How do I know which kilns have element circuits wired in series and which are wired in parallel?


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  1. Mostly you just have to remember how each kiln is wired or look at the wire diagram. Usually in series elements the wire is big and fat, and in parallel elements they are thin. Also, individual elements ohms are always 1/2 or 1/3 (or less) the ohms of the whole circuit in a series circuit, individual element ohms are always 2 or 3 (or more) times higher than the ohms of the circuit in a parallel circuit.

  2. Up until 2003, all the 8 sided and 10 sided kilns we made had 3-bolt element connection boards. They all had 2 elements in each circuit. The top element would connect to the bottom element at the center bolt. For the kilns wired in series, the center bolt had no power wires going to it, and power went to the top and bottom. In parallel there was a jumper wire from top bolt to bottom and the power wires went to the center and either the top or bottom bolts.
  3. All DaVincis (except X1800 series) and J2900s and all 10 sided kilns made 2003 and later are wired in parallel with only two bolts. There is no jumper wire needed because all elements share the same two bolts.
  4. There is also something called "series-parallel". This is where two or more series circuits are wired in parallel with each other. In reality, all kilns are stack of parallel circuits (each section is in parallel with the next section). On the kilns with element circuits wired in series like the J18 or the LB, one could say that the entire kiln is wired series-parallel because the kiln sections are wired in parallel with each other, even though each section contains a series circuit.