Lynn Goodman Porcelain Pottery on wed 23 jan 08
On Jan 23, 2008, at 10:02 PM, Paul Borian wrote:
> i bought a manual Olympic kiln this summer, it only had about 10
> firings
> to cone 04 and was basically new, and i have since done about 30-40
> bisque
> firings to cone 04 since then. I just noticed that on the bottom
> section
> only the "high" position on the switch gets the elements to heat
> up. They
> don't seem to even get warm on low or medium and don't make that
> vibrating
> noise when you turn them on until it gets to high.
Hi Paul,
If the elements were the problem, the bottom wouldn't heat up at all.
I think you need to replace the bottom switch. Pull it apart and
look: it probably looks crispy. Replacing it will be way cheaper
than a kiln load that won't reach temp.
Lynn
Paul Borian on wed 23 jan 08
i bought a manual Olympic kiln this summer, it only had about 10 firings
to cone 04 and was basically new, and i have since done about 30-40 bisque
firings to cone 04 since then. I just noticed that on the bottom section
only the "high" position on the switch gets the elements to heat up. They
don't seem to even get warm on low or medium and don't make that vibrating
noise when you turn them on until it gets to high.
I tried to find out if an element had broken somewhere down there but i
could not find anything. Plus they are tucked away deep in the grooves and
there does not seem to be any way one could have broken since they are not
sticking out anywhere.
It does not seem possible to get the control box covers off on this kiln
without taking the sections apart because of the way it was designed -
each section has a standard electrical plug and receptacle just like on an
extension cord that supplies the power and they can only be unplugged by
lifting each section out. But, i was able to take the screws out and pry
the box off just enough to be able to look in there with a flashlight, and
it looks like all the wires going to the elements are connected.
I took a voltage meter and just touched it to each of the two bottom
elements (right inside the kiln) and got 120 volts on each - so it seems
like they are getting power but only heating up when on high.
The switch seems to work well and does not act like a burnt out switch - i
have replaced plenty of those on my other bisque kiln, a skutt 1227 with
thousands of firings that i have completely re-wired and fixed dozens of
times over the years. This situation seems different than all the others
though.
anyone have one of these kilns? any ideas?
thanks,
Paul
Paul Borian on thu 24 jan 08
thanks for the replies so far.
The switches are the 4 position kind, just like the manual skutt 1227. I
am thinking it is just a bad connection as was suggested already because
the switches are relatively new and i have replaced several on my old
skutt, and i can usually tell when a switch is burned out because of the
way it feels when you turn it.
It was working fine a couple weeks ago so i don't think it was wired
wrong - but i would like to see the schematic just in case. It could be
faxed to 866-325-1054.
thanks,
Paul
Rob Haugen on thu 24 jan 08
Paul,
The way that the switch is wired both elements heat in series on low, the
bottom element in the section is will heat on medium and both elements will
heat at 100% on high. It sounds like the switch could be bad or it has been
wired incorrectly. I would be happy to send you a schematic for the switch
and the kiln. The sections do lift off of one another and you will need to
separate the sections in order to open the electrical panels. If you have
any questions pleased feel free to give me a call at 800-241-4400.
Rob Haugen
Olympic Kilns .
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Borian"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:02 PM
Subject: Problem with Olympic kiln
>i bought a manual Olympic kiln this summer, it only had about 10 firings
> to cone 04 and was basically new, and i have since done about 30-40 bisque
> firings to cone 04 since then. I just noticed that on the bottom section
> only the "high" position on the switch gets the elements to heat up. They
> don't seem to even get warm on low or medium and don't make that vibrating
> noise when you turn them on until it gets to high.
> I tried to find out if an element had broken somewhere down there but i
> could not find anything. Plus they are tucked away deep in the grooves and
> there does not seem to be any way one could have broken since they are not
> sticking out anywhere.
> It does not seem possible to get the control box covers off on this kiln
> without taking the sections apart because of the way it was designed -
> each section has a standard electrical plug and receptacle just like on an
> extension cord that supplies the power and they can only be unplugged by
> lifting each section out. But, i was able to take the screws out and pry
> the box off just enough to be able to look in there with a flashlight, and
> it looks like all the wires going to the elements are connected.
> I took a voltage meter and just touched it to each of the two bottom
> elements (right inside the kiln) and got 120 volts on each - so it seems
> like they are getting power but only heating up when on high.
> The switch seems to work well and does not act like a burnt out switch - i
> have replaced plenty of those on my other bisque kiln, a skutt 1227 with
> thousands of firings that i have completely re-wired and fixed dozens of
> times over the years. This situation seems different than all the others
> though.
> anyone have one of these kilns? any ideas?
> thanks,
> Paul
>
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Arnold Howard on thu 24 jan 08
From: "Paul Borian"
I just noticed that on the bottom section
> only the "high" position on the switch gets the elements
> to heat up. They
> don't seem to even get warm on low or medium
-----------
Paul, does the kiln have infinite controls or 4-way rotary
switches? The reason I ask is that the problem you are
describing is a wire disconnected from the N terminal of a
4-way rotary switch.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
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