Connor h. Posted May 21, 2023 Report Share Posted May 21, 2023 I have an old manual Skutt 181 that I recently replaced both switches on. I've done 4 bisque firings and 3 cone 6 glaze firings so far. The last glaze firing took about an hour longer than usual which I didn't think would be that big of a deal. Well I just attempted a 4th glaze firing yesterday and it hit the 10.5 hour mark and still wasn't course to dropping the lever (it took 8 hours for the first two). It also wasn't making any humming noises like it usually does when it's initially turned on so I turned it off the night and left it for the morning. Opened it up and my glazes didn't even get to a liquid state. Looks just like how I applied it on the pots but the kiln did get fairly hot when it ran. I messed with the switches to see if they would flick on and the medium & high settings on the top one didn't do anything. Cracked open the box and the switch is already burnt. Anyone have any clue what would cause it to burn out already? It sounded like the person who had it before me didn't have any problems with the kiln and had recently gotten maintenance done on it. Almost looks like new besides the two fried switches that it came with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted May 21, 2023 Report Share Posted May 21, 2023 (edited) My best educated guess is this particular kiln is a 4 wire kiln. You need two 120v circuits which means wiring wise, those switches depend on running elements at 120v or two elements in series at 240v split phase with the neutral as a common return path. So a total guess but absent an extremely bad switch …… miss-wired is my guess. Check your electric is two hots, one neutral (all full sized, probably #10 wire) and a ground (usually to the shell). Then check your switch wiring against the circuit diagram. Keep in mind the new switch may not be strictly plug and play as the new switch may have leads that are located slightly different than the old switch. Your diagram I believe, in this manual: https://skutt.com/images/1975-Kiln-Manual-Web.pdf Page 22, look closely at the plug wiring on the page. It takes a 4 prong plug, all prongs have wires attached. The case ground is no longer OPTIONAL btw. Edited May 21, 2023 by Bill Kielb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 21, 2023 Report Share Posted May 21, 2023 Definitely check out everything Bill recommends. If everything looks good, then I would replace the wires going into and coming out of the switches. If they're old they can cause overheating. Piedmont Pottery 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted May 21, 2023 Report Share Posted May 21, 2023 Slightly larger/more-legible version of the wiring diagram at https://skutt.com/images/181-Wiring-Diagram.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted May 21, 2023 Report Share Posted May 21, 2023 Also check the condition of the inter-box plug, if your kiln still has it. That can cause issues, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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