huge kiln mistake :-(

[meisie]

I have a paragon kiln. A very nice paragon kiln I might add but it was very large. I was given a smaller one that's also nice and easier for me to use at home. I took the large one to school and got permission to put it in the closet that had originally housed a kiln years before. The maintenance man even had the previous vent. I purchased clay and glazes and thought I did all the research. I fired it this week and it didn't get up to temp for a very long time. I got the error message FTH failure to heat. I looked that up on Paragon website and later ended up calling technical support. The woman asked what the outlet was. 240 or 208 and that most schools tend to be 208. My heart sank because sure enough when the maintenance man tested it the next day it was 208. One option was putting in 208 elements and relays and such into the kiln for the outlet. This was a suggestion by paragon support. But the cost is much to high for me to foot the bill on my own. So this afternoon I asked the maintenance guy at school (he's actually also a trained electrician ) what the cost would be to convert that outlet. He's looking into that for me. He also mentioned what about a 208, 50 amp to 240, 50 amp buck booster. New they are 900 or so dollars but used ? Not really sure yet. Does anyone know if that would work with a kiln?? Would there be an issue? I hate to call paragon again and ask because I am feeling a bit stupid (although I seem to recall maintenance assured me it was 240.) I don't want to point any fingers and say it was them I am just planning on apologizing and sending back the grant money I spent on clay and selling the clay to someone else if I can't come up with a reasonable cost wise solution.

Thanks for any help

Renee

[neilestrick]

I have to think that replacing the elements would be easier and cheaper than doing anything with the electrical service. You shouldn't need new relays. See if the PTA can pay for it. I work with a lot of schools that get new kilns that way.

 

There's no such thing as a free kiln.