David Hooker on wed 2 jul 97
Hi all----
I've got a problem with my 2nd hand Skutt electric kiln. It's a 1027 with
timer kiln setter-- pretty standard stuff. I got it from a university that
received it damaged in shipping- the damage being some superficial soft
brick chipping, and the timer makes some noise when its on (so I'm sure it
took a jolt). They fired it once or twice and then put it in the corner for
several years before I got a hold of it.
Anyway, I've had about 6 firings in it so far, at cones 06-01. No problem.
Last weekend I fired it to cone 6---problem. The kiln shut itself off just
before reaching temperature (cone 6 was soft) but not by tripping the
sitter or running the timer out- it just went dead. It did not trip the
outside breaker. The timer/switch box was hot to the touch- almost
untouchable. I let it cool down, unloaded it, and noticed some of the
enamel is pealing away from the box. The inside of the kiln looks normal.
The kiln won't start again.
I definately think there is a problem with the insulation of the box, since
i have not experienced a timer/switch box getting hot before. But I was
wondering if there is a fuse inside the box that might have blown (I'm
waiting to take it apart until I get some insight from Y'all).
Anybody had a similar experience? Any ideas on fixing it?
Thanks in advance,
David JP Hooker
dhooker@ns1.upstate.net
Louis Katz on thu 3 jul 97
Sounds like the kiln sitter contact block has died. This happens if a
piece of crud gets in there and holds the contacts apart and they arc.
You can tell this is happening because the resistance goes up and the
sitter button usually gets hot.
Unfortunately when the block gets hot so do the wires coming into it.
This means you may need to replace some wiring as well as the contact
block. Also there is a little wire spring that holds the sitter button in
and usually when a sitter contact block overheats this little spring gets
fried also.
Unplug the kiln. Depending on the skutt Model you may be able to take the
cover off the sitter without taking the kiln sections apart. But you will
probably need to take the sections apart to finish the repair. Take a
good look beforoe ordering parts. Check your ground and make sure there
are no shorts to the case befroe plugging it back in. Make sure you use
appropriate replacement wires if you need to replace them, and that the
lugs on the ends of the wires are made of the right material. I would buy
it all from Skutt. Of course something else could be causing your problem.
Louis
On older kilns it is a good idea to check how hot the sitter button gets.
It the temperature gets higher with consecutive firings, or you notice
arcing in the sitter box it is a good time to replace the contact block.
If you wait too long it takes wires with it.
Louis Katz
Texas A&M University Corpus Campus
lkatz@falcon.tamucc.edu
http://www.tamucc.edu/~lkatz
Beverly Cohen on thu 3 jul 97
Dave,
I had a similar experience with my own second hand Skutt. It would
shut off before time. Mine's a bit older than yours in that all it
has is the kiln sitter. The plug burned one time and the other
times the plug & receptacle as well as the cord were extremely hot.
Turned out to be that someone played around with the wiring and
didn't ground the top collar properly and it was shorting out
each time it hit a particular temperature range. It was very
frustrating until we found out what the problem was. Hubby
fixed the ground and now it fires like a champ from 03 to 6.
Just my 2 cents. :-)
Beverly Cohen
Earthly Treasures
bcohen@goldinc.com
http://www.goldinc.com/~bcohen/bcohen.html
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi all----
>
>I've got a problem with my 2nd hand Skutt electric kiln. It's a 1027 with
>timer kiln setter-- pretty standard stuff. I got it from a university that
>received it damaged in shipping- the damage being some superficial soft
>brick chipping, and the timer makes some noise when its on (so I'm sure it
>took a jolt). They fired it once or twice and then put it in the corner for
>several years before I got a hold of it.
>Anyway, I've had about 6 firings in it so far, at cones 06-01. No problem.
>Last weekend I fired it to cone 6---problem. The kiln shut itself off just
>before reaching temperature (cone 6 was soft) but not by tripping the
>sitter or running the timer out- it just went dead. It did not trip the
>outside breaker. The timer/switch box was hot to the touch- almost
>untouchable. I let it cool down, unloaded it, and noticed some of the
>enamel is pealing away from the box. The inside of the kiln looks normal.
>The kiln won't start again.
>
>I definately think there is a problem with the insulation of the box, since
>i have not experienced a timer/switch box getting hot before. But I was
>wondering if there is a fuse inside the box that might have blown (I'm
>waiting to take it apart until I get some insight from Y'all).
>
>Anybody had a similar experience? Any ideas on fixing it?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>David JP Hooker
>dhooker@ns1.upstate.net
>
Marni Turkel on thu 3 jul 97
David,
Don't worry about problems with insulation in the box, there is no
insulation. The timer switches do get HOT during the firing and they all
seem to make atleast some noise. I happen to like Skutt kilns very much.
There are a limited number of things to go wrong, and they are easily
fixed. Most often, an interbox plug burns out (new models no longer have
interbox plugs, and there is an upgrade that dispenses with them for older
models).
The first thing to do (in case you haven't already done it) is to turn the
breaker COMPLETELY off, and then back to the on position, being sure that
it stays firmly on. Sometimes the breaker appears to be in the on position,
but isn't. Before opening the boxes, try tripping the auto shut-off
mechanism and re-setting it. Sometimes the little button (plastic on recent
year models) melts when the mechanism starts to go, in that case, the
button won't stay set. The best thing to do is unplug the kiln and open the
boxes to look inside. If nothing else, it will make you more at home with
your kiln and you'll see that here is very little in there. Check to see
that none of the wires are blackened or crispy, that none of the connectors
are corroded or discolored. Check all plugs for darkening or melted
plastic, all receptacles for the same. Check for loose connections. It is
usually pretty obvious when something is wrong in there.
My expertise stops at the wall plug. If you can't find anything wrong
inside, and the breaker is reset to the on position, have someone check to
be sure you have power at the wall receptable.
Good luck,
Marni Turkel
Stony Point Ceramic Design
Santa Rosa, California
>Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 09:11:46 EDT
>From: David Hooker
>Subject: help with skutt kiln
>
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi all----
>
>I've got a problem with my 2nd hand Skutt electric kiln. It's a 1027 with
>timer kiln setter-- pretty standard stuff. I got it from a university that
>received it damaged in shipping- the damage being some superficial soft
>brick chipping, and the timer makes some noise when its on (so I'm sure it
>took a jolt). They fired it once or twice and then put it in the corner for
>several years before I got a hold of it.
>Anyway, I've had about 6 firings in it so far, at cones 06-01. No problem.
>Last weekend I fired it to cone 6---problem. The kiln shut itself off just
>before reaching temperature (cone 6 was soft) but not by tripping the
>sitter or running the timer out- it just went dead. It did not trip the
>outside breaker. The timer/switch box was hot to the touch- almost
>untouchable. I let it cool down, unloaded it, and noticed some of the
>enamel is pealing away from the box. The inside of the kiln looks normal.
>The kiln won't start again.
>
>I definately think there is a problem with the insulation of the box, since
>i have not experienced a timer/switch box getting hot before. But I was
>wondering if there is a fuse inside the box that might have blown (I'm
>waiting to take it apart until I get some insight from Y'all).
>
>Anybody had a similar experience? Any ideas on fixing it?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>David JP Hooker
>dhooker@ns1.upstate.net
Ken Russell on thu 3 jul 97
>>I definately think there is a problem with the insulation of the box,
since
>>i have not experienced a timer/switch box getting hot before. But I was
>>wondering if there is a fuse inside the box that might have blown (I'm
>>waiting to take it apart until I get some insight from Y'all).
Although I have proven ignorance of elements and will believe whatever the
salesman tells me, I have rebuilt my kilns about a million times. Sounds
like one of the wires or wire terminals your main box burned up and
disconnected. It happens. You can fix this. Unplug the kiln and remove
the box to see which wire burned up. More than likely, the wire
disconnected from the terminal due to overheating (either the element
connection or power cord leads). Get a new terminal at the hardware store,
cut the wire back (cut off the burnt part), strip a little bit of the
insulation back, install the new terminal, crimp it real good and reattach
the new terminal. If two or more wires have burnt up, MAKE SURE you put
them back on the correct terminal studs. If possible try to make sure none
of the wiring touches the sides of the kiln or the element leads when you
put the box back on. Good luck.
Ken Russell
The Arlington Pottery
gone2pot@iw.net
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