Craig Martell on tue 3 dec 02
L asked:
>I have heard that the biggest problem w/ the oval kilns are that the lids
>crack across because they're so big and moved around a lot. Mine is a
>year old, and has cracked across the center. It's NOT falling in, but is
>cracked; wanna know what to do to fix it. Can't remember the name of that
>Olympic person who was posting here recently.........anybody have a clue?
Hi Lisa:
I had an Olympic Oval many years ago. Lots of problems, and the lid was
one of the biggest.
My lid was cracked in several places. I removed the lid and placed it on
my work table. I removed the stainless steel band and separated the broken
parts. I vacuumed all the dust and debris from the faces of the broken
pieces and then wetted them thoroughly, mortared them with hi temp mortar
and pressed them together. Then, I replaced the stainless steel band but
instead of using the hose clamp cinchers provided, I wrapped the lid with
3/16ths in stainless steel aircraft cable and attached the ends to a
turnbuckle and tightened it until I heard the bricks crunch a tiny bit. I
kept the lid moist for several days under plastic to give the mortar a
chance to cure well. When this was done, I mortared 2600 degree fibre to
the hotface and secured it with porcelain buttons. The buttons were held
in place by 13 guage element wire. I never had another problem with the
lid and fired the kiln to cone 8 and 10 for several years. I had to do a
whole lot of other stuff to that kiln to bring it up to par for firing
constantly to those temps. But, with regard to the lid, the banding and
hoseclamp setup provided by the factory really doesn't exert enough inward
pressure to keep that big lid in one piece. That's why I used the aircraft
cable and turnbuckle. They exert much more inward force.
Another big problem with the ovals has been flexing of the top ring due to
the weight of the lid when it's opened and closed. This stresses the
interbox connectors and they burn out. I put my lid on a hoist, operated
with a boat winch so the top ring problem was eliminated. I also hard
wired the rings to cut resistance in the interbox connectors and had no
more problems there.
regards, Craig Martell Hopewell, Oregon
James Bledsoe on tue 3 dec 02
L
here is my soultion to keeping your flat top kiln in one piece. tighten the
strap around the lid if yours has'nt hose clamp fittings you can make as
long a clamp as you need by cutting the screw fitting an inch or so the end
drill a #10 screw hole in the stubwhich you can now attach to a lenght of
plumbers tape (that galvinzed straping that comes with lots of holes) then
with simalr holes in the long end of the clamp attach it to the other end of
the plumbers tape and you now have long inexpensive kiln clamp.
good luck
jim
I have heard that the biggest problem w/ the oval kilns are that the lids
crack across because they're so big and moved around a lot. Mine is a year
old, and has cracked across the center. It's NOT falling in, but is
cracked; wanna know what to do to fix it. Can't remember the name of that
Olympic person who was posting here recently.........anybody have a clue?
Thanks
L
James Bledsoe on tue 3 dec 02
when i replyed to your post i had not seen the "snugging" segestion but
would sey that that is what i discribed
j
----- Original Message -----
From: "L. P. Skeen"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 10:11 AM
Subject: Olympic Oval kiln (lid)
I have heard that the biggest problem w/ the oval kilns are that the lids
crack across because they're so big and moved around a lot. Mine is a year
old, and has cracked across the center. It's NOT falling in, but is
cracked; wanna know what to do to fix it. Can't remember the name of that
Olympic person who was posting here recently.........anybody have a clue?
Thanks
L
L. P. Skeen www.living-tree.net
the Viscountess Standing Turtle
Living Tree Studios, Summerfield, NC
"If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables,
what is baby oil made from?"
____________________________________________________________________________
__
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You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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L. P. Skeen on tue 3 dec 02
I have heard that the biggest problem w/ the oval kilns are that the =
lids crack across because they're so big and moved around a lot. Mine =
is a year old, and has cracked across the center. It's NOT falling in, =
but is cracked; wanna know what to do to fix it. Can't remember the =
name of that Olympic person who was posting here =
recently.........anybody have a clue?
Thanks
L
L. P. Skeen www.living-tree.net
the Viscountess Standing Turtle
Living Tree Studios, Summerfield, NC
"If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from =
vegetables,=20
what is baby oil made from?"
Rob Haugen on tue 3 dec 02
Cracking is not uncommon for an oval lid, especially if the jackets on the
rings and lid are not kept tight. There really is no way to repair a crack
once it has happened, however if you snug up the jackets, the crack will
tighten up and should not be a problem. (*note: If you have not tightened
the jackets before, you should spray some WD40 on them before you attempt to
snug them up.)
Rob Haugen
Olympic Kilns
----- Original Message -----
From: "L. P. Skeen"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 1:11 PM
Subject: Olympic Oval kiln (lid)
I have heard that the biggest problem w/ the oval kilns are that the lids
crack across because they're so big and moved around a lot. Mine is a year
old, and has cracked across the center. It's NOT falling in, but is
cracked; wanna know what to do to fix it. Can't remember the name of that
Olympic person who was posting here recently.........anybody have a clue?
Thanks
L
L. P. Skeen www.living-tree.net
the Viscountess Standing Turtle
Living Tree Studios, Summerfield, NC
"If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables,
what is baby oil made from?"
____________________________________________________________________________
__
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.
L. P. Skeen on tue 3 dec 02
How does one "snug" a jacket?
Thanks
L
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Haugen"
however if you snug up the jackets, the crack will tighten up and should not
be a problem.
Steve Mills on wed 4 dec 02
For *snug* read *tighten*
:-)
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , L. P. Skeen writes
>How does one "snug" a jacket?
>
>Thanks
>L
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rob Haugen"
>however if you snug up the jackets, the crack will tighten up and should not
>be a problem.
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
Roger Korn on wed 4 dec 02
Craig Martell wrote:
> ...
> Another big problem with the ovals has been flexing of the top ring
> due to
> the weight of the lid when it's opened and closed. This stresses the
> interbox connectors and they burn out. I put my lid on a hoist, operated
> with a boat winch so the top ring problem was eliminated. I also hard
> wired the rings to cut resistance in the interbox connectors and had no
> more problems there.
>
> regards, Craig Martell Hopewell, Oregon
This is a very good approach. I'll get a call that a kiln has a section
that is "burned out": most often, it is the intersection connector that
has failed, not the element(s). What happens is that incidental motion
causes the interconnect resistance to rise, which gets the interconnect
hotter, which causes the interconnect resistance to rise, ... until the
connector is toast. Kilns like my old Paragon, where the sections plug
into the master controller section via flex cables, rarely have
problems. Still, hard-wiring is much more reliable, especially when the
section currents exceed 20 amps.
Best wishes,
Roger
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> 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.
>
--
Roger Korn
McKay Creek Ceramics
In AZ: PO Box 463
4215 Culpepper Ranch Rd
Rimrock, AZ 86335
928-567-5699 <-
In OR: PO Box 436
31330 NW Pacific Ave.
North Plains, OR 97133
503-647-5464
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