So Sad About My Cool New Oven =(

Business By alimonkey Updated 15 Sep 2007 , 6:34am by sugarlove

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alimonkey Posted 13 Sep 2007 , 3:47pm
post #1 of 17

Oh boy, was I ever excited last week! Nearly a week after sending an email about a Vulcan double stack commercial oven, I finally got a call back from the seller letting me know it was still available. He was very nice and wanted to make sure I would be able to power it since it ran on 3-phase power. That was why they were selling it - had sat in their catering shop for a year without a power source. We are fortunate enough to have 3-phase power for our AC at home - don't know why, but we do. It would mean paying an electrician to run lines and wire an outlet, but that's an expense that was deemed worthy before we decided to buy. Went down to San Antonio one night to look at it, paid for it, and picked it up Saturday.

Got home, read every single word of the manual.
Dreamed of baking 4 wedding cakes at once...or 20 dozen cookies, or 40 pies, or 4 turkeys, the possibilities were endless.

Then DH talked to his friend that does commercial AC, and all hopes are down the drain. icon_cry.gificon_cry.gificon_cry.gificon_cry.gif

Turns out that even though we have 3 phase power, the voltage we get doesn't match the oven, so it's a no-go.

I'm just soooo disappointed - turning around and selling it a week after getting has really got me down.

*Sigh* Back to baking in my tiny oven that won't even hold a half sheet pan. icon_sad.gif

16 replies
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becky27 Posted 13 Sep 2007 , 4:05pm
post #2 of 17

awe i am so sorry....i know that is downer....but i am sure something better is in store for you...i will say a happy prayer for you!!!! keep your head up!!!!

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leily Posted 13 Sep 2007 , 4:25pm
post #3 of 17

oh that is dissapointing! but have you talked with an electrician to find out what it would take to get the power you need for the oven? It might be worth the expense (and it might not be as much as you thought) expecially if you were planning on using the full space in the oven, the electrical may pay for itself in the time you save from using a smaller oven.

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littlecake Posted 13 Sep 2007 , 10:59pm
post #4 of 17

when i was hunting equipment that was the first thing i was told, stay away from 3 phase.

that's amazing you have 3 phase at your home, some commercial places don't even have it available....i know i don't at my shop.

i hate stuff like this, maybe you can sell it fast, and get one that matches your power source.

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peacockplace Posted 13 Sep 2007 , 11:02pm
post #5 of 17

We ran into that when we were looking for and oven. Our electrition said that the power company would have to come out and put in a whole new box (grid, breaker???) for the whole neighborhood. He said it would cost about $10,000 icon_eek.gif We decided to go with a single phase oven.

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 2:09am
post #6 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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golfgirl1227 Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 3:11am
post #7 of 17

It's not the conversion, it's the voltage. She can run 3 phase as long as it's the right voltage and wattage. That's where you get into the whole 220/208 thing.

I've been dealing with this recently. My oven is 3-phase and the only 3 phase outlet available currently doesn't have enough voltage, so the electrician is running the right one for me.

Sometimes they can change the cords on them. I looked into changing my 3 phase to a single phase, but you still have to be able to run that amount of power through that outlet.

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littlecake Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 4:19am
post #8 of 17

most of the electric poles don't carry that much available voltage, so a converter would be no good.

like she said it would cost 10K to get it run in the neighborhood.

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alimonkey Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 5:13am
post #9 of 17

Yeah - we're the only house in the neighborhood that has 3 phase power - our house was the groundbreaker in the neighborhood, built in 1957 by a family that owned a grocery chain here in Austin. I guess they decided they wanted all the bells and whistles, or maybe it was added later. Dunno.

The funny thing about the 3-phase is that at some point every winter, that third breaker gets knocked out way up on the pole by a rabid squirrel or something, and every summer when we go to turn on the AC we have to call out the power company to switch it back on for us.

So I *KNEW* we had 3 phase (and yes, it's very unusual in a residential area) , and I was so sure this oven would work for us, but didn't know about the voltage stuff. This oven runs on 480/277, which from what I can tell is nonexistent (or practically nonexistent) in residential areas.

We are definitely going to talk to an electrician that knows about commercial power before we sell the oven, and I may even call Vulcan customer service to see if there's anything they can recommend.

Thanks for the help and kind wishes,

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 2:41pm
post #10 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 2:48pm
post #11 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 3:08pm
post #12 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 4:17pm
post #13 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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sugarlove Posted 14 Sep 2007 , 6:24pm
post #14 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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sugarlove Posted 15 Sep 2007 , 2:37am
post #15 of 17

I would get disappointed to soon there are converters you can buy that will converter single appliances from 3 phase to 2/single phase with no problem. Check on ebay.

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littlecake Posted 15 Sep 2007 , 3:55am
post #16 of 17

wow! sugarlove REALLY wants ya to check out ebay, huh?

LOL!

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sugarlove Posted 15 Sep 2007 , 6:34am
post #17 of 17

funny...I realized today when I got on the net and loaded my browser (firefox 2.0) it must have restored my previous session and reposted this duplicate message. Just shows how buggy some things are.

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