Janet H Walker on wed 1 apr 98
...need of some opinions from this forum on the pros and
cons of automated kiln controllers...
I highly recommend kiln controllers. I have used the Skutt controller
with a Skutt kiln. I would look hard at a controller with two
pyrometers that can maintain a 1 degree difference between the two.
This means much better chance of EVEN firings. I think the brand is
UniTemp. Ron Roy sent a message about them last year sometime.
My controller has 8 steps in a program. This is a minimum, in my
books. I would prefer 10. The reason? I need several steps to
control cooldown. If you have any thoughts of doing say, single
firing or crystalline glazes you'll want more steps. I would say
you want a minimum of 4 stored firing programs, 8 would be nicer.
I bought the controller about a year after I bought the kiln. So the
controller is mounted on the wall and plugs into the "socket". The
kiln plugs into the controller. This means that if the controller
takes a powder, I can in theory continue to fire using the manual
switches. When my controller did go on the fritz (no one could
figure out what was wrong with it so they replaced the processor
board and it has been fine.) I had no desire to return to manual
firing so i just waited for it to come back. UPS 2nd day air.
At NCECA there was a company selling K-type thermocouples sealed in
stainless steel jackets. Since no air gets to them, they do not
oxidize and fail as quickly as the ones in porcelain tubes where the
wire loop sticks out the end. This would be worth looking into.
The company was called Digitry, located in Portland Maine. I think
they had an ad in CM recently. I don't know whether you have to buy
their controller in order to buy their thermocouples but i don't
think so. (I did not find that the programming for their controller
was as easy to specify as for the Skutt.)
I guess that's most of what I have to say. Except I haven't shown
nearly enough ENTHUSIASM! For heaven's sake, get the controller.
Especially for an art center. The delay feature means that you
could start the kiln in the middle of the night and have the
switching going automatically so that the critical part that you
want to watch over could be happening at YOUR convenience without
needing people to show up in the middle of the night or at dawn to
flip switches. Much more convenient for you and much higher
possibility of consistent repeatable firings for the studio members.
Jan Walker
Cambridge MA USA (where the forecast high of 90F will be 20F above
the previous recorded all-time high temp for this date. Beats me
why the suits are still denying even the possibility of global
climate change.)
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