Carole Fox on fri 1 mar 02
The other day I fired my Land L electric kiln to cone 6 and early on in =
the firing, I noticed major fumes in my basement studio. Luckily, it was =
a nice day and I could open the windows in my house. Unfortunately, the =
only window in my studio is all the way across the room from my kiln. I =
did spend a fair amount of time, checking on the kiln as I have no =
controller. Right off the bat- let me tell you that I know I did a =
stupid, stupid thing and my poor body paid the price for a day and a =
half. I promise I've learned my lesson and will never ,ever, ever fire a =
kiln with a vent that is not working properly.
To compound matters... I AM the girlie girl on the list. I took the =
cover thing off and I don't even know what the heck I'm looking at! I =
don't know how to troubleshoot this problem. It is a Bailey downdraft =
vent. The piece I took off has an inner assembly that looks like a =
cylinder of long, thin blades that rotate. ( Does that make sense to =
anyone?) I sort of expected to see a regular fan. I have already pulled =
off the long vent hose (thing that carries the exhaust out to the exit =
hole in the wall) and checked to see that nothing is blocking it. I =
don't know where to go from here.
I'm considering buying a hood vent to use in addition. Can you use =
downdraft and updraft venting at the same time?
Additional info: I fired with the top peep out. I held a flame to the =
top peep and there was no inward draw - but the flame WAS sucked inward =
at the middle peep! I could hear (what I thought was) the humming of the =
fan when I turned it on. I had the vent and kiln installed by a good =
electrician.
I regret now that I've come to be such a girlie girl. All my life I just =
wanted to a person who made stuff. The science aspect never appealed to =
me. But really, I do see the importance of understanding how my tools ( =
and my materials) work and I'm trying to educate myself , though I =
confess the process is a slow one.
I won't even tell you how long it took me to get the screws off the fan =
box.
Regards,
Carole-=20
(and I don't necessarily want to be a manly man... but something a =
little more balanced might be nice.)
Carole Fox
Silver Fox Pottery
Elkton, MD
cfox@dca.net
Dave Gayman on fri 1 mar 02
Two more blockages to consider -- 1, the small hole in the kiln wall or
floor that feeds the Bailey vent and 2, the exterior vent itself. Mice
love to stay warm and don't seem to mind sulfur dioxide.
The blower is technically a squirrel cage blower, though today we'd call it
a hamster wheel, since nobody with regard to his or her fingers keeps
squirrels as pets any more. Air gets caught up by the blades as the wheel
spins; the blades are little airfoils, and air is spun out as they
turn. They are very effective, far more effective than conventional fans,
and are used in your furnace (if you have one), clothes dryer, most hair
dryers, range vents, bathroom vents, and the like.
If the motor's bearing have seized, resulting in no rotation and thus no
air flow, it still might hum and sound like it's turning. A drop or two of
WD-40 or (my favorite) CorrosionX in the bearings might free it up, but if
this is what's happened, it's best to replace the motor or the entire
blower, which is actually easier, since you wouldn't have to disassemble
the blower/squirrel cage.
If the motor doesn't turn after lubrication, or it seems easy to turn with
the power off, check the cord to the wall socket, and the circuit breaker
or fuse to the circuit feeding it. Don't touch anything electrical when
the box is open, but it's okay to try to turn the squirrel cage with a
dowel or stick or something, NOT your fingers. The squirrel cage could be
jammed on a mouse... or a squirrel, for that matter.
(The lower peep will draw air, if the upper peep is open, due to convection
-- hot air rises, rushing out of the top peep, while make-up air rushes in
the lower peep.)
Dave
At 09:39 AM 3/1/2002 -0500, Carole wrote:
>[snip]
>I took the cover thing off and I don't even know what the heck I'm looking
>at! I don't know how to troubleshoot this problem. ....the piece I took
>off has an inner assembly that looks like a cylinder of long, thin blades
>that rotate. ...I have already pulled off the long vent hose (thing that
>carries the exhaust out to the exit hole in the wall) and checked to see
>that nothing is blocking it. I don't know where to go from here.
>
>
>
>Additional info: I fired with the top peep out. I held a flame to the top
>peep and there was no inward draw - but the flame WAS sucked inward at the
>middle peep! I could hear (what I thought was) the humming of the fan when
>I turned it on. [snip]
Arnold Howard on mon 4 mar 02
You can use both a downdraft and overhead vent, but it shouldn't be
necessary. The downdraft should be sufficient.
The downdraft vent must build up negative pressure inside the kiln.
For this reason you will probably get better venting results by
keeping the peephole plugs inserted.
Arnold Howard
Paragon
--- Carole Fox wrote:
> The other day I fired my Land L electric kiln to cone 6 and early
> on in the firing, I noticed major fumes in my basement studio.
> Luckily, it was a nice day and I could open the windows in my
> house. Unfortunately, the only window in my studio is all the way
> across the room from my kiln. I did spend a fair amount of time,
> checking on the kiln as I have no controller. Right off the bat-
> let me tell you that I know I did a stupid, stupid thing and my
> poor body paid the price for a day and a half. I promise I've
> learned my lesson and will never ,ever, ever fire a kiln with a
> vent that is not working properly.
>
> To compound matters... I AM the girlie girl on the list. I took
> the cover thing off and I don't even know what the heck I'm
> looking at! I don't know how to troubleshoot this problem. It is
> a Bailey downdraft vent. The piece I took off has an inner
> assembly that looks like a cylinder of long, thin blades that
> rotate. ( Does that make sense to anyone?) I sort of expected to
> see a regular fan. I have already pulled off the long vent hose
> (thing that carries the exhaust out to the exit hole in the wall)
> and checked to see that nothing is blocking it. I don't know
> where to go from here.
>
> I'm considering buying a hood vent to use in addition. Can you
> use downdraft and updraft venting at the same time?
>
> Additional info: I fired with the top peep out. I held a flame to
> the top peep and there was no inward draw - but the flame WAS
> sucked inward at the middle peep! I could hear (what I thought
> was) the humming of the fan when I turned it on. I had the vent
> and kiln installed by a good electrician.
>
> I regret now that I've come to be such a girlie girl. All my life
> I just wanted to a person who made stuff. The science aspect
> never appealed to me. But really, I do see the importance of
> understanding how my tools ( and my materials) work and I'm
> trying to educate myself , though I confess the process is a slow
> one.
>
> I won't even tell you how long it took me to get the screws off
> the fan box.
>
> Regards,
> Carole-
> (and I don't necessarily want to be a manly man... but
> something a little more balanced might be nice.)
>
>
> Carole Fox
> Silver Fox Pottery
> Elkton, MD
> cfox@dca.net
>
>
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