Don Kopyscinski on thu 11 apr 96
Hi everyone,
I have used the ITC coating on one of my 10 cubic ft. electric kilns. As far as
it's ability to reduce crumbs I think it has done a good job as a topcoating. It
has put a rather tough crust on the lid and interior of the kiln I used it in.
There was some flaking on the first few firings and the instructions do mention
that it should be fired twice to set the coating (from memory). It appears to
have no detrimental effects on the elements and has shows good resistance to
abrasion once set. There have been a few flakes crop up her and there and those
that looked like they wanted to seek a bowl I just pulled off and gently sanded
the edges with no problems. I used it in conjunction with the kiln patch as well
for some repairs on crumbling bricks and it has done a remarkable job showing no
signs of deterioration.
Axner provided no documentation or instructions but the people at ITC were very
helpful. ***Make sure*** to wet the brick first to begin a capillary action that
will insure a better bond to the bricks. I would suggest using the available
sandblaster ($20.00) as a vehicle to apply the coating, it worked very well
(needs compressor).
Now the other side of the coin.....
It is claimed to produce remarkable energy savings. In my case such a miracle
didn't happen, but the results were measurable and significant. How do I know
for sure? Glad you asked. My PC kiln controller has recently added the
capability of logging an energy use profile at the same time it logs the
requested profile and actual firing curve. I can then download this info and
bring it up in a spreadsheet graphing the firing. I have two identical kilns
side by side with elements of the same resistance changed the same day and each
with the same number of firings on them. The only difference between the two is
that one has been coated with the ITC coating, and the other has not. I logged
firings from each kiln and used this data to graphically compare the actual
energy usage of each kiln under similar loads with identical firing profiles
(the level of repeatability is astounding the firing profiles graphed out nearly
identical). There was some improved heat retention on the cooling cycle of the
ITC coated kiln although I had expected more. Below I have compared portions of
the usage profile.
Time to cool from 2310 to 1000 degrees F
Uncoated - 379 minutes (6 hrs 19 minutes)
Coated - 415 minutes (6 hrs 55 minutes)
Power usage to maintain a 45 minute soak at 2310 F
(an average of 45 readings logged once a minute during this segment of the
profile, as expressed in a percentage of total available power in a 56 amp
10cubic foot kiln @230V )
Uncoated -90.05%
Coated - 79.73%
(a roughly 10% reduction in power consumption)
There is a macro available that will calculate actual power usage for the whole
profile in KWH's however I don't have that on my machine yet. This is however
a pretty good illustration of what you might expect.
There was a notably more responsive temperature rise to applied power at the
early stages of firing showing dramatically steeper temperature rise in the
coated kiln.(when power was applied -the controller compensated for this by
cutting back on the power [1000 steps available] to meet the desired temperature
rise). It did take longer for the PID to tune in the coated kiln, due to the
greater oscillation in this profile (with overshoots of a few degrees of profile
on temp rise, and much greater swings in applied power) until about 1300 degrees
F on up where temperature deviation from the requested profile was nill.
So......I give it an A in structural integrity and a C in power reduction. All
in all, two thumbs up.
Standard disclaimer .....your mileage may vary.
Don Kopyscinski
Bear Hills Pottery
Newtown, CT
74134.2672@compuserve.com
DonKopy@aol.com
Rod, Marian, and Holly Morris on tue 11 apr 00
I have lurked on all the discussions of ITC, hoping to find in the context
what it is and how to use it. I give up. I gather it is a coating for the
elements on a kiln. Where does one get it? How does one apply it to a kiln
which has seen about 50 firings?
Thanks, Marian in Michigan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cheryl L Litman"
To:
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: Cone 6 vs. Cone 9 ox
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Does anyone yet have enough personal experience to comment on whether a
> coating of the ITC 213 product on the elements will extend their life
> significantly? Maybe that's a solution to the cone 6 vs 8/9 problem in
> the electric kilns?
>
> Cheryl Litman ---------- Somerset, NJ --------- email:
> cheryllitman@juno.com
>
> ***Experience is what allows you to recognize a mistake......when you
> make it again.***
>
>
> > Ken,
> > I used to fire to cone 9 to 10 with my electric kiln. I had the
> > kiln
> > elements replaced every l8months to 2 years. I have been firing at
> > cone 5
> > to 6 for the past years and now the elements last for over 4
> > years.With a
> > bit of testing you can find cone 6 glazes that do everything that
> > firing to
> > a higher temperature did. Mia in sunny and warm ABQ
>
> Cheryl Litman ---------- Somerset, NJ --------- email:
> cheryllitman@juno.com
>
> ***Experience is what allows you to recognize a mistake......when you
> make it again.***
>
Cindy Strnad on wed 12 apr 00
Marian,
Axner has ITC, and they have spray equipment for it, too. I don't have their
phone number, but if you do a web search, you can find them.
Cindy Strnad
earthenv@gwtc.net
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
John Bandurchin on thu 14 oct 04
Hi Mel =20
=20
You say to spray entire inside of kiln, over elements and all.
I was wondering what will happen when or if I need to replace the =
elements. I understand that the ITC coating is very hard after firing. =
Will it be possible to pull the elements out when they need to be =
replaced? You also say the element life will be much greater if they =
are coated - (I read that in a much earlier clayart post). Should I =
expect the elements to last as long as the kiln???
John Bandurchin
Baltimore Ontario Canada
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