Jonathan Kirkendall on tue 12 feb 02
Well. Whodda thought it - something has finally gone very, very right after
months of knocking my head against a wall!
Many of you responded last fall when I put out an email saying "Help! My
new Skutt KM1027 has stopped reaching temp!" As you may or may not
remember, this issue was complicated by low voltage, a man hole cover
explosion, and a land lady who asked me not to get the electric company
involved. The answer turned out to be a buck/booster transformer. The first
one I bought turned out to be too small and burned in the first 19 minutes
of the firing. The second one turned out to be NOT the one advertised on
the outside of the box, and had to be returned...the third one turned out to
be the right one, but was incorrectly wired the first time so after 13 hours
and reaching only 1800 degrees, I turned it off and immediately decided it
was a sign for me to quit!!! Alas, the electrician foiled those quitting
plans by showing up 45 MINUTES AFTER I CALLED the next morning, discovered
the error, and corrected it. The kiln now gets about 235 v. and fires right
along to cone 6 with a hold and a slow cool down in 11 hours and some
minutes.
It has literally taken months for me to get this resolved - the first step
was identifying the problem, then contacting an electrician (we went through
three!!!!), then actually getting the work done right. But it's done. It's
been a lesson in perseverance.
Now to reformulate my white which USED to be a mat white and now that it's
actually reaching temp. is really quite glossy! Perhaps I'll experiment
with one of Ron and John's new glazes.
So, now the kiln is working, the students are back (by the way, Anji teaches
one helluva class), orders are up, my psychotherapy practice is picking
up...perhaps it is time to leave my day job.
Jonathan in DC
Arnold Howard on tue 12 feb 02
As Jonathan discovered, a good electrician is a valuable friend.
Example: several months ago I was helping a customer fix a kiln
over the phone. She was very upset and had worked on it for hours
out in the cold.
Then she had an electrician come over. He had never seen a kiln
before in his life, yet he fixed it in minutes, because he knew how
to read a wiring diagram and was highly skilled with circuits. It
was a pleasure to deal with him.
Suggestion: if you can't find a kiln repairman, look for an
electrician who has had experience working on machinery.
Arnold Howard
Paragon
--- Jonathan Kirkendall wrote:
> Well. Whodda thought it - something has finally gone very, very
> right after
> months of knocking my head against a wall!
>
> Many of you responded last fall when I put out an email saying
> "Help! My
> new Skutt KM1027 has stopped reaching temp!" As you may or may
> not
> remember, this issue was complicated by low voltage, a man hole
> cover
> explosion, and a land lady who asked me not to get the electric
> company
> involved. The answer turned out to be a buck/booster transformer.
> The first
> one I bought turned out to be too small and burned in the first
> 19 minutes
> of the firing. The second one turned out to be NOT the one
> advertised on
> the outside of the box, and had to be returned...the third one
> turned out to
> be the right one, but was incorrectly wired the first time so
> after 13 hours
> and reaching only 1800 degrees, I turned it off and immediately
> decided it
> was a sign for me to quit!!! Alas, the electrician foiled those
> quitting
> plans by showing up 45 MINUTES AFTER I CALLED the next morning,
> discovered
> the error, and corrected it. The kiln now gets about 235 v. and
> fires right
> along to cone 6 with a hold and a slow cool down in 11 hours and
> some
> minutes.
>
> It has literally taken months for me to get this resolved - the
> first step
> was identifying the problem, then contacting an electrician (we
> went through
> three!!!!), then actually getting the work done right. But it's
> done. It's
> been a lesson in perseverance.
>
> Now to reformulate my white which USED to be a mat white and now
> that it's
> actually reaching temp. is really quite glossy! Perhaps I'll
> experiment
> with one of Ron and John's new glazes.
>
> So, now the kiln is working, the students are back (by the way,
> Anji teaches
> one helluva class), orders are up, my psychotherapy practice is
> picking
> up...perhaps it is time to leave my day job.
>
> Jonathan in DC
>
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> 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.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings!
http://greetings.yahoo.com
| |
|
