Arnold Howard on fri 13 oct 00
Joyce mentioned, in the following post, problems with digital controller
instructions.
Many of you on Clayart use digital controllers. What was most difficult, for
you as a beginner, in understanding your controller?
Thank you for your feedback.
Arnold Howard
Paragon
--- WHew536674@CS.COM wrote:
> Arnold,
> Good question. I ordered a wall mounted controller for a kiln. It came
> with
> instructions that may as well have been in Greek. I read it over and over,
> slowly, page by page. Took notes and in the end asked my husband for help.
> For a little booklet, it required a lot of time. There are a lot of
> "instruction" manuals out there that are written by the experts that assume
> that the people who are reading them know what they are talking about. I
> think any manual should assume that the person knows nothing about it, and
> talk to them like they are in the 3rd grade. I would not feel as though my
> intelligence were being insulted, if I could look at something and it took
> me
> through the steps one by one.
> Joyce A
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/
Cindy Strnad on fri 13 oct 00
Hi again, Arnold.
This may seem strange, but for me the most difficult thing about the
controller instructions was that they were written in small type. I taped
the sheet up on the wall near the kiln, and couldn't read it unless I walked
right up to it.
Now, the instructions printed on the kiln, if I need them, are plenty, but
when I was starting out, it would have been very, very handy to have a
medium to large print version of the in-depth instructions.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com
amy parker on sat 14 oct 00
Arnold - I've been programming microcomputers since they were invented, so
I'm comfortable with any kind of keypad with a microchip circuit set behind
it. Push button, enter program, see display, no problem. My problem was
trying to figure out how to convert every piece of kiln knowledge I already
had into degrees/hour. What is the digital equivalent of leaving the "first
low" on? What rate of rise does "medium" produce? What does "high" actually
do? Maybe this isn't really a function of the computer, but rather the kiln
itself - obviously a 60 amp kiln is going to put out more heat faster than
a 30 amp kiln, and the amount of insulation is going to determine how fast
this heat is lost to the atmosphere, but a generic "typical" list of kilns,
settings & rates of rise would be nice to know. Not many people have
actually used a temperature probe to monitor their firings, and I have seen
nothing explaining what heat work is typically occurring during a firing.
I received valuable information from some helpful Clayart buddies, without
which I would still be blistering my bisque.
Amy
At 10:10 AM 10/13/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Joyce mentioned, in the following post, problems with digital controller
>instructions.
>Many of you on Clayart use digital controllers. What was most difficult, for
>you as a beginner, in understanding your controller?
>Thank you for your feedback.
>Arnold Howard
>Paragon
Amy Parker
Lithonia, GA
Cheryl L Litman on sun 15 oct 00
Arnold,
I have a Skutt wall mount controller.
If not in the manual itself, maybe on a website, I would like to see the
exact programs preprogrammed in the controller by the manufacturer - for
each cone fire at each of the 3 speeds.
I'd like to see more suggested ramp programs for specialty firings, with
details about why certain segments should be ramped more slowly (ie
quartz inversion).
Before I had the controller, I'd have liked to see an idea of the max
temp the kiln would have reached with one coil on low, 2 on low, 3 on
low....
I'd like to see more detail on the error messages, what they mean and how
to correct them.
I'd like a very thorough list of suggested time frames and maintenance
requirements.
I'd like visuals on how to do that maintenance - a video would be best
(be happy to pay for it).
Based on a few problems I've had:
I'd like to be able to restart a firing at the step I choose if the
program cut off and I didn't catch that it shut off until the temp had
dropped 400-500 degrees. (Had to finish firing manually on that one
because the controller would not reenter the program and finish the
firing - was told that if I'd caught the shutoff before 100 degrees temp
loss, I could have restarted.)
I'd like to know about any quirks you're aware of. For instance, running
back to back firings, I unloaded a fairly hot kiln, restacked it and went
to start my program which includes a 4 hour candling at 175F. Since the
kiln was currently reading 250F, instead of starting to candle it
interpreted that there must have been a power shutoff and it skipped
immediately into step 2 and started into a ramp. Basically the same
problem as above, I want it to start at the step I say to start at and
not some step it thinks I want it to start at.
Cheryl Litman ---------- Somerset, NJ --------- email:
cheryllitman@juno.com
On Fri, 13 Oct 2000 10:10:19 -0700 Arnold Howard
writes:
> Joyce mentioned, in the following post, problems with digital
> controller
> instructions.
>
> Many of you on Clayart use digital controllers. What was most
> difficult, for
> you as a beginner, in understanding your controller?
>
> Thank you for your feedback.
>
> Arnold Howard
> Paragon
>
>
> --- WHew536674@CS.COM wrote:
> > Arnold,
> > Good question. I ordered a wall mounted controller for a kiln.
> It came
> > with
> > instructions that may as well have been in Greek. I read it over
> and over,
> > slowly, page by page. Took notes and in the end asked my husband
> for help.
> > For a little booklet, it required a lot of time. There are a lot
> of
> > "instruction" manuals out there that are written by the experts
> that assume
> > that the people who are reading them know what they are talking
> about. I
> > think any manual should assume that the person knows nothing about
> it, and
> > talk to them like they are in the 3rd grade. I would not feel as
> though my
> > intelligence were being insulted, if I could look at something and
> it took
> > me
> > through the steps one by one.
> > Joyce A
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
> http://mail.yahoo.com/
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your
> subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
Cheryl Litman ---------- Somerset, NJ --------- email:
cheryllitman@juno.com
Jonathan Kaplan on sun 15 oct 00
>
>I'd like to see more suggested ramp programs for specialty firings, with
>details about why certain segments should be ramped more slowly (ie
>quartz inversion).
.....
>
>I'd like to see more detail on the error messages, what they mean and how
>to correct them.
>
>I'd like a very thorough list of suggested time frames and maintenance
>requirements.
Bartlett Instruments, maker of most of the electric kiln controllers we
use, some under other manufacturers names (private labeling) provides an
excellent manual with all the information you need.
The original V6-CF single zone controller on our large front loading
Olympic has a great manual. We recently completely rewired this kiln with
new mercury relays, wiring boards, every thing electronic including a new 3
zone V6-6CF from Bartlett. They faxed me the complete manual for this
conroller.
These publications, for me, are fairly easy to understand and contain erro
codes, firing profiles, and lots of other information including how to
program the 'Options" key on the controller.
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan
Ceramic Design GroupLTD/Production Services
PO Box 775112
Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
(970) 879-9139 voice and fax
http://www.sni.net/ceramicdesign
UPS: 1280 13th St. Unit13
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
| |
|
