Janis Young on sun 4 aug 02
Thanks to all who replied to my pyrometer query.
Someone warned me that the Omega site was confusing,
and I'm certainly finding it that way. Will someone
who's using their handheld digital pyrometer please
send me the model number?
thanks,
Janis
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Robert Izzi on mon 5 aug 02
The Fluke K/J 51 works just fine for me and I got it on Ebay for $50.00.
Bob I
Pamela Regentin on wed 12 sep 07
I have an analog type pyrometer on my gas kiln. It was "brand new" when I got it with the used kiln and I found out with the first firing that the needle stuck at about 1600degrees. I fired that time with cones only since I was stuck in the middle of a firing. Since then I've borrowed my friend's Fluke.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for getting an accurate and reliable digital to use with the probe in my kiln? Where is a good place to buy and what should I look for? Would a $50 dvom from the auto parts store work?
Thanks for any recommendations.
Pam
Hearth and Home Studio
Mt. Hood, Oregon
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James and Sherron Bowen on thu 13 sep 07
Check out eBay for an used Omega of Fluke digital thermometer that has the
proper temperature range and uses a type K thermocouple.
I have purchased them in the past for as little as $20.00 and thermocouples
for as low as $3.00.
Personally, I prefer the Omegas.
JB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pamela Regentin"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:45 PM
Subject: pyrometer
>I have an analog type pyrometer on my gas kiln. It was "brand new" when I
>got it with the used kiln and I found out with the first firing that the
>needle stuck at about 1600degrees. I fired that time with cones only since
>I was stuck in the middle of a firing. Since then I've borrowed my friend's
>Fluke.
>
> Does anyone have any good recommendations for getting an accurate and
> reliable digital to use with the probe in my kiln? Where is a good place
> to buy and what should I look for? Would a $50 dvom from the auto parts
> store work?
>
> Thanks for any recommendations.
>
> Pam
> Hearth and Home Studio
> Mt. Hood, Oregon
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Be a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers from someone who
> knows.
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>
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Hank Murrow on thu 13 sep 07
On Sep 12, 2007, at 10:45 PM, Pamela Regentin wrote:
> I have an analog type pyrometer on my gas kiln. It was "brand new"
> when I got it with the used kiln and I found out with the first
> firing that the needle stuck at about 1600degrees. I fired that
> time with cones only since I was stuck in the middle of a firing.
> Since then I've borrowed my friend's Fluke.
>
> Does anyone have any good recommendations for getting an accurate
> and reliable digital to use with the probe in my kiln? Where is a
> good place to buy and what should I look for? Would a $50 dvom from
> the auto parts store work?
Dear Pam;
It is possible that the meter is not the problem and that the probe
is the culprit. Those type K thermocouples don't care to go to cone
10. when they wear out, they just don't read accurately to maximum
temperature. for firing to stoneware temperatures, I recommend a type
R (13% rhodium/platinum) thermocouple sheathed in a 1/2" alumina tube
to protect it from the atmosphere. Expensive, but quite reliable. The
OxyProbe has a type R thermocouple built into the probe, along with
an Oxy sensor for reading reduction.
Cheers, Hank
www.murrow.biz/hank
om on thu 13 sep 07
On Sep 12, 2007, at 10:45 PM, Pamela Regentin wrote:
> Does anyone have any good recommendations for getting an accurate
> and reliable digital to use with the probe in my kiln? Where is a
> good place to buy and what should I look for? Would a $50 dvom from
> the auto parts store work?
By "dvom" I assume you mean a digital volt meter. A pyrometer _is_ a
voltmeter with a temperature scale instead of mV scale, so yes, that
would work. In fact, I use two digital multimeters (DMM) on my wood
kiln. I'm not really concerned about what the temperature is though,
only whether it is rising or falling. And as mentioned in a previous
response, type K thermocouples are notoriously inaccurate at cone
10ish temps. I once looked into platinum thermocouples, but the 12"
probes I'd need to get through my kiln wall were about $200 each. I
decided I didn't really need to know the exact temperature if it
would cost that much. Besides, maturity is not merely a function of
temperature -- it is time and temperature and lower temps for longer
duration can still result in mature ware, just as higher temps with
enough duration will not result in mature ware. I end my firings
based on pulls (test pieces I pull out of the kiln), not on any
reading from any device.
Anyway, the DMMs work great and have a serial output so I can watch
the rise and fall of temperature on a computer screen (with a wood
kiln, the temperature follows an upward trending saw tooth pattern
due to stoking/burning patterns). The setup cost far less than a
dual port pyrometer with digital output would have cost, and works
just as well.
A small picture (this is part of the old version of my site: scroll
down to picture 7):
http://www.anagama-west.com/anagama/firing/firing_03.php?page=3
A bigger picture, but this is mostly about Silver the kiln cat, the
display for the DMM is in the background:
http://www.anagama-west.com/photogallery/main.php/v/
8th_anagama_firing/anagama_west-8th_anagama_firing-PICT3994.jpg.html
Odin
Josh Berkus on thu 13 sep 07
> I recommend a type
> R (13% rhodium/platinum) thermocouple sheathed in a 1/2" alumina tube
> to protect it from the atmosphere. Expensive, but quite reliable.
I'll second this recommendation, especially the tube. Otherwise the
thermocouple will corrode and burn out after a few dozen firings and you're
out another $150.
Note, though, that to use the tube you need to drill a larger hole in the side
of your kiln, and they temperature lag could be 10-15 minutes longer. Not
really a problem though, unless you're doing very fast test firings.
Oh, I also recommend a 12" thermocouple if you can afford it. The smaller
ones often barely reach througth the firebrick into the kiln, and thus can't
report the air temperature accurately.
--
The Fuzzy Chef
San Francisco
Bruce Bowers on tue 30 mar 10
Hi All,
I am wondering if anyone knows of any kind of protective jacket that will
guard a thermocouple against ash buildup in a wood firing.
Also, are there any recommendations about a good brand of thermocouple for
wood firing?
Lastly, does anyone have one they would like to sell?
Bruce Bowers
_www.bowerswoodfireandpics.com_ (http://www.bowerswoodfireandpics.com)
Vince Pitelka on thu 1 apr 10
Bruce Bowers wrote:
"I am wondering if anyone knows of any kind of protective jacket that will
guard a thermocouple against ash buildup in a wood firing.
Also, are there any recommendations about a good brand of thermocouple for
wood firing?"
Bruce -
The standard porcelain sheath is what most people use - a piece kind of lik=
e
a chemistry test-tube, slightly larger I.D. than the O.D of the
thermocouple. You insert the thermocouple in the sheath, and seal around
the open end with a little ceramic fiber or wadding compound. Needless to
say, this will read slightly slower than an exposed thermocouple.
I have never considered "brands" of thermocouples, and in fact have never
seen them sold by brand. If you just get the standard type-K thermocouples
in the length you want from any of the good clay suppliers, it will work
fine along with a pyrometer set up for type-K thermocouples.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka
Steve Mills on thu 1 apr 10
Hi Bruce.
Over here almost all thermocouples are sold with a hard porcelain casing as
standard, but then unprotected Type K probes are very uncommon indeed, as
type R or S are usually used.
For myself I use a Type R and a type N in our wood-salt kiln. The former ha=
s
the hard case, the latter is a mineral filled probe and has a Pyrosil casin=
g
and is rated to 1300oC.
both have survived the rigors of wood/salt for several years now.
Steve M
On 30 March 2010 17:23, Bruce Bowers wrote:
> Hi All,
> I am wondering if anyone knows of any kind of protective jacket that will
> guard a thermocouple against ash buildup in a wood firing.
> Also, are there any recommendations about a good brand of thermocouple fo=
r
> wood firing?
> Lastly, does anyone have one they would like to sell?
> Bruce Bowers
> _www.bowerswoodfireandpics.com_ (http://www.bowerswoodfireandpics.com)
>
--
Steve
Bath
UK
www.mudslinger.me.uk
Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional!
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