have one! Do I need to measure each element's resistance? Or just one? I have googled measuring resistance of elements, so think I know what to do next. I will get to this this afternoon and report back. Thank you!!!

This worked! The button will now stay engaged. Thank you! No luck so far finding a kiln tech. If you are still willing/able to help, what photos do you need to try to talk me through wiring this so it works with three instead of four-wire power cord, as well as switching to infinite switches?

It does look like the plug could be a replacement . The person I got it from never fired it (they never wired the house for it) and didn't know the history, so what you said makes sense. my electrical skills are limited to replacing outlets and installing ceiling fans. I'll see f I can find a kiln tech, if not, you can look forward to photos in your future!

I really appreciate all the information others are offering! Here are photos of the electrical specs, etc. for the "new" (old) Paragon kiln. The second photo is of a receptacle on the kiln itself, for adding addition rings (?) The last photo is the electric plate info from the Duncan kiln my studio is wired for and which works just fine. The plugs on both kilns are the same and fit the receptacle pictured. If you can't see the information on the Paragon plate, here it is: Volts: 120/240/3W; Amps 25.9, Watts: 6226; Phase: 1 Duncan (the one I have been using for years): Volts 240; Amps 24; Watts: 5760; AC Single Phase. To answer Peter's question, I don't know if I have my studio wired correctly for this kiln. I assumed since it fit the receptacle I had, all was good, but perhaps not!

Thanks, but no timer on this one. Any thoughts about why low and medium aren't working ?

Just acquired an old paragon kiln. Elements look good, brick looks pretty good. Plugged it in, with cone in sitter and set to low. Pushed button, no response. Set to medium, same. Set both knobs to high and could hear the telltale hum, but the "on" button wouldn't stay engaged, and some arcing of electricity could be seen in the vents of the electrical box. I held the on button in and ran hand over elements and I think they all were heating (hard to tell since I didn't wait for glow to appear). Any ideas about where the problem might lie, or what other things I should do to gather more information for a diagnosis? Thanks in advance for your help, LBS