How to Wire a High Temperature K-Type Thermocouple for your Kiln, Furnace or Forge

This video shows how to wire a high temperature K-type thermocouple from www.meter-depot... for use in a ceramic kiln, a furnace or in a forge. Here I use the 8 inch long model CR-2 thermocouple, together with a K-type thermometer DM6801 and the hookup cable CR-4. The ceramic insulators on the thermocouple are about 1/2 inch in diameter, so a 1/2 inch drill bit will work well to drill through the fire brick or insulation of your kiln.
All parts are available from Minnesota Measurement Instruments LLC at my website:
www.meter-depot...

[@cocobeauvier]

Yes, finding where to put in the battery was an IQ test! THANK You for this video! Perfect instructions for connecting wires, too.

[@lilanedaria]

Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for.

[@adoraaathacreator]

helpful!! thanks wasnt sure if the wire should go under the washer 😅😅😅. working great thanks!!!

[@Heimerize]

Why on earth would the negative side be marked as red? That's backwards from every other connection on earth..

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

Neil, this is the color code according to ANSI, the American National Standards Institute. Also keep in mind that it is only negative as long as you measure something that is warmer than the thermometer, if you are measuring cold, the polarity of the signal will switch.

[@Heimerize]

Carsten Franke gotcha. Just seems backwards. Nearly everything else has red as a +. Why they gotta go messing with stuff? I ordered one of these the other days, and without this video, I would have wired it backwards.. So thanks for the vid.

[@gravitysports1]

Indeed counter intuitive. I just assume everything is counter intuitive when deealing with electric stuff now (black wire is hot in house wiring). Whoever decided this stuff never heard the expression white hot, or red hot, or had a very perverse sense of humour

[@larryohara6513]

Red is normally + not -

[@danieljung1152]

Each type of thermocouple has different color code. Negative can be Red, Gray, and so on. Confusing but that the code.

[@urjnlegend]

Can I use a k type thermocouple to check my heat press at roughly 400f ? In direct contact with the platen (not the heating element itself)

[@dianeratcliff3009]

Can you tell me what the green wire is for? My model is slightly different looking DT1311

[@nabilibensobih2632]

Can we use a fire cement to install the thermocouple and to prevent flame from exiting?

[@bhavikdesai2033]

Will the hookup cable connect readily with a PID Controller?

[@eniminemore86]

as example there is a huge reactor; and temperature is upto 1500k so how can i measure ??

[@tobykits]

I read somewhere that when you insert this into a kiln which has the thermocouple hole thru a metal band that the neither the ceramic block nor the metal thermocouple wire should not metal kiln bands. I’d like to instal in my kill permanently but the ceramic block will obviously be in contact with the metal kiln band. Any suggestions. Thank you for you video it helps a lot.

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

It is fine when the ceramic block or the ceramic insulators touch the metal, they are insulating and will not conduct electricity. Generally you want to avoid putting the thermocouple metal in contact with a grounded piece of metal, since some electronics do not tolerate this (this meter will be fine). You just want to mount this loosely, since the ceramic and the metal may expand at different rates and the ceramic may crack.

[@eniminemore86]

actually i need this but don't know is it good for fctory uses

[@mebra_homeshop]

Hi, thanks for your nice video. I wanna ask Can I buy a long thermocouple without ceramic cover and use some ceramic to protect it? Is that necessary to have ceramic cover

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

Thanks! No, you do not need a ceramic cover, just the two metal rods need to be kept apart, they should not touch each other, except for the welded point at the tip.

[@chuckfischer7202]

I was hoping to learn how to trim the length to suit the thickness of the kiln wall. Is there any good reason why the wires in the ceramic insulators are spaced closer together than the holes in the connection plate? The instructions that came with the meter I just bought never mention that RED is NEG. Why would anybody abandon the convention that RED = POS?

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

Hello Chuck, the wire can be shortened with a strong wire cutter or with a Dremel tool with cutting disk. I may show that in a separate video. The color code is according to ANSI. Keep in mind, the RED is negative as long as the measuring tip of the thermocouple is warmer than the thermometer junction. If the tip is the same temperature as the thermometer, the voltage is exactly 0, and when the tip is colder than the thermometer, the RED is now positive.

[@scooterdoo1]

Does it destroy the wire or is it okay to use again if under 2000 F?

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

at 2000 F you should be able to use it for several years. The closer you get to the 2500 F limit, the shorter the probe life is

[@kelennaanyanwu5372]

Would a max6675 module with arduino work for this sensor

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

Yes, that would work, though I would recommend the newer Max31855 or Max31856 modules.

[@kkuhn]

4:30 nice insulation you got there

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

I put the ceramic in the flame to fast and only heated the one half of the ceramic element, that creates a lot of stress and popped the corners off. Going from 70 to 1000 degree in a few seconds can do that.

[@treslongwell1332]

I have that same instrument and I don't see how to calibrate it. Tested it with boiling water and it read 217.

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

The thermometer is factory calibrated. Boiling water is not a good method. Water boils at 212 degree F only at sea level and standard air pressure. When there is a high pressure system it boils at a higher temperature. In the mountains, e.g in Denver, it boils at 203 degree F. So not a reliable calibration method.

[@treslongwell1332]

@@CarstenFrankeUSA so it never needs re-calibration? It stays accurate until it dies? I have another, more expensive one that has a screw for re-calibration and I have to adjust it sometimes. I live at 100 foot altitude, pretty standard air pressure, I guess.

[@jacobaccurso3788]

OK so first of all, yes. Why is the negative wire marked red? This is a mind blower. Secondly, the instruction manual (no wait.....the “instruction manual“) is absolutely useless. How hard would it be to hire a person from England or the United States to tell them how to structure sentences in English? Thirdly, why on earth would the device only read up to 2000°F but much higher in centigrade? I bought the darn thing to use in one of my pottery kilns so I will just do a conversion and I’ll be good, but really? Why??? Lastly, I want to hear the narrator of this video recite the following sentence “Oh, waiter. There is too much pepper in my paprikash.“

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

well, the US ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard for K-type thermocouples specifies the negative wire to be marked in red and the positive wire to be marked yellow. It reads to 1999 degree F because the first number is either 1 or blank. If we had made it a full number to show the 2 the meter would have become wider and more expensive. The US and Liberia are the only countries using Fahrenheit, 96% of the world use the Celsius scale. How many languages do you speak?

[@mohamedkhaldi1692]

Do you have a facebook?

[@narayanchandilkar8154]

What is the cost ?

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

The probe, connector plate, wire and thermometer are about US $62, with shipping cost added for international shipping.

[@aliboxingq8]

around 60$

[@MegaRiffraff]

Carsten Franke where did you get the parts?

[@MegaRiffraff]

Where did you get the parts?

[@CarstenFrankeUSA]

www.meter-depot.com