Thanks @Dan Dubeau appreciate the feedback.
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Foundry furnace
- Thread starter Tomc938
- Start date
@jcdammeyer did you end up converting your kiln. I’m debating to make a small kiln for lost wax, casting. All the YouTube videos run 220 volt.
Is it possible to use and 220 4 prong appliance outlet?
Is it possible to use and 220 4 prong appliance outlet?
Yes, a 220 four prong plug just carries neutral so you also have 110 which you don't need. Just don't use the neutral and between the two hot you have 220 1P. (imo electrical work is not difficult or that hard to learn, but if how to wire a 220V kiln into a say a dryer plug isn't close to obvious, please do a lot of learning into you solidly understand it or call an electrician so as to not fry yourself)
For lost wax, you need two ways to heat, one for the mold and one for the metal. Different temperatures. A kiln with a decent PID could work as a burn out oven (mold) but if making one, i'd make an oven rather than kiln, i.e. door on the front. Kilns, when used for their intended purpose, pottery, are allowed to cool before the work is removed ..... where as for casting the work is taken out hot. I'd rather be pulling it out horizontally from an oven than overtop of the heat from the top of a kiln.
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I use a Stove plug on mine and yes, the neutral is required. Each of the elements are 110VAC and the switch inside the kiln powers the various coils in various combinations from neutral to black or red. But that's for mine. Others may have 220VAC windings.
I drew mine out from the convoluted drawing in the kiln manual. Can't find the electronic copy at the moment.
He mentioned YouTube videos all 220VAC. I originally thought my kiln was also just 220VAC. Could be most of the YouTube video produces also just mention their kiln as 220VAC. So I figured I could plug mine into the Mill or Lathe outlet with the neutral not used.
I found out I was wrong when I looked into the drawings form my kiln.
So my suggestion is first buyer beware. If the kiln has a 4 wire cord then likely it needs the neutral.
KilnSitter - Kilns | Ceramic Pottery Kiln, Glass Kiln, Pottery Wheels | Skutt
KilnSitter - Kilns | Ceramic Pottery Kiln, Glass Kiln, Pottery Wheels | Skutt
skutt.com
To build your own once can buy the nichrome wire and make either a 220VAC or 110VAC winding. It may be easier to modify (or just use) a small toaster oven from Walmart for lost wax if your models aren't too large. Or if you have the space use an old kitchen oven.
I bought two different types of counter top ovens to use as raw material to make a PCB soldering oven after my JGRO CNC Router was set up to do Pick and Place for the components into soldering paste on the PC Boards.
JGRO too crude. Ball slides not installed yet although it does have ball screws now on XY.
Project #42!
So the reflow oven project was postponed to become Project #42. Now the expensive solder paste sitting in the fridge is over 5 years old and useless.
And I still haven't made it past the prototype stage of the electronic kiln control. Project #42.
Here's one of the links for a simple kiln controller.
github.com
GitHub - jbruce12000/kiln-controller: Turns a Raspberry Pi into an inexpensive, web-enabled kiln controller.
Turns a Raspberry Pi into an inexpensive, web-enabled kiln controller. - jbruce12000/kiln-controller
github.com
Uncharacteristically, perhaps a short answer is appropriate.
Yes, as long as the wire gauge, breakers, and appliance outlet are sized to handle the required load of your kiln, an appliance outlet will work just fine.