James Freeman on mon 22 aug 11
On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 10:11 AM, Dina Barnese wrote=
:
I want to use the kilnsitter on the electric kiln but I also want (need) a
pyrometer. I am looking for a recommendation for this kiln. Should I go
analog? Digital?
Dina...
Fluke makes particularly good digital pyrometers. The model 51 and 52,
which are suitable for our purposes, are fairly easy to find used on eBay
for less than $100. I purchased the model that accepts two thermocouples
(52 II), just to have that option. The fluke meters are made for tradesmen
and industry, so they are extremely durable. You can get a used Fluke for
about what you'd pay for a new Chinese meter, and I'd much rather have the
Fluke, which is more accurate (and yellow!).
If you decide to pursue this route, know that if you search eBay for
"pyrometer", you will likely turn up nothing, as we seem to be the only fol=
k
on the planet who call them that! Search for "digital thermometer", or
"fluke digital thermometer", and you will turn up many.
Most of the used pyrometers will not come with a thermocouple. I purchased
my thermocouple, wire, and connector from Bailey for about $25.
I don't think a pyrometer is at all necessary with a manual electric kiln,
as you don't typically have to worry about whether or not your temperature
is climbing, as you might in a fuel kiln, and you can tell how close you ar=
e
getting to cone time by just glancing at the color of the kiln glow through
the crack in the lid. Also, the kiln sitter is best used only as an
insurance policy, though I do know a number of people who rely on it
completely to end their bisque firings, where the actual final cone or
temperature isn't terribly critical. The Dawson Kiln Sitter was, in fact,
invented as a primary unattended shut off device for manual kiln firings.
The gentleman who invented it was an engineer ar Ford Motor Company, in
Dearborn, Michigan. His wife was a potter, who often left him to watch her
kiln and turn it off at the proper time. He called himself her "kiln
sitter", because he baby-sat her kiln. He invented the automated kiln
sitter to take his place so he didn't have to spend his free time chained t=
o
a kiln! True story.
All the best.
...James
James Freeman
"...outsider artists, caught in the bog of their own consciousness, too
preciously idiosyncratic to be taken seriously."
"All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should
not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed."
-Michel de Montaigne
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesfreemanstudio/
http://www.jamesfreemanstudio.com/resources
Dina Barnese on mon 22 aug 11
About a year ago, I bought a brand new, secondhand Skutt KS1018 kiln. The
woman who sold it to me had never fired it, and I had nowhere to install it
at the time so wrapped it up snugly and stored it in the shed. Finally now =
I
am *this* close to installing the kiln in my new studio. It is manually
fired with a kiln sitter, something I have very little experience with as I
don't use the kilnsitter on my propane-fired kiln (it has one, but I don't
use it). On that kiln, I rely on witness cones and my analog pyrometer to
help me through the firings.
I want to use the kilnsitter on the electric kiln but I also want (need) a
pyrometer. I am looking for a recommendation for this kiln. Should I go
analog? Digital?
Many thanks,
Dina Barnese
Zizziba Studio
Flagstaff, Arizona
http://www.zizziba.com
C. Tullis on tue 23 aug 11
I agree with Steve as to cheapest but I would definitely go with digital.=
=3D
In my=3D20
experimenting with DIY oxy-sensors I found a multimeter that has a pyrome=
=3D
ter=3D20
setting at Harbor Freight for about $20. It's thermocouple is crap so pi=
=3D
ck up a=3D20
good K-type, wire and plug from your supplier and your set. They say it'=
=3D
s good=3D20
to about 1100=3DB0C but I think it's limitation is the thermocouple not the=
=3D
meter.
http://www.harborfreight.com/ac-dc-digital-multimeter-37772.html
C. Tullis
Steve Mills on tue 23 aug 11
Go cheapest, and remember Pyros and cones read different things:
Cone for accuracy, and pyro for how fast (or not) you are going up!!!
Steve M
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
www.mudslinger.me.uk
Sent from my Ipod touch
On 22 Aug 2011, at 15:11, Dina Barnese wrote:
> About a year ago, I bought a brand new, secondhand Skutt KS1018 kiln. The
> woman who sold it to me had never fired it, and I had nowhere to install =
i=3D
t
> at the time so wrapped it up snugly and stored it in the shed. Finally no=
w=3D
I
> am *this* close to installing the kiln in my new studio. It is manually
> fired with a kiln sitter, something I have very little experience with as=
I=3D
> don't use the kilnsitter on my propane-fired kiln (it has one, but I don'=
t=3D
> use it). On that kiln, I rely on witness cones and my analog pyrometer to
> help me through the firings.
>=3D20
> I want to use the kilnsitter on the electric kiln but I also want (need) =
a=3D
> pyrometer. I am looking for a recommendation for this kiln. Should I go
> analog? Digital?
>=3D20
> Many thanks,
>=3D20
> Dina Barnese
> Zizziba Studio
> Flagstaff, Arizona
> http://www.zizziba.com
Steve Mills on tue 23 aug 11
That's the problem with type K T'couples: after 1100oC they become increasi=
n=3D
gly inaccurate.=3D20
If you want accurate temperature (not heat-work!) readings you need types R=
,=3D
S, or N.=3D20
Steve M
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
www.mudslinger.me.uk
Sent from my Ipod touch
On 23 Aug 2011, at 12:47, "C. Tullis" wrote:
> I agree with Steve as to cheapest but I would definitely go with digital.=
=3D
In my=3D20
> experimenting with DIY oxy-sensors I found a multimeter that has a pyrome=
t=3D
er=3D20
> setting at Harbor Freight for about $20. It's thermocouple is crap so pi=
c=3D
k up a=3D20
> good K-type, wire and plug from your supplier and your set. They say it'=
s=3D
good=3D20
> to about 1100=3DC2=3DB0C but I think it's limitation is the thermocouple =
not t=3D
he meter.
> http://www.harborfreight.com/ac-dc-digital-multimeter-37772.html
>=3D20
> C. Tullis
Karen Gringhuis on wed 24 aug 11
Dina -=3D20
I agree w/ James Freeman - buy a Fluke DIGITAL pyrometer. Mine has laste=
=3D
d
15+ years i.e. cost per use is low and worth every penny. I have one for=
=3D
two probes but in my L & L elec. J230 kiln, I've only ever used one. =3D
Get a
ceramic cover shaft for the probe to reduce wear. I bought all my pieces=
=3D
new from Bailey who has good tech. advice. My pyro. is essential - I
"don't leave home without it." I could lose all my cones and still fire =
=3D
w/
pyro. and kiln log history. There's tech. equipment out there for enginee=
=3D
rs
- no reason why we potters shouldn't use it, too. (I'm working up to a
digital scale.)
People are correct - the pyro. is for speed of rise or cooling which IMHO=
=3D
is
ESSENTIAL to:
-- control slow bisque rise so organic material burns out slowly
-- judge soak at top temp. for glazes to mature well
-- control slow cooling to keep matte glazes matte
I have kiln sitter (no computer controller tho friends swear by them) whi=
=3D
ch
I allow to shut off a BISQUE firing. I do NOT allow sitter to end GLAZE
firing - I watch cones and make the call myself.=3D20
Karen G.
Stephani Stephenson on thu 25 aug 11
I bought 2 digital pyrometers from a well known vendor at NCECA one year.=
=3D
they were on sale for $70 ea.
Ultimax 1T k-type.=3D20
do NOT buy this digital thermometer/pyrometer
one i bought for a friend. it never even worked once. he returned it to m=
=3D
e
over a year later, unyused really, but too late for me to return. the one=
=3D
I
had worked for a short time but was always problematic, registering 'OL' =
=3D
a
lot. the tiny wires that connect to a thermocouple were quite fragile as
well. i probably used it for less than 10 firings before it essentially
became useless.
My old cress came with a lovely durable analog pyrometer.. big beefy wrap=
=3D
ped
wires, good thermocouple, and a needle that swings up the scale dependabl=
=3D
y
and has been doing so on this particular kiln since 1973.
Stephani Stephenson
http://www.revivaltileworks.com
Revival Arts Studio
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