Infinite range controllers

[Pete VanderLaan]

I used to use these little electric range controls which were common on kitchen ranges. The simple ones had a "Low Medium or High" position and then there were ones which had a 1-10 and the a high setting. The 1-10 is the one I'm looking for. I have looked in Graingers and in McMaster Carr and even Johnson controls with no luck.

It was a squirrely underengineered device and they did fail quite frequently but it was great while it worked, doling out amps to kanthal elements in the world. Does anyone have a notion of where to get them these days OR something else that is suitable for the same function that is cheap. I'm building a kiln for MB to fire her jewelry in and she wants to be able to control the amps going in to elements individually so her firings are even. The whole mess will have a master MDR run by a love controller, of which I have a lifetime supply.

[Wes Hunting]

We have a guy in town here that repairs old electric stoves. I used to use these years ago and he has a boat load of them in storage. Tell me the voltage and I'll see what he's got.

[Tom Fuhrman]

I think I still have a couple new ones in stock I bought years ago and never used if you need them. JOhnstone Supply ,appliance parts supplier, I think still has them. They have distribution all over the country.

[Pete VanderLaan]

It's 240V VAC Wes. I would buy six of them. Thanks Tom I had conflated Johnson controls with Johnstone supplies.

[Wes Hunting]

I have to run to town later today. I'll stop buy and see what he's got.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Thanks Wes. There are two styles. one is Low Med and High. The other is 1-10. If you get me six, I'll send you a check. Either that or have the guy call and I'll give him a cc# and he can ship them which is probably a lot easier.
603-323-7900

[Ed Pennebaker]

I have bought the range controls from Dudley Giberson, Joppa Glassworks. But don't see them in his latest online catalog.

[Wes Hunting]

Pete,
Had to dig through a few boxs and found 4 new and 4 used of the
inf 240 at 15A
Also found 2 new 240 at 25A.
10 total.
They have no dials. but are not the hi, med, low units.
He wouldn't take any money for them, but I do have to "buy him a beer sometime" so it looks like you got yourself a deal.
I will ship them out Tues. after the holiday. Priority Mail. Once you have received them, post the Secrete code phrase "THE EAGLE HAS LANDED"
I hope they work for you. Soldering the connectors to the posts all ways delayed burn out for many years, if i remember correctly.
Visiting my appliance repair guy who the towns people refer to as Big John is always a pleasure. Great guy to have on your team.
Have a great week end, My son and I are riding the bikes up to Lake Superior to hunt down some Muskies.

[Ron Mynatt]

I use a (whirlpool # 4391989) they have them on ebay it is a 1-10 switch.Ron

[Ted Trower]

Try repairclinic.com

[Pete VanderLaan]

Thanks Wes, you're the best

354 Washington Hill Rd
Chocorua NH 03817.

Now I need the damn dials which I lose or break all the time. We have a business not unlike your friend's near here appropriately named "the town dump"

[Wes Hunting]

He also had a box of plastic dials all different sizes. you could go for the mad scientist look. rig up a whisle when it reaches temp. I'll stop over there when I get back and see what he,s got in the way of dials.

[Pete VanderLaan]

the dials came with this little set of inserts that fit over the shaft and then into the indicating handle. It was cheap shoddy construction. They either blow up right away or they last a long time. I think coupling it up with that insulated wire Cheyenne popped up with may help. We want to be able to vary the amps going in to different elements in the kiln and this is the only way to control multiple elements at the same time with one controller.

And Ted, Thank you for that site. I think I've been there before looking for parts for our expensive shoddy construction Jennaire range.

[John Riepma]

Depending on what the shaft configuration on the device is you may be able to find dials/knobs at Reid Supply. http://www.reidsupply.com/ They seem to have a lot of this type of thing.

[Dave Bross]

Pete,

I'm assuming you know those are "make and break" controllers via a bimettalic spring and not amperage controllers?

If you need to control heat to individual elements variacs would be more reliable...and a bit more expensive.

[Dave Bross]

Pete,

I'm assuming you know those are "make and break" controllers via a bimetal spring and not amperage controllers?

If you need to control heat to individual elements variacs would be more reliable...and a bit more expensive.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I am not going to spend the money on variacs. The things work for what I'm doing and I'm not intellectually curious about them. I would never use them on something I was selling but for my sweetie, that's a whole different story. She is worth every penny I put in to this.

All right I'd better stop now.

[Dave Bross]

Uh Ooooooooh! Pete's gonna get in trouble.

Verging from the intellectual curious to the practical....those things used to be bulletproof but most of the quality was sucked out of them in the early nineties. The ones Wes is sending you may be a real prize in that they may have been made prior to junk bond/venture capital doings on their quality.

so...

If "anyone" asks, they're rare vintage controllers and they just don't make 'em like that any more.

I'm all about ghetto equipment, but I'm afraid we're going to have to open a new category....vintage ghetto. I don't see it rivaling steampunk any time soon.

[Pete VanderLaan]

I still have old ones but they're missing their handles which have been trash since the onset. For such a simply dumb tool, they really work.

[Wes Hunting]

vintage ghetto is a great term. I ran these on all my ovens as most of us did in th 70's They worked great as long as you soldered the connections.
I just bought a vintage SM combo grinding station which i converted to diamond by simply having a flat head machined for it. Well Balanced huge bearings ,very tough machine . It will last another life time.

[Pete VanderLaan]

My favorite is the SM all in one machine divided into four stations. It's a permanent self contaminating process. My Lang stands were built in the 1880's. The bearings , all babitt are still near perfect and are infinitely superior to a roller bearing.

But I like those range controllers. I have looked everywhere I'm sure I last saw the handles and no luck yet at all. Thanks Wes. Now go kill wildlife. It is Wisconsin after all.

[Richard Huntrods]

Originally Posted by Pete VanderLaan

I still have old ones but they're missing their handles which have been trash since the onset. For such a simply dumb tool, they really work.

Who needs handles when you have vice grips? That is about all the cheap import knockoff vice grips are good for.

[Pete VanderLaan]

MaryBeth needs handles.... with little numbers on them. 1-10. She looks dimly on vice grips as a handle. That part of the discussion is finished....

[Dave Bross]

Not yet....

My high tech ventilation system (BIG ass floor fan) had a plastic knob fail.

Remember those screw down (not the split bolt) bus connectors in the hooking up elements thread?

Guess what I did with one of them?

Actually it was that spare plug prong you get with every 220 plug that fits nothing known to man. The "handle" on that was a tad longer than a bus terminal would be and the switch is getting friction cranky so leverage was needed.

Number scales leaves opportunity for artistic creation.

Now that's ghetto...but only faux ghetto...looks old and jury rigged but just a poser.

If you must have a knob sometimes those giant hardware cabinets in Home Depot/Lowes include a drawer full of different knobs.

In Pete's neck of the woods I would more envision a cranky old hardware store clerk in an even older hardware store having a box full of knobs of the correct persuasion hidden away in a dusty alcove. These would, of course, be historically correct...elevating the project into yet another dimension.

[Pete VanderLaan]

Originally Posted by Dave Bross

Not yet....


In Pete's neck of the woods I would more envision a cranky old hardware store clerk in an even older hardware store having a box full of knobs of the correct persuasion hidden away in a dusty alcove. These would, of course, be historically correct...elevating the project into yet another dimension

*******
With an M16 and a confederate flag on the wall behind the counter. There's a lot of really crazy undereducated people up here in refined New England.