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reduction kiln troubleshooting

updated wed 7 oct 98

 

Emily Muench on sat 3 oct 98

A friend fired the studio reduction kiln recently and found one of the burners
off after many hours of firing....cone 7 was bending on a cone 9
firing........he was able to successfully relight and finish the firing,
haven't heard about results yet.......what would possibly cause the burner
/pilot to go off????? the guage on the tank read 70%....I recommended having
the gas company send someone out to check line and burner/pilot, anyone have
any other suggestions......did it ever happen to you????

MRS SANDRA L BURKE on sun 4 oct 98

I have had this happen once and discovered when the kiln had cooled
that some broken shards of pottery had fallen down and colgged the
burner. I would check the burners for debris first. Now I check them
before each firing and when I clean the kiln I place bricks over the
port holes before I ckean the Kiln. this was a klin with the burners
underneath, if you have one with the burners on the side-----I'm not
sure--I suppose they could still get stuff in them?
Sandy B

klauzer jessica a on tue 6 oct 98

I think what the important lesson here is that it is necessary to keep a
close eye
on our kilns when firing. Besides, it is the only way to get to know the
fire and better understand the processes and "moods" of your kiln. I have
had burners shut off a few times,
and can only guess at the cause -- too little draw through the flue which
"blew out the flame"... who knows? But I was there to catch it and
quickly relight the burner. Leaving a gas kiln firing all by its little
lonesome seems dangerous just on a logical basis, even from someone who
knows nothing about kilns or ceramics at all. Try to at least check the
kiln every hour when firing to make sure she's feelin' fine. We're
talking hot stuff here. Take care!

jessica