Bryan Hannis on mon 6 apr 98
Hi
I'm trying to get my alpine HF 24 to fire more efficiently and I was
thinking of moving the burners out 1" from what they were orginally set at.
This is a very old kiln[serial # 180] and the new kilns I have seen have the
burners set further out than mine are. I run this kiln on propane and
thought that this would give more flame length and better consumption of the
gas?
Does anyone have any ideas about this?
TIA
Bryan Hannis
Valemount,BC
Vince Pitelka on tue 7 apr 98
>I'm trying to get my alpine HF 24 to fire more efficiently and I was
>thinking of moving the burners out 1" from what they were orginally set at.
>This is a very old kiln[serial # 180] and the new kilns I have seen have the
>burners set further out than mine are. I run this kiln on propane and
>thought that this would give more flame length and better consumption of the
>gas?
Bryan -
This was discussed a year or so ago on Clayart, so I will try to give you
the high points. First, as you know, the old Alpines have that strange
ceramic burner tip located within the firebox. About five years ago Alpine
wised up, and the newer Alpines have a larger port, with a conventional cast
iron flame-retention tip located outside the firebox. To really do this
right, you need to dismount your burners, and cut off the last few inches of
burner tube (back far enough to reach metal which is in sound shape).
Purchase a threaded black iron pipe nipple twice the length of the section
you cut off, and cut it in half. Weld half of it to the end of each burner
tube. Purchase a pair of cast iron flame retention tips of the right size
from Marc Ward (see add in CM) and thread them onto the burner tips. Have
someone who is good with a cutting torch cut away the steel for an inch or
so around the existing burner port. Contact your local APGreen distributor
(local refractory supply or boiler supply) and purchase a gallon of
Greenpatch 421. Wet the surface of the brick surrounding the burner port
very thoroughly, apply Greenpatch 421 with a trowell, and build it up into a
collar. The collar should stick out about an inch from the kiln face and
should funnel in to the burner port diameter. This will only take a bit of
the Greenpatch 421, but this stuff is wonderful for all sorts of kiln
repairs, and it is very inexpensive. Works great for repairing bisque-fired
or glaze-fired non-functional clay-work as well. Re-mount your burners so
that the tips are 1/2" away from the outside face of the refractory collars.
Here is another issue. Several people on Clayart firing Alpines (including
Erin Hayes - ehayes@ctc.edu) have completely eliminated the kiln-shelf
bag-wall and the radiants (those refractory grills which fit over the top of
the firebox), and have achieved much more even firings with no hot spots.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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