I was given two 30" strip heaters (220v 1000w). Is it possible to set them end to end wired off the same control to make a 5' oven? Would they heat evenly? (Dave Kenney)

If you wire them end to end, in series, you will only get 500W of output, not 2000W. If you wire them in parallel you can get the full output. They can still be mounted end to end, though. You should also consider the heated area of your oven. It is very possible to have strips that are too large for your oven, just as it is possible to over-insulate. (Martin-Darrell)

You can wire them end to end. For 220 volts, BE SURE to wire the strips in parallel and hook up to a 2 pole breaker. The heating will be even as both heaters will draw the same wattage (1000). Use a 20 amp breaker.  (Jim Bureau)

I have a similar situation. I have 3 heater strips I got from Russ a couple of years ago. They are 18" long, 750 watt, 120v each. I also have the guts/controls out of a 220v range/cooktop. I don't know how to wire-up the strips, 120 or 220? I think the first thing to do is notify the fire department. Any ideas out there? (Don Schneider)

I need some help. I am in the process of building the duct work oven with the mica strip heater. Now not being good at all with electrical wires and the such, I was wondering if there is a site that gives detailed instruction on wiring strip heaters or can anyone give advice on the process, if it is a simple one. I have checked the tips site and have not found wiring instructions. I have also checked the list's archives and there too have been unsuccessful. Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Robert Cristant)

I saved this info from my oven of the same type: Surplus Center catalog, they have listed on page 147 an Oven Thermostat Control, Item No. 11-2192, New, w/60" capillary tube, 150 degrees F to 500 degrees F, rated 15 amp at 240 volts AC, instructions included, 3"x 1" x 2", all for the low price of $12.95. Sorry, no URL, but the phone number is 1-800-488-3407. They have many electrical motors, switches, hydraulics, gas and diesel engines, winches, etc. Call for a catalog. I have a diagram of the wiring for this item. It works with my mica strip.

The next oven I make will be a convection heated air oven with a variable control heat gun. I do recommend you look into it before you invest.  (Rex Tutor)

I just got a Chromalox temp. controller from Ebay for my oven. I figured for $10 I couldn't go wrong since I can dial in the temp I want and it comes with a thermocouple wired in. In any event, it's better than what I have now. Not as slick as those PID units that some of y'all got going, but I think this will do until I can build my dream oven.

That said, I don't want to fry myself or my oven on my first attempt to hook it in. Not being a whiz at electrical gadgets, I was hoping someone would be willing to give me a bit of advice. I'm wondering where to put my 240 lines in and where to attach the leads to the elements. It seems like the power goes to the Line side (L1 and L2) and the leads go out from the Load side (T1 and T2). But, I'm not certain. And what about the other six terminals shown in the diagram? They seem to be in use, but I don't know if I should do something about them. Oh, yeah... what about grounding the thing? Can someone enlighten me a bit?

Here are the links to the photos of the unit. the last link is the diagram.

Questions or comments would be greatly appreciated. (Jason Swan)

I don't have first hand experience with that controller but from the pictures and schematic your assumptions are correct. L1 and L2 are the input connections. T1 and T2 go to your heating element. All of the other control wiring is taken care of for you. Ignore the other terminals. It is always good practice to run a ground wire to the metal frame of your oven. There's nothing in your pics to verify the voltage so I'll assume you have read on the device that it's designed for 240 volts and you, therefore have a heating element rated for 240 volts. If it's rated for 120 volts and you apply 240, you'll blow your control transformer. Oh yeah, speaking of blowing things and good practice, you should also include a fuse in each leg of your 240 volt lines.

Just looked at the picture again and I can read 240 volts on your control transformer label so that's the right input voltage. (Al Baldauski)

Al is correct. Line goes to L1, L2 and the element goes to T1, T2. Before connecting the element to the T1, T2 connections, I would plug in the power and rotate the knob and make sure the contactor (relay) pulls in (makes contact). You will hear a definite click.

You did not show the other side of the control box, so I have to assume that the transformer is connected to the thermostat and the sensing bulb (You called it a thermocouple).

You could try an experiment and set the thermostat to a temperature that just activates the relay. Then put the sensing bulb in some boiling water. The relay should deactivate if the boiling water is hotter than the setting that it took to activate the relay. If this works everything is working as it should. (Dick Fuhrman)

Gang, before I set this project aside, maybe some one can shed some words of wisdom. I attempted to build a oven using a 8 ft electrical wall heater element. I did not remove the fins but I did gut what I thought was the thermostat and directly wired the element. I also discarded the supporting structure of the heater. I mounted and boxed the whole thing into 8 ft of 12x8 ducting and fired it up. The highest I could obtain in 30 minutes was 168 degrees and then it appeared to shut down.

Would appreciate any constructive comments on success or failures. Could there be a thermo overload protection built in?  (Jim Tefft)

I built my oven with a heating element like you'd see inside a kitchen oven, only mine is straight. It's 60" long/.430 diameter and rated around 2200 watts, 220 volts. It takes about .5 hr to bring it to 350 degrees in my cabinet. Id say you did good with a 1500 watt element to get the temp to 168 degrees. I'd guess that since the wall heater was built to some UL code it was made to shut down before overheating to a flammable situation. (Chad Wigham)

Not necessarily true. My convection oven has 1500 watts of heater elements in it, and I can take mine well over 400º easily in less than a half an hour. (Mark Wendt)

I'd have to think there is a thermal cut out on a wall mount heater. Otherwise, if the thermostat should stick it would get hot enough to start a fire.

My heat gun oven gets to 350 degrees in well under half an hour, although the first one I made (out of regular furnace duct) wouldn't go above 200 degrees. (Neil Savage)

Are you connecting directly to the ends of the element? Is there anything else between your cord and the element? Was the heater rated for 220V or 120V and what voltage did you connect it to. What is the wattage of the element. I am not sure what UL requirements there are on baseboard wall heaters as far as temperature they can achieve with out some kind of limit.

A 4500 Watt Kitchen oven element straightened out might be a better bet. Make some supports out of music wire or sheet metal. Those elements are rated for 240 Volts and at 120 volts will draw about one quarter of the rated wattage, thus a little over 1000 Watts. (Dick Fuhrman)