elginrunnerswife Posted October 27, 2019 Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 Good evening.....I am new to the ceramic pottery world....I just purchased a Knight Kiln Model 71 used of course, but in excellent condition. It did not come with a user manual and I have been able to find zilch online. Does anyone happen to know how or where I might be able to locate a copy of the user manual? Thanks SO much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted October 27, 2019 Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 Hi and welcome! Kilns are very simple machines, many just have a series of dials and a kilnsitter. If yours is like that, you put a "cone" (more likely a bar) in the kilnsitter and set all your dials to low, then in a few hours set them all to medium, and then a few hours more set them all to high. My kiln only came with the manual for the kilnsitter, I'm guessing that's how it is with a lot of kilns. There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing how to fire a manual kiln, they are all similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted October 27, 2019 Report Share Posted October 27, 2019 are you in florida? i believe i have that brand kiln in florida and i believe it was manufactured in the state. one of our members, neil estrick, repairs kilns and is the go-to person for the best information on kilns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Last I recall Knight kilns were made in Tennessee and have been out of business for a long time. Manual Kiln with kiln sitter so Liam is right scan the internet for a decent manual kiln / kiln sitter instruction video. For parts Euclids can make elements for you and the switches were the same as electric stove low medium high switches. I think the model 71 has only one switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Yep, any manual kiln instructions will work fine for your kiln. Any kiln with a sitter and switches functions the exact same way. Knight kilns haven't been made for a couple decades, but as Bill said, Euclids can make elements for you. I believe your kiln pulls 20 amps, which means you should be running it on a 25 amp circuit. Definitely do not plug it into a regular household 15 amp outlet. Technically you shouldn't even be able to plug it into a 15 amp outlet, but who knows if the plug was changed out at some point. Kilns should always be run on a circuit that is rated 25% greater than the draw of the kiln. Also, I'm changing the name of this thread to reflect the content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elginrunnerswife Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 1 hour ago, neilestrick said: Yep, any manual kiln instructions will work fine for your kiln. Any kiln with a sitter and switches functions the exact same way. Knight kilns haven't been made for a couple decades, but as Bill said, Euclids can make elements for you. I believe your kiln pulls 20 amps, which means you should be running it on a 25 amp circuit. Definitely do not plug it into a regular household 15 amp outlet. Technically you shouldn't even be able to plug it into a 15 amp outlet, but who knows if the plug was changed out at some point. Kilns should always be run on a circuit that is rated 25% greater than the draw of the kiln. Also, I'm changing the name of this thread to reflect the content. Thanks everyone! I was happy to see the responses this morning and know that I will definitely start feeling my way around this forum....so excited. Neil - thanks for changing the topic if it was needed....I was unsure of where to post this question. I do have a quick question for you. Currently this kiln is wired for a 110/115, but we are going to keep this in our shop on a dedicated 30 amp breaker which is set for 220. From what I am seeing under the Model-K in pic....we could wire it to be either on the 110 or 220.....he is wanting to be sure he can change the cord to a 220 and didn't know if there was anything he needed to know. LOL, hope I am saying all this correctly...electrical things are not my specialty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Hi OP! That Knight logo is so cool! Likely you won't want to run that 110v appliance on 220v. The kiln sitter mechanism - it's a switch. That component is supplied by a third party and can be used as labelled, however, not likely you'll want to run your kiln on 220v! That said, I believe one leg of your 30 amp 220v circuit won't be sufficient - you may have some wiring ahead of you. If you have a big enough wire coming in to your shop's sub panel, then work downstream may be fairly straightforward. 35 amp single pole breakers are made - our Home Depot doesn't stock them, but they can get them... Wow, cone 10 on 110v! Are you planning to do mid or low fire work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elginrunnerswife Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Thanks for the info Tom...I will def have to pass this on to my husband..LOL. I planned to stick with mainly mid fire - Cone 4-6 work. However, this is a first for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 @elginrunnerswife No, you can't change it to 240. The Model K kiln sitter is not specific to your kiln. It can be used on any kiln that is 120 or 240 volts, up to 50 amps. Your kiln is currently set up to run on 120 volts, so that's how you'll have to do it. I will say that it's an odd setup to have it pull 27 amps on 120 volts, though. Ideally it should be on a 35 amp breaker. You want to make sure the wiring is large enough to handle that. I found some pics of another Model 71 kiln and it's a 20 amp kiln. Interesting that they're different. Can you post a pic of the whole kiln, and tell us what the interior dimensions are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Definitely not a 220v kiln! At 3105 watts running it on 120v nets 25 amps so @Hulk is spot on a 35 amp breaker and wire rated to match 35 amps or more is the ticket. Single phase, 120v circuit rated at 35 amps would be the direction for your electrician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elginrunnerswife Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 You guys are great! My electrician will be my hubby...LOL. So, I am sure he will understand all that and work things out accordingly. @neilestrick, here are more pics I just now took of the kiln. I got it from a lady whose mom had a ceramic shop and she passed away 3 years ago. It hasn't been used in 5 years, but has been stored in a dry place. She sold it to me for $100. Looks like I got a good deal...I hope!!! My husband has a shop that he makes knives in and has an EvenHeat kiln for heat treating. So this will go in the shop with that......if it works...which I surely hope it does!! We live in the middle of the Ozark mountains of Southeast Missouri, but found a ceramic supply store a couple of hours away that I can get clay from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 On 10/28/2019 at 11:11 AM, elginrunnerswife said: You guys are great! My electrician will be my hubby...LOL. So, I am sure he will understand all that and work things out accordingly. @neilestrick, here are more pics I just now took of the kiln. I got it from a lady whose mom had a ceramic shop and she passed away 3 years ago. It hasn't been used in 5 years, but has been stored in a dry place. She sold it to me for $100. Looks like I got a good deal...I hope!!! My husband has a shop that he makes knives in and has an EvenHeat kiln for heat treating. So this will go in the shop with that......if it works...which I surely hope it does!! We live in the middle of the Ozark mountains of Southeast Missouri, but found a ceramic supply store a couple of hours away that I can get clay from. Interesting in that the plug appears to be a 20 amp dedicated circuit straight blade plug. 30 amp rated plugs usually are arranged to fit a twist lock receptacle or come in a triangular blade pattern so they can never be accidentally plugged into a lower rated receptacle and vice versa. So even though this thing looks like it operated on a dedicated 20 amp single phase 120v circuit I believe it wise to follow the nameplate rating which the kiln had to be certified for. So 3105 watts and @Hulk/ @neilestrick I believe are still spot on. 35amp 120volt single phase circuit with appropriate breaker and wiring would be current suggested wiring. Not sure if it’s the picture, but one of the spades on the plug appears to be darkening a bit and maybe melting. Would not be surprising as at top load this thing should draw about 25 amps. New cord end, new rated circuit for safety - rated per the kiln labeled wattage would be my suggestion. some plug pictures below: First, yours = 20 Amps maximum Second and third = Two typical 30 amp rated plugs NICE LOOKING KILN! last observation, if this is its final resting place I would add some fireproofing to the open stud walls with the urethane foam in the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elginrunnerswife Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 So sorry @neilestrick....I forgot you asked about dimensions.....with lid off, the depth is 13".....diameter is 15". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 @Bill Kielb has given solid advice. A new cord and plug would be a good idea. You can put cement board (tile backer board) in the walls to fireproof them, and keep the kiln 16 inches from the walls. The blank ring on the kiln will probably reduce the max firing temp quite a bit. Typically it will take a cone 10 kiln and reduce it to cone 1. Try an empty firing with it and see what happens, but there's a good chance it will not get to cone 6 with that top ring in place (assuming you want to glaze fire to cone 6). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 21 minutes ago, neilestrick said: @Bill Kielb has given solid advice. A new cord and plug would be a good idea. You can put cement board (tile backer board) in the walls to fireproof them, and keep the kiln 16 inches from the walls. The blank ring on the kiln will probably reduce the max firing temp quite a bit. Typically it will take a cone 10 kiln and reduce it to cone 1. Try an empty firing with it and see what happens, but there's a good chance it will not get to cone 6 with that top ring in place (assuming you want to glaze fire to cone 6). I think it might be a little over 1 cu ft so maybe that is the reason for the 3000 watt option. Order it with the extension ring and it gets about 500 watts more elements from the factory. Not sure how even it will fire but at 3000 watts it is comparable with others. I think it has a decent chance to get to cone six. Lots of speculation though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elginrunnerswife Posted October 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 Thanks @Bill Kielb for all that great info. I have shown this to my husband and we will do those suggestions for sure. This is not its final resting place so no worries.....just where I took it to to get it out of the truck! :-) @neilestrick, interesting....so what you are saying is that most likely it will not reach its max temp of 2300 with the "spacer" in there? I have much to learn!! Once we get the adjustments and wiring done for the breaker for it, I will let you guys know how that first empty firing goes! Thanks so much to EVERYONE and their quick responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted October 28, 2019 Report Share Posted October 28, 2019 3 hours ago, Bill Kielb said: I think it might be a little over 1 cu ft so maybe that is the reason for the 3000 watt option. Order it with the extension ring and it gets about 500 watts more elements from the factory. Not sure how even it will fire but at 3000 watts it is comparable with others. I think it has a decent chance to get to cone six. Lots of speculation though. I worry that even if it has the oomph to get to cone 6, with the top 1/3 of the kiln not having any elements it won't do it quickly or evenly especially with the sitter tube at the bottom. I'm not sure where you could put a shelf where it wouldn't affect the heat getting to the top section. Blank rings are generally installed between heated sections so they still get hot enough in that area, rather than at the top. Fire it up and see what happens, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.