110V 20A plug into 110V 15A outlet? Edit: Added Evenheat info

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mgysgthath

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Dec 15, 2009
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Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me,

I finally got a kiln here in one piece, and it's got a 110V 20A plug on it, so one of the blades is horizontal. Of course I didn't even consider there were different plugs, and after some reading it looks like its a 20A.

Can I just buy/make a short extension cord from the regular 15A outlet to a 20A outlet, or do I need to worry about other factors?

I'm thinking if the wire gauge is heavy enough on the circuit, and the breaker at the panel is up to 20A, I should be okay?

Evenheat's website lists the specs as:
North American Electrical Specifications
Operating Voltage: 120V
Amperage: 13A
Watts: 1560W
Power Cord Plug Style: NEMA 6-15P (Standard Household Plug)

This leads me to believe it should be okay in a 15A circuit? However I googled the NEMA 6-15P plug and it seems to be 220? if there is one mistake, there may be others. I emailed Evenheat in the meantime, to get their opinion.
 
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did you get the KH oven then?

The question is all about amps on the circuit from the end point (fuse panel) to the other end point (kiln plug) including every item in between. The circuit breaker should be rated to the amperage of the wire pulled through the walls and the wall outlet should also be rated to the same. Frequently outlets run 12ga wire, but not always. 12g will support 20amps. The outlet on your wall is probably a NEMA 5-15 as the most common and w/o the horizontal blade. They are cheaper and commonly used.
100px-NEMA_5-15_Outlet_120V-15A.jpg


Evenheat ships with a plug that will force you to be on a valid 20amp circuit when properly wired to the correct specs. That common outlet would be a 20 amp one, NEMA 5-20
220px-Electrical_outlet_with_label.jpg


Your question is bending the rules according to an electrician. I'm sure that's not what you're asking though :)

So, here is the answer... you need to bet your safety on these things:
1. you have a 20 amp breaker in the box.
2. you have 12ga wire to the outlet and NOTHING else drawing on that wire (circuit) at the same time you run the kiln.
3. the wall outlet is capable of handling 20amps.

If those are all yes, you could run your oven by making a cord or by replacing the wall outlet with NEMA 5-20 that should allow you to use the factory evenheat cord.

If you desire to run your oven on a 15amp circuit as is w/o verifying 20amp service, you could if you want, but that's not what Evenheat wants you to do. Their specs do say 13amps, so it should work and maybe won't trip the breaker. In theory it could work fine. 15amp circuit should feed a 13amp draw fine (total of all things drawing on that one circuit).

You could pull out the outlet and see if the wire connecting it is 14 or 12 ga. Also pull the cover on the fuse panel and see if the wires in there are 12ga or 14ga. If all you see is 12ga and you want to try it out, it *should* work. At least swap out the outlet with the heavy duty 20amp one and not use a "conversion" cord. If you had 20amp breaker, 12 ga wire, then you could use a 20amp outlet. Keep in mind that one outlet could draw 100% of that breaker and wire in theory. Most home circuits service more than one wall outlet.

Not sure if this helped with your question or not.
 
15 amp outlet - safe use is 80% or 12 amps

I highly recommend using a 20 amp outlet, in fact using less than the rating is risking a fire. I bet you can rig up something safe and inexpensive that will work well. The Black and Decker guide is a great starting point towards understanding wiring. I'll leave out the exact electrical advice as I am not an electrician.

Good luck with everything! Cool you are getting the kiln.
 
Thanks guys, that pretty much echos my thoughts. I'll wait and see what Evenheat has to say, but I think I'll be okay as it only draws 13 amps, and as long as it's the only draw on a 15A circuit I should be okay with just a new outlet or adapter. I will however double check my breaker and wiring and make sure they're up to the draw as well.

Yes dperk, its the KH 418 with rampmaster 3 controller.
 
Certain things like electric motors have a starting current higher than the running current .That shouldn't be the problem with a kiln. That's certainly the biggest part of the 80% capacity.

When buying switches ,outlets , ALWAYS get commercial or heavy duty ones not the standard .The standard ones are cheaply made Chinese .I know of one such switch that lasted all of 3 months! I don't consider them safe.
 
mete said:
Certain things like electric motors have a starting current higher than the running current .That shouldn't be the problem with a kiln. That's certainly the biggest part of the 80% capacity.

When buying switches ,outlets , ALWAYS get commercial or heavy duty ones not the standard .The standard ones are cheaply made Chinese .I know of one such switch that lasted all of 3 months! I don't consider them safe.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mete, I will definitely do that.
 
I just went through an electrical conundrum in another thread...

The standard 15A breakers should trip at 12A or so. The wire typically used is 14gauge and rated for 15 amps as well. If everything works properly you should trip the breaker before anything bad can happen..... IF everything works PROPERLY. It is definately not to code and your insurance company will buck you like a rodeo cowboy with no thumbs if you burn the place down. The best thing to do is run a new wire(12ga) and put in a new 20A breaker(or replace the existing circuit). You don't necessarily have to obey code to be safe... but you do to be insured.

Also realize that knifemaking is a craft that most insurance companies do not understand. you may get your work area to code an still get rejected on a claim.
 
I would not run a kiln on a 15 amp circuit. As dperk said, if all is right ( 12 gauge end to end)...no problem. But the other factor is continuous draw. The HT oven will be drawing 13 amps pretty much continuously. That allows the wiring in the walls no time to cool off. Grab the cord of a HT oven or other heavy draw device that has been running for an hour or two. It most likely is warm.....and it is rated for the load. Now imagine you wall with a wire running through it that is really only expected to handle 12 amps, but draws 13 amps for several hours......not a good thought, is it?


If the wiring is 12 gauge, fine, switch out the socket. If not, run a new 30 amp circuit to the shop with 10 gauge wire. I would run 220 at the same time.
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
15 amp outlet - safe use is 80% or 12 amps

I highly recommend using a 20 amp outlet, in fact using less than the rating is risking a fire. I bet you can rig up something safe and inexpensive that will work well. The Black and Decker guide is a great starting point towards understanding wiring. I'll leave out the exact electrical advice as I am not an electrician.

Good luck with everything! Cool you are getting the kiln.
Click to expand...

By the way when I said outlet I meant circuit... no way you should only switch out the outlet!

Once a wire gets hot from too much resistance it can build up heat exponentially and possibly short from the insulation melting... often a standard breaker will not switch during a short.
 
bladsmth said:
I would not run a kiln on a 15 amp circuit. As dperk said, if all is right ( 12 gauge end to end)...no problem. But the other factor is continuous draw. The HT oven will be drawing 13 amps pretty much continuously. That allows the wiring in the walls no time to cool off. Grab the cord of a HT oven or other heavy draw device that has been running for an hour or two. It most likely is warm.....and it is rated for the load. Now imagine you wall with a wire running through it that is really only expected to handle 12 amps, but draws 13 amps for several hours......not a good thought, is it?


If the wiring is 12 gauge, fine, switch out the socket. If not, run a new 30 amp circuit to the shop with 10 gauge wire. I would run 220 at the same time.
Click to expand...

You're right Stacy, I'm aware of that, but I'm not positive what wiring is in my walls up until the shop. I know I have 220V in that room already, so maybe I can just run a 110 off that circuit (just not for use while anything else is on). Would be cheaper to use a short run of #12 AWG from there, than all the way from the main panel.
Either that or I'm gonna have to run a whole new circuit, which I don't want to do, but might have to.

The plot thickens anyway, as the replacement kiln I got shipped with the wrong plug apparently, I've been talking to Evenheat, who has been very courteous, and they're trying to figure out what happened. I ended up with a 16A 5-20P plug, when I should have gotten a 13A. So it's a bit of a waiting game again.

Daniel Fairly Knives said:
By the way when I said outlet I meant circuit... no way you should only switch out the outlet!

Once a wire gets hot from too much resistance it can build up heat exponentially and possibly short from the insulation melting... often a standard breaker will not switch during a short.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's good that you clarified but I knew what you meant. I have used thin wires with too much power before specifically to cause fires (like campfires or fireworks igniters as a kid), so I hope not to do it in my house walls, lol.
 
Is there any reason I can't run a new 110V outlet from my dryer plug's hot and neutral? Surely that can handle 20A easily. It would only have to go 10-15ft and would save a lot on wiring.
 
Are you not using the dryer outlet? If not, then sure you can, but you would then want to change the breaker from a 220 "double" to a 110 "single".

If you want to make it so you can use the dryer and then somehow use 1/2 of that for your oven, then I'd say no. Its not safe to draw from only one half of a 220 breaker. If the breaker wants to trip from a short or something, the unused half could prevent a full/quick trip.

If you are no longer using the dryer plug and you want to repurpose the wiring to a 110v circuit, then go for it. Just change the breaker accordingly and let the other 'hot' line from the dryer tied up in the circuit breaker box.
 
ok thanks dperk, i think i will avoid that for now, I was thinking I could use one or the other, just not both at the same time.
 
mgysgthath,
You can do the dryer thing. It will require changing the dual breaker to two single breakers.
Next, check the dryer box. If it has all three wires in it - black hot, white neutral, and ground - you are good to go.
Make a power cord that connects to one leg and the neutral, plus ground. Use a dryer plug on one end and a box with a 120V, 20 amp socket on the other. Double check your wiring and if all is right, plug the dryer plug into the dryer socket, and the oven into the box on the end of the cord.
 
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