Installing A Pottery Kiln

[Roz]

I am a lady pensioner, desperate to get my pottery kiln installed but I am being bombarded with conflicting information from my electrition and my kiln electrition.

It is a 3 phase kiln and I was told that I needed cable 3 core 10mmsq. My electrition said SWA 2 core 10mmsq was exactly the same as the earth was contained in the armoured sheath. I duly purchased the latter but when the kiln is switched on, it blows the fuse ? It would help get an answer to why this is happening if I could go to the basics and find out if the cables mentioned are both equally suitable for setting up this kiln. The fuse has been changed but it still blows. If it is not the cable, then it must be the kiln. The kiln electrician says it is not the kiln ?

 

[steptoe]

Oh dear, you have indeed been given duff info.

Are you sure the kiln is 3phase?

If it is it will NEVER work on a 2core cable without some form of adapter being fitted,

Next point, is this at a domestic property? Does it have a 3phase supply? Almost all normal domestic properties only have a single phase supply.

Sorry to say this, but both your electricians sound like planks.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Unfortunately, Steptoe seems to be correct.

 

[Marvo]

Hi Roz, maybe if you can attach a photo of your consumer unit and another of the electrical info plate on the side of the kiln it would give us a better idea of what could be done.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Some heavy duty items can be configured to run on single or 3 phase. A picture of the info plate & the item model number & name could help us help you.

 

[NozSpark]

I have recently wired a 3 phase kiln which was configured for single phase and ended up being 14kW

So as the others have said, if you could get some photos for us they would help us a lot.

What we could do with are photos of:-

The equipment that trips and the general area

The electric box local to your kiln

The rating plate on your kiln

 

[steptoe]

A lot of cookers are like that, 3P configured to work on 1P ,

that was my point of not stating exactly what adapter, either jumpers of an actual 3P converter required.

still sounds as though neither electrician knew what they were doing.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

It does sound like a 'electrical installer' house basher that has never seen 3 phase.

 

[davetheglitz]

Hi Roz,

A number of kilns can be configured as either 3 phase or single phase depending on the links that have put in place.

Can you confirm that it is the fuse(mcb?) that is blowing and not an RCD tripping?