TheGreenMan Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 I got this for free. I'm going to call it a kiln but I'm not sure that is the correct name for this. There is no ID plate or any lettering or numbering other than 1-10 on the 'rheostat'. I need to rewire it but some of the wires have been disconnected. I'm hoping someone here knows what should go where. Sorry for the really bad pic. I took it this morning in poor lighting. This kiln has a single large heating element in the bottom. You can see the ends sticking out of the bottom in the center left, or maybe just the shielding for it. You can see box for the 'rheostat' connections on the right. The thermocouple runs to that, you can see its wire looped next to where the element pokes through the bottom. There is a on/off light in the top right.The power comes in on the top left. Hopefully with this you can get some idea of what should go where. I'll get a better pic tonight where you'll be able to see what is still connected to what better. pic will be reposted later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 It looks like the power is connected to all those tubes that go to the light and resistorthingybob. What makes you think a heating element goes in the bottom? It wont fire pottery, not sure what its intended function is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted February 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 I think what you see as tubes are the wires. They are decently think and of the old 'cloth' sheathed variety. I think there is a heating element in the bottom because I opened up the door to the unit and there was a heating element in the bottom. No picture of that at the moment. Just a small portion of the element (or the outer shield at least) sticks beneath the floor of the unit. There are two large diameter 'tubes' in the center left of the bottom in the picture (the picture is of the bottom of the unit). They are about the size of my pinky and you can see them make a 45 turn. That is part of the element. They go into the box, make a couple of turns and then exit the bottom. Very much like an electric stove. I figured it wouldn't fire pottery and that is not what I want to use it for. Even though this will not be used for pottery I was hoping for some help since it seems like the people here are knowledgeable about the wiring of kilns and this is very similar. Like I said, I'll try and get some better, clearer, brighter and labeled pictures up later on tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 The best thing to start doing it try and doodle down the circuit. Which wires go to what. I am finding it hard to see how the power went to where the heating element tube is. Once you have the circuit diagram then you can work out what needs fixing or how it was intended to work wiring wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyK Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 What you may have here is a small pizza oven ​ A better set of pix will help. From what you show, I would guess that there is a power cord that comes in at the top left. A close up of that would help. Is it a 2 prong or 3 prong plug? Shoot the outside of that connection, as well as the right, inside panel where the rheostat is mounted for a better look at that wiring. Also shoot a pic from directly overhead, and include a pic of the inside (working chamber) of the box to show the actual heating element. Then we may be better able to help with an analysis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Well here are pics of, for lack of a better definition, the pizza oven! Which will have to be small and split up over more than one post due to size limitations. I'll try and describe the wire paths. There is one 120v plug. Two of the three wires from the plug are not connected. I can not tell what wires are what (i.e. ground, positive, negative). The one wire that is is connected (Line 1) is split in to two with one side running to one end of the heating element. The other part runs to the light, then to the control unit (made by Robertshaw), then to the other end of the element. Line 2 runs from the control unit to nothing. I assume it connected to one of the unconnected lines but I do not know which one. The thermocouple line goes to the control unit. I have no clue where the third line from the plug went. Perhaps a ground line attached to a screw or something? The pics of the wiring are of the bottom of the unit. It is sitting upside down on my bench. This pic tries to point out the themocouple line, the element parts, the control unit, and the light. This pic shows the line coming in. This pic shows the splice of Line 1. One side running to the light, etc., the other to one side of the element. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 This pic points out the line running to/from the control unit to nothing. The 'pizza oven' sitting upside down on my bench. A pic of the element inside the 'oven'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 It all makes a lot more sense now I realise it is upside down Seems odd that wire 1 comes in, splits and connects to both ends of the element. It doesn't even seems to go through the control box, just splits then attaches back at the control box terminal. I think it is 5 images max per post, not sure if it is smaller for new peeps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 I think my main three problems are that I don't know what wire is what, I don't know if what is wired there is correct and I don't know what Line 2 should connect to. As long as I can get this sucker up to 600-700 degrees Fahrenheit I can use it. Even 500 would be ok. It will make the wife happy that I'll stop using her oven to temper stuff. The max image size for me is 1000kb per post. Each of the pics is 250-ish kb. 600 pixels on the longest side. I could do one larger pic per post but that would get a bit ridiculous. I wanted to just insert an image into the post from photobucket but that got nixed on my first post. That way I could post larger pics, and not use the sites storage space and bandwidth. But I'll work with what I got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Its a food oven not a kiln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 it is also frightening. are you sure this was not what was used to bring Frankenstein to life?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 I don't think it would matter which wire you decide to be positive and negative but I don't know too much about heating elements. Assuming they are a big resistor with positive and negative at either end with that variable resistor for varying temp. You should be able to link images as long as you click the image icon (second row of icons at the top, 11 from the right) and paste the link in there it will add to your post. I thought you were linking not attaching in the last post so gave the wrong info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Greenman I have a toaster that I am trying to convert to a kiln which I have posted about before- perhaps we could trade items Just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Buy your partner a new oven and ge the one you've been using. Temp you want to go to...the little number you are trying to fix will prob melt down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyK Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Fuggettaboutit Greenman! First of all, if you could get it to 500 degrees, since the cabinet is not insulated, you couldn't touch it until it cooled down...no peekee! It would have to sit someplace insulated (like a concrete floor) and away from anything that might catch fire (paper burns at 451 degrees F). The power cord is shot! The cracked insulation is caused by overheating through the bottom of the heat chamber. But if you insist on trying to make this work.... Check the element with an ohmmeter to see if it is still good. If it checks out OK, proceed. Install a new 12 gauge, 3 prong plug. Connect the green wire from the cord to the metal cabinet. Drill a 3/16 hole in the cabinet near where the cord comes through, and put a #8-32x1/2" screw through the cab from the outside, wrap the stripped wire around the screw and tighten it down with a star lock washer and nut. Connect the white wire from the cord to one leg of the heating element, and with a splice and a thinner wire, connect to one side of the light. Connect the black wire from the cord to one side of the control box. From the other side of the control box run a heavy black wire to the other leg of the heating element and a thinner wire to the other leg of the light. You should now be good to go. Turn the control to its lowest number, plug the cord in, and try not to fry yourself as you bring the power up with the control knob. Good luck.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 greenman, does the kitchen oven have a self-cleaning control? i understand that the temperature used for cleaning is about 800 degrees. if that temp is what you want, do what Babs suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted February 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 Thanks all for your help! Mark C., I'm in Ohio, a little far to ship. :-) Buy your partner a new oven and ge the one you've been using.Temp you want to go to...the little number you are trying to fix will prob melt down. Buying an entire new oven so I could use the old one for tempering, it would be nice to have that kind of money. ;-) Not to mention having the space in the garage. :-( I would hope that even if it is only a food oven I could get it to the temps I would like. I mis-typed earlier, I'm looking for 300-500 F not 600-700 F. Opps.... I'm still not 100% convinced that it is a food oven. It just seems to be too small for that and there are three holes in the top that seem to be for the insertion of probes or similar objects. I don't mind either way. It'll be fun trying to get it working again. Fuggettaboutit Greenman! First of all, if you could get it to 500 degrees, since the cabinet is not insulated, you couldn't touch it until it cooled down...no peekee! It would have to sit someplace insulated (like a concrete floor) and away from anything that might catch fire (paper burns at 451 degrees F). It is insulated. It has about 1/4 inch of some fiber insulation similar to Kaowool sandwiched between the steel sides/top/bottom. Plus the bottom of the box is held up about 3'' off the floor by the base. It's going to sit on a steel plate on concrete when I run it though. I don't need anything catching on fire (unless I want it too....playing with 1900 F steel is fun!) The power cord is shot! The cracked insulation is caused by overheating through the bottom of the heat chamber. Yeah, it is probably from the 70's or 80's at least and there is a gap in the bottom from some damage that would let hot air escape through the bottom some. But if you insist on trying to make this work.... Cool. Thanks for the help. My next step was going to be to pull out the multi meter and see if I could figure out what was doing what. But I'm no electrician (I'm a geologist) so I'd probably mess something up. At least that is what the technician I work with would say! Thanks again all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 mark, i would love your toaster. my very old toaster oven has decided it will not go on when i press the button but it will go on if i do nothing at all. i have restricted its intake of electricity to keep the house from burning down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreenMan Posted March 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 Well I got around to wiring the oven. Stuck a piece of polished steel in it and got it up to around 550° - 590° F. I would have loved 1500° F but it will work great as a tempering oven instead of using a torch or our kitchen stove. Thanks again for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted March 24, 2016 Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 Glad your food warmer is working-I never got my toaster past 500 degrees myself-I'm thinking a blower hooked to it will help get it up to speed with a weed burner. Then I can fire 2 tiny toast size plates fired on edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted March 24, 2016 Report Share Posted March 24, 2016 Actually I am thinking you have purchased a very old food dehydrator. There is no insulating brick or fiber, and the relay looks very small to me. Those look like protective element covers to keep moisture/debris off of them. The big give away are the angle brackets on the side walls for trays to slide on. Could be a very large warming rack for those Texas sized BBQ's. or roasted kangaroo in Babsland. Nerd if you line the inside with ceramic fiber, you could probably get up in the 500-700F range. The black box: the inside of the rheostat tells you what is power circuits and the other wires then would be neutrals. The two 12awg wires coming off of the top of the black box are what powers the elements. The small wire powers the light, and it is obvious the other small wire coming off the bottom is the thermostat. So the wire disconnected is a power leg. Read johnnyk post again- there is NO GROUND!!! install one so you do not fry yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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