Michelle H. Lowe on sun 29 sep 96
Hi, this is a question for all you veteran electric kiln-repairers.
I have a Paragon with an extension ring. The extension ring switch wore
out, so I replaced it. My sweet hubby is an electronic tech, so he wired
the switch for me (I had ignorantly removed the old switch without marking
the wires, so we had to get a schematic and try to decipher how the new
four-position switch hooked up differently than the old three-position).
It seemed fairly simple and he tested the connections and seemed confident
he had it connected properly.
In the past, the kiln has always been somewhat uneven. Not a problem I
just adjusted my firings and glaze-positions in the kiln to suit.
But...after the switch replacement, I fired a glaze and the kiln is
*really* colder on top, the top shelf or two has mostly unmelted or at
least seriously-underfired glaze on the pots, neccessitating re-fire.
Like, I couldn't seem to get it up to temp, although the body of the kiln
was AOK. Soooo, I got a new element for the extension, and when I replaced
the old one, I was puzzled that it seemed flexible and intact (?). I fired
again, still way cold on top. I unloaded the kiln and the top element in
the kiln body had fizzled, so I replaced that one (they were pretty old).
Now, I am firing once again to glaze temp (cone 7) and this time I put a
fiber gasket between the lid and the top of the kiln (seems to work pretty
well, no red-gap showing like before). BUT, it STILL is way uneven, small
witness cone six is half down and seven is tipping but cone six is straight
up and down on the top. As I type, I'm still firing this puppy and going
to try to get "to temp" on top. But hoping maybe some tech-guru can give
me a clue what might be some more options to try?
Could it be the switch is, in fact, *not* properly wired? If it's getting
red hot does that mean it's wired correctly? It seems a simple enough
system that you couldn't be off without it not working at all, but I'm a
newbie to electric circuits.
Can someone please help me out? *whimper* ;-)
Mishy, who hates having to refire five-eight pots per load.
Michelle Lowe, potter in the Phoenix desert \|/ |
mishlowe@indirect.com -O- | |
mishlowe@aztec.asu.edu /|\ | | |
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http://www.amug.org/~mishlowe ____ |
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