Bulb removal process to determine Watt amperege?

[mk162]

dan, i know its a vidar, but what is the name of the dryer?  There might be some old press techs that know those things pretty well.

[Dottonedan]

Just says VIDAR Made in America.

[mk162]

huh, that's funny.  i wish rick boarts(sp) from Aero was still around, he would be able to help you with this.  That dude knew everything.

[Dottonedan]

UPDATE:

For those interested, I called Printficient's suggestion, Winston.   (He does live in Jacksonville Fl) but recently moved from Cali.

Little did I know, he knows everyone I know and he's worked with everyone I've worked with long ago. We chatted for about an hour. It seems he is going to be able to identify what I need pretty easily. I sent him the requested pics.

I took a pic to send to him. It shows the inner of my front panel with 4 (things) with wires going into them behind the lights. Each of those have a stamp on it, (Made in Mexico) and 125V.
 
The item Breaker (rectangular black box) has an aged/faded sticker on the side. I enhanced it in photoshop but can't make out all of the other parts. At the least, I have the amps.  It shows at the bottom what looks to read   TRD AMP 40.5
I have 2 panels with 6 bulbs in each. Thats 486 amps. Then from what Winston says, you go with the next amp setting up. So I imagine it's a 500 amp dryer (but I'm still guessing at that). I'm waiting to here back from Winston.

It turns out that these dryers were sort of like home made jobs and were manufactured very close to me. Something like Sanford. 60 min from me (but years ago).

Anyways, Winston seems to be confident he can get this dryer going quick fast and in a hurry. Not that I'm in a hurry.
He's an old shop owner, manufacturer and supplier.  All around good guy to know in this business.

D

[Sbrem]

That sounds mighty high amperage wise. I have a 48" and a 60", and they only draw 100 amps each... We had to bring in a separate 300 amp service from another section of our building. So, I really don't think a dryer that small is going to draw 500 amps. If it does, your electric bill will put you out of business anyway.

Steve

[Prosperi-Tees]

Sure its not 50?

[Screened Gear]

UPDATE:

500 amp dryer

No. It’s not even close. I would guess the whole thing is a single phase 40 amp dryer. You will run it on a 50 Amp breaker. If you have 12 elements then they are all 3 amps each. My old dryer was a 30 inch belt and each element was 5 amps.  I am surprised you have that many elements. My old workhorse dryer is much like this one. The elements look the same. I would maybe even call workhorse and ask them if they know about this dryer. The (Made in Mexico) and 125V on the white element means its single phase. On the other side the white part may have the voltage written on it. Its worth hooking it up and seeing if it works. I would have a pro hook it up and look it over to make sure it is all working right.

What kind of reverse karma is this. As soon as I posted this I went out to finish up a job and my dryer belt was not moving. The drive chain came off. Luckily it was a easy fix.

[Gilligan]

Lol... Definitely not 500 ... If it was it would pay to scrap it and buy BRAND new. Ha!

[Dottonedan]

Ha! You all are correct. I posted too soon before I heard back from him. It's to be 40 amp.

I based that on something I read and took 40 x the 12 bulbs. Good thing I'm not defusing bombs. Lol.

[Gilligan]

I might have contributed to that... but I don't know what it meant by 40.5 amps... definitely not per bulb.

[mk162]

cool, i was gonna say, I had an old 3-phase maxi-cure with a 10 foot heat chamber and a 60" wide belt and that drew 120.  I am glad to be rid of that beast.  I swear the power in the area dimmed when this thing turned on.

Most newer residential panels are around 200A.

I figured there would be another panel on there.

On a side note, my largest draw item here right now is a air compressor, followed closely by my exposure unit...that sucker is 55A.  For a stinking light bulb and fans....the wire and plastic pipe/fittings were $800 on their own.

Dan, do you know an electrician?  Winston can probably get it wired if needed.