Robin Wolf on sun 1 apr 07
Mel,
I have read your posts MANY times, studied The Art of Firing at length, and
(hopefully) followed the directions to a tee. Your writings and conviction
about this kiln conversion helped me to make the decision to try this. This
was not an inexpensive undertaking, the funds that I invested were important
to me. I did all the reading and studying, thinking and worrying about
this conversion. I purchased ITC 100, 213 and 296 ($300) and all new
elements ($300) and a roll of ceramic fiber ($175) plus 2 new switches,
stainless steel nuts and bolts, high temp thermal connectors ($100) . My
expenses exceeded $875. I felt this amount was reasonable when I saw the
results on the first 3 firings, and had long term plans for the use of this
kiln.
I read all I could on this and studied until I was convinced that this was
the way to go. I LOVED the results that I got from my first 3 firings, the
kiln has been an absolute thrill, up until the time that all 6 new elements
failed. I thought that I took great care in the element coating portion of
this conversion, scrubbing each element with a tooth brush and bleach water,
rinsing them well, and letting them dry well before I dipped them in ITC 213
(the dark brown coating). They hung in my shower to dry, then I gently
installed each in my kiln. As I stated in my earlier posts, I was
experiencing black flecks floating through my firing, and it appears that
the flecks were coming off the elements. I gently vacuumed the interior of
my kiln before each new load. I do not know what happened to make the
elements fail after only 4 firings, if I failed to do the element portion of
this conversion properly, maybe my failure needs to be a lesson for the
coming potters.
I am in no way pointing fingers at anything in an accusatory manner, I am
simply asking for advice on where to go now. Could I have had too much
smoke and reduction? Would that have caused the failure? The ITC on the
brick has been great - my old bricks look like they could make it 20 more
years. The kiln fired evenly top to bottom, my colors were consistent no
matter where they were at in the kiln. My conversation with Ferriz at ITC
was a thrill before I bought the coatings. He seems to truly care about the
potting community, and I still believe in his products, completely. But
something happened on my venture, and now I have to make new choices. At
this point I am not brave enough to invest another $300 with Euclid for
elements, and at least $50 for more ITC to coat a new set of coils. Either
way, I think I am going to spend another $300 to $400 to get a kiln up and
running, I just want to make sure that the next chunk of hard earned cash is
well invested in something that I am at least 90% certain will last more
than 4 firings.
I truly believe that the dual fuel kiln is a godsend for many of us - I live
on a wheat and cattle farm in Central Oklahoma. The draught that we have
experienced for the last several years has made all of us very nervous about
flames, including my kiln. I am just trying to find out if my personal
failing is something that others can avoid.
Robin Wolf
Rt 2 Box 142W
Kingfisher, OK 73750
robinwolf@pldi.net
405.368.0919
Arnold Howard on mon 2 apr 07
From: "Robin Wolf"
I do not know what happened to make the
> elements fail after only 4 firings,
Maybe the element connectors were not tight enough. Just
this weekend I saw an element that had burned out due to a
loose connector.
Where were the breaks in the elements?
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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