electrical question

[bryceballard]

I have 2 donor ovens that i'm using, i'm building a 4x4x5 oven. i'm going to use 3 elements rated at roughly 3300 watts each. my power source is 240v, 60A. My question is about the contactor that i've seen in other plans, what does it do? Does it allow you to run all three elements at once? If not, what does? I dont want to overload the donor parts that are only meant for operating one element at a time.

[johnny933]

I cant say for sure, but the contactor on my oven works this way.
The t-stat is wired to it on one pole, the elements are all wired to other poles. When the t-stat says the oven needs heat or doesnt need heat,
the contactor will open or close and allow the curent to go through to the elements. Thats the only way i can describe it. If you want only certain elements to come on you can wire in a switch to each to cut the power off going to them between the contactor and element.

[trsick]

The contactor allows all the elements to operate at once. If you did not use one & attempted to run all the elements at once via the thermostat, the t-stat would fry.
Good luck.
Bob