Noise filter for kiln, was Which multimeter?

[Pyewackette]

I'm pretty sure my dad had one of these and it is PROBABLY packed in a box somewhere in the garage, but it would be pretty old by now and I'm not sure its even functional if I COULD find it.  It'll be months before my kiln gets here anyway but it seems like I ought to have a functional multimeter for all sorts of reasons.  Testing elements, connections, wiring thingies, etc.  Maybe not while its new but seems like a helpful thing to have. I have one of those yellow pen thingies for telling you if the power is really off but I THINK that's all it does.  Can't double check ATM because my son seems to have misplaced it last he had it out. It'll turn up.

Any suggestions for which one to get?  I mean I'll look for the old one but if I can't find it near about the time the kiln is due, I should probably just buy a new one, not?

[neilestrick]

As long as it's digital, can measure ohms and volts, and has probes not alligator clips, it'll work fine for kiln repairs. A $20 one is fine. If you want to splurge get one that has an amperage clamp.

[Pyewackette]

OK Gettin' serious here.  Really.  Which multimeter:

I'm going to need one for general maintenance of the kiln, right?  But does it need to be able to measure just voltage, voltage drops, resistance, or does it also need to be able to measure more than 10A current?  You measure ohms for resistance to check element health, right?

 

If I never need to measure actual current could I go with this (which is in stock at a local Home Despot):

only goes up to 10A

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Manual-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter-MM300/206517192

 

Or do I need something with sufficient capacity to measure high amperage like this:

up to 400A

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-400-Amp-Digital-Clamp-Meter-AC-Auto-Ranging-with-Temp-CL220/312649913

 

I can't get the power company to tell me what they ran to my house and I want to get my order placed BEFORE the prices go up May 15.  My engineer neighbor (I have a horror story to tell about his electrical fire if anybody wants to hear it) tells me he is sure we have 220/230V and not 240V.  All my HVAC stuff is marked 220/230V.  The circuit box has 220V written on it.  Gotta measure it myself to tell for sure!

 

Help a grandma out here, LOL!

[neilestrick]

The cheap one would work fine. If you can measure resistance and voltage then amperage isn't really all that necessary.

[Pyewackette]

@neilestrick Gracias, senor.  (Don't remember the code for the little twiddle thing for the enyay LOL!)

[Pyewackette]

SO FINALLY got that measured.  It is 247!  So much for my engineering neighbor's estimation LOL! He may have been going by what is written on the box and the HVAC as well though.  247 and 124.2 on one leg and 123.6 on the other.  Ish.  The latter jumped around a bit. The TWO latters.  247 measured on the 600V setting and the other two on the 200V setting for increased "accuracy" (or at least an extra decimal place).

I feel better now.

Now I just have to figure out if I need this stuff, because my power here flips on and off for a few minutes at a time all the time.  It'll usually do that several times in a 2 to 3 hour period, then it quits - until the next time it decides to play hide-the-power with me.

The equipment in question:

https://hotkilns.com/noise-filter

It says on the L&L website:

Quote

If you have problems with short power outages, voltage spikes, voltage drops, or excessive environmental line noise (such as is caused by large 3-phase motors or phase angle fired SCRs), this can cause unpredictable behavior in the electronic control. These are conditions found on overburdened power grids, in some factories, and sometimes in rural areas. It is hard to detect without very specialized equipment (most electricians would not be able to “see” these problems).

 

I don't know about noise on the line, but I do get frequent short periods of power outages.  Just had one the other day in fact.  Often when these occur the power will go on and off for a few minutes at a time for 2 or 3 hours.  

 

Then L&L goes on to say:

Quote

How To Solve The Problem

• When you have the above conditions we recommend having the control feed by a separate 120 volt line (with a standard 6 foot long cord) and having that voltage filtered though an EMI (Electrical Magnetic Interference) noise filter.
• We then recommend plugging the 120 volt cord into a good computer surge protector or better yet a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) power supply with isolation transformer. You can buy a good UPS for at a computer store for less than $100.

 

https://hotkilns.com/support/pottery-kiln-knowledgebase/how-handle-power-interruptions-blackouts-and-bad-electrical

 

Quote from the above:

Quote

If this is something you are experiencing or expect to regularly experience there is an easy solution. You can do this yourself on an existing kiln or have it done by the factory. Basically all you need to do is to install a household type plug (the type of plug varies with country) to the control circuit and plug that into an Uninterruptible Power Supply with a battery back up.

If I need that I would rather have it installed at the factory, anybody out there have similar issues with their power and a kiln?

Pye

[Hulk]

We run our on demand hot water heater through a small UPS, so we don't lose the clock settings on each power blip, and also get hot water when the power is down.

That upgrade looks like a great idea for your location's power blips.

[neilestrick]

@Pyewackette I've had a few customers use the 120V controller power and noise filter. It's probably a good idea if you've got weird power. If you put it on a battery backup it'll keep the controller going through short outages/blips, but if the power is out long enough that the kiln drops in temperature it'll give you an error code. A surge protector will also keep the controller safe.